David Block

David L. Block was elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society of London at the age of 19. His first research paper, on relativistic astrophysics, was published in London, by the Royal Astronomical Society, at age 20. Professor Block has been a visiting research scientist at the Australian National University, the European Southern Observatory in Germany, Harvard University, the California Institute of Technology, and the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii. One of his accolades is the coveted National Science & Technology Forum - BHP Billiton Award, recognizing him as one of South Africa’s foremost communicators in science. An international conference was recently hosted to honor his 60th birthday. He is one of a handful of scientists whose research has twice been featured on the cover of the world’s most prestigious scientific journal “NATURE”. He has authored several books, including Starwatch (Lion Publishing, UK), Sternenwelt (Brockhaus Verlag, Germany), Universums Skapelse (Bokförlaget Libris, Sweden) and more recently, Shrouds of the Night (Springer, NY. Co-author: K.C. Freeman, FRS). David had the pleasure of accompanying Stephen Hawking to meet former President Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg. He is married to Elizabeth, a lecturer in geography at the University of Johannesburg, and they have three sons.