Malcolm Slesser (30 October 1926 – 26 June 2007) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

analyst,

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

and

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

Biography

Slesser was a graduate of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. He began mountain climbing when he was young. In the 1950s Slesser joined an expedition to the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

. He wrote widely on mountain climbing and was considered to be an expert in the field. Slesser worked in a number of industries in the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The private sector employs most of the workfo ...

before settling in

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, including the

synthetic fiber Synthetic fibers or synthetic fibres (in British English; see spelling differences) are fibers made by humans through chemical synthesis, as opposed to natural fibers that are directly derived from living organisms, such as plants like cott ...

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

and

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics * Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

industries. He became a Professor of Energy at the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first techn ...

. The author of more than 100 published technical papers, Slesser's books ranged from energy systems and the environment to exploration and sustainable development. Slesser pioneered the study of the potential for economic growth that led to methods for estimating the economic carrying capacity through the ECCO (Evaluation of Capital Creation Options also referred to as the Enhancement of Carrying Capacity or Economic Coordination Options) model of an economy uses the stocks-and-flows paradigm (aka system dynamics) to track energy and other

natural capital Natural capital is the world's stock of natural resources, which includes geology, soils, air, water and all living organisms. Some natural capital assets provide people with free goods and services, often called ecosystem services. All of t ...

flows through the economy. ECCO models were first developed by Malcolm Slesser in Edinburgh in the late 1990s along with Jay Baguant, Dr Anupam Saraph, Dr Wouter Biesiot, Dr Klass Jan Noorman and Jane King. The Pamirs expedition of 1962 was a difficult affair. Both the

Alpine Club Alpine clubs are typically large social clubs that revolve around climbing, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Many alpine clubs also take on aspects typically reserved for local sport associations, providing education and training courses, se ...

and the

Scottish Mountaineering Club Established in 1889, the Scottish Mountaineering Club is a club for climbing and mountaineering in Scotland. History The Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) was formed in Glasgow, Scotland, in March 1889, as one of Scotland's first mountaineering ...

had been asking to climb in the

Pamir Mountains The Pamir Mountains are a Mountain range, range of mountains between Central Asia and South Asia. They are located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun Mountains, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya ...

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

, which were then part of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Then John Hunt (of the Alpine Club) and Slesser (of the SMC) received telegrams from the Soviets granting permission for a party of 12 British climbers to mount an expedition to the Pamirs, provided the two joined forces. Slesser said of this: "It was a bit like proposing that

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

should co-operate on making a

nuclear bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...

." In the event, Slesser and Hunt were joint leaders of the British party, which mounted a joint expedition with the Soviets with the goal of climbing

Ismoil Somoni Peak Ismoil Somoni Peak (; ) is the highest mountain in Tajikistan, as well as the former Russian Empire and Soviet Union before Tajikistan's independence. The mountain is named after Ismail Samani, a ruler of the Samanid dynasty. It is located in ...

. The animosity between the Scots and the English was exceeded by that between the British and the Soviets. Early on, two of the climbers – Robin Smith and Wilfrid Noyce – were killed, and Hunt went home. Slessor's best known book, ''Red Peak'', chronicled the expedition. Slesser died while walking on the Ardnish Peninsula at Loch Ailort in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

. It is suspected he suffered a heart attack. His family erected a cairn on the spot he died. (latitude 56°51.899’ N; longitude 05°46.195’W).

Selected publications

*''Red Peak: A Personal Account of the British Soviet Expedition 1962'' (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1964, 256 pp, with endpaper maps, 12pp b/w & 4pp of colour plates) *''Scottish Mountains on Ski'' (1970) *''The Island of Skye'' (1975) *''With Friends in High Places'' (2004)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slesser, Malcolm 1926 births 2007 deaths Academics of the University of Strathclyde Scottish scientists Scottish mountain climbers Scottish environmentalists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Human ecologists Scottish National Party politicians