Being Green - 06 Nov 2020

Think global, act local – the environmental activists used to say. Maybe they still do. A local spatial-environmental issue that has been catching my eye is pretty much in our faces, although you may not be aware of it if you’re not a follower of the great science of Astronomy, often claimed to be the oldest science. It certainly is the oldest science pursued officially in this country, and astronomers have just celebrated 200 years of the Royal Cape Observatory, in Observatory, or the S A A O as it’s now called. The environmental issue is an old one, resurfacing in a new and urgent guise – what to do with the land on the banks of the Liesbeeck River.