Charles Kimberlin Brain, also known as C. K. "Bob" Brain (born 7 May 1931, in

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally k ...

, now modern

Harare, Zimbabwe Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

), is a South African

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of foss ...

who has studied and taught African cave

taphonomy Taphonomy is the study of how organisms decay and become fossilized or preserved in the paleontological record. The term ''taphonomy'' (from Greek , 'burial' and , 'law') was introduced to paleontology in 1940 by Soviet scientist Ivan Efremo ...

for more than fifty years.

Biography

From 1965 to 1991, Brain directed the

Transvaal Museum The Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, formerly the Transvaal Museum, is a natural history museum situated in Pretoria, South Africa. It is located on Paul Kruger Street, between Visagie and Minnaar Streets, opposite the Pretoria City Hal ...

, which became one of the most scientifically productive institutions of its kind in Africa during his tenure. During his years at the Museum, Brain actively pursued his own research, which was A-rated by the Foundation for Research Development (now the

National Research Foundation of South Africa South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF) is the intermediary agency between the policies and strategies of the Government of South Africa and South Africa's research institutions. It was established on 1 April 1999 as an autonomous ...

) from the inception of its evaluation system in 1984 until his retirement. Brain planned and scripted the displays in the Museum's "Life’s Genesis I" and "Life's Genesis 2" halls, which have been seen by several million visitors. Very early in Brain's career,

Robert Ardrey Robert Ardrey (October 16, 1908 – January 14, 1980) was an American playwright, screenwriter and science writer perhaps best known for '' The Territorial Imperative'' (1966). After a Broadway and Hollywood career, he returned to his academic ...

wrote of him: Although Brain retired in 1996, he is active as

Curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

Emeritus at the Transvaal Museum, an Honorary Professor of Zoology at the University of the Witswatersrand, an active

Research Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness t ...

Associate at the

Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research The Evolutionary Studies Institute (ESI) is a paleontological, paleoanthropological and archeological research institute operated through the Faculty of Science of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Previously kno ...

, and Chief Scientific Advisor to the Palaeo-Anthropology Scientific Trust (PAST). He is an active researcher of fossils of the earliest animals and is co-ordinating a renewed excavation initiative at the

Swartkrans Swartkrans is a fossil-bearing cave designated as a South African National Heritage Site, located about from Johannesburg. It is located in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site and is notable for being extremely rich in archaeological ma ...

Cave. He is a consulting editor for the ''Annals of the Eastern Cape Museums.'' In its 2006 Lifetime Achiever tribute to Brain, the

said: Brain has been an invited participant at over thirty international conferences and symposia worldwide. He and his wife have four children. A species of legless lizard, ''

Typhlosaurus braini Haacke's legless skink (''Typhlosaurus braini''), also known commonly as Brain's legless skink and Brain's blind legless skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Namibia. Etymology The specific name, '' ...

'', is named in his honour.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Brain", p. 37).

Education

Pretoria Boys High School , motto_translation = "Through courage and labour" , location = , streetaddress = 251 Roper Street, Brooklyn , region = , city = Pretoria , province = ...

BSc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

and

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

—

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

, 1950. *

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper ''Piled Higher and Deeper'' (also known as ''PhD Comics''), is a newsp ...

— University of the Witwatersrand, 1957. *

D.Sc. Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

— University of the Witwatersrand, 1981.

Honours and awards

* Four Honorary Doctorates: : 1999:

: 1999:

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...

: 1993:

University of Natal The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu- ...

: 1991:

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

* 2006:

(NRF) President's Lifetime Achiever award. * 1997: South Africa Medal of the

Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science The Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science (S2A3 or S2A3) is a learned society, originally known as the South African Association for the Advancement of Science (SAAAS). Established in 1902, its principal aim is to increase t ...

* 1992: Achievement Award of th
Claude Harris Leon Foundation
* 1991: John F. W. Herschel Medal of the Royal Society of South Africa * 1987: Senior Captain Scott Memorial Medal of the South African Biological Society

Scholarly scientific societies

In addition to other active memberships, Brain is a founding member of four societies: * Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa * South African Archaeological Society * South African Society for Quaternary Research * Zoological Society of Southern Africa ** 1974–75: President ** 1969–73: Vice President

Publications

* Nearly two hundred, including several books.

Books

* "Swartkrans: A Cave’s Chronicle of Early Man." (ed.) 2nd Edition. Transvaal Museum Monograph No. 8, 1–295, 2005. * "Fifty years of fun with fossils: some cave taphonomy-related ideas and concepts that emerged between 1953 and 2003." In ''African Taphonomy: A Tribute to the Career of C.K. "Bob" Brain.'' Edited by Travis Pickering, Katherine Schick, and Nicholas Toth, Center for Research into the Anthropological Foundations of Technology (CRAFT Center),

Stone Age Institute The Stone Age Institute is an independent research center dedicated to the archaeological and paleontological study of human origins and technological development beginning with the earliest stone tools. The institute was founded by archaeologis ...

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship campus of Indiana University and, with over 40,000 students, its largest camp ...

, 2004.
Raymond Dart and our African origins.
In ''A Century of Nature: Twenty-One Discoveries that Changed Science and the World'',

Laura Garwin Laura Justine Garwin (born 1957) is an American trumpeter and former science journalist. One of the first women to become a Rhodes Scholar, she is the former physical sciences editor of '' Nature'', co-editor of the book ''A Century of Nature'', ...

and Tim Lincoln, editors. Chicago:

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including '' The Chicago Manual of Style'' ...

, 2003. Hardcover: . Paperback: . * '' The Hunters or the Hunted?: An Introduction to African Cave Taphonomy.'' C.K. Brain. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981. Paperback: ,
Press page.

Scientific journals

(This list is very incomplete.)
The Transvaal Ape-Man-Bearing Cave Deposits: An overview of the sites at Sterkfontein, Kromdraai, Swartkrans and Makapan.
''Transvaal Museum Memoir'' No. 11, 1958. (Dr. Brain's PhD thesis.) ** Reviewed by F. Clark Howell in ''

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

'', Volume 129, Issue 3354, p. 957. April 1959. ** Republished in book form by "Netherlands Repro" (?) * "The Narrative Concept in Museum Display." ''South African Museums Association Bulletin'' 1978. * "Visitor Reaction to the Life's Genesis Display." ''South African Museums Association Bulletin'' 1979.

References

A Tribute to the Career of C.K. "Bob" Brain.
African Taphonomy Conference,

, 28 April – 1 May 2004,

. ** Sponsored in part by th
Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research
founded and endowed in 1941 by

Axel Wenner-Gren Axel Lennart Wenner-Gren (5 June 1881 – 24 November 1961) was a Swedish entrepreneur and one of the wealthiest men in the world during the 1930s. Early life He was born on 5 June 1881 in Uddevalla, a town on the west coast of Sweden. He w ...

as the Viking Fund. ** "…scientists from around the world convened in Bloomington, Indiana to celebrate the life and career of Bob Brain, Curator Emeritus of the Transvaal Museum in Pretoria, South Africa. Dr. Brain is an African prehistorian with over 50 years of experience in the natural sciences. He is best known for his research at famous ape-man cave sites in southern Africa."
"Killer Cats Hunted Human Ancestors:
Three South African scientists believe they have identified several predators that preyed upon human ancestors millions of years ago." Shaun Smillie, ''

National Geographic News The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...

'', 20 May 2002

External links

Journal of Taphonomy.

The Zoological Society of Southern Africa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brain, Charles Kimberlin 1931 births Living people South African paleontologists Taphonomists Alumni of Pretoria Boys High School University of the Witwatersrand academics University of the Witwatersrand alumni Fellows of the Royal Society of South Africa Rhodesian emigrants to South Africa Presidents of the South African Archaeological Society