Frieze above BSB doors gets interpretive plaque
The centre panel of Ernest Gause and Dr. Steward Basterfield' s relief sculpture on top of the Burke Science Building. The panel depicts Frederick Soddy, an early nuclear scientist who demonstrated that radioactive decay was accompanied by transformation of the radioactive element into another chemical element. Here he holds a chart showing the decay of the daughter isotopes of uranium. Next to him, Joseph Priestley, co-discoverer of oxygen, is seen heating mercuic oxide with sunlight to produce oxygen and displace a column of liquid mercury. The fire depicts the consumption of oxygen by flames.
Next time you’re walking past the Burke Science Building, be sure to look up. Way up.
Well, not that high, but above the building’s entrance is an aluminum and granite frieze which depicts some of the world’s most important scientists.
A recently installed plaque helps visitors understand what they’re looking at.
The goal of the relief is to visually represent each of the unique physical sciences: physics, chemistry and mathematics, as well as pay respect to some of the great contributors to these areas of knowledge.
The sculpture’s first panel, to the left of the building, depicts two views of the ancient Greek scientist and mathematician Archimedes. In the background he demonstrates the use of the lever to raise large weights. In the foreground he shows us that a floating object displaces a mass of liquid equal to its own mass.
The panel next to the first presents Frederick Soddy, an early nuclear scientist who demonstrated that radioactive decay was accompanied by transformation of the radioactive element into another chemical element. Here he holds a chart showing the decay of the daughter isotopes of uranium. Next to him, Joseph Priestley, co-discoverer of oxygen, is seen heating mercuic oxide with sunlight to produce oxygen and displace a column of liquid mercury. The fire depicts the consumption of oxygen by flames.
In the final panel of the sculpture, Greek mathematician Pythagoras demonstrates that the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the square of the other two sides of the right triangle. In the foreground mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler is depicted seated next to a diagram of an ellipse which represents the three laws of planetary motion that he conceived.
The full story of the frieze is available here.
