David Block - complete CV
 
INTRODUCTION ACADEMIC
RESEARCH SERVICE TO THE UNIVERSITY/ COMMUNITY
 
INTRODUCTION
Professor David Block was elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society of London at age 19. His first research paper, on relativistic astrophysics, was published in London, by the Royal Astronomical Society, at age 20. Professor Block is currently Director of the Anglo American Cosmic Dust Laboratory at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. In 2006, Professor Block received the University’s highest research accolade: the Vice-Chancellor’s Research Award.
 
Professor Block’s research work has twice been featured on the cover of the prestigious scientific journal, ‘Nature.’ He was the Principal Investigator of a team of astronomers from Harvard University, the Observatoire de Paris and the University of the Witwatersrand who used the Spitzer Space Telescope to solve a 200 million year old riddle in our neighbouring spiral galaxy, the Andromeda Galaxy. Professor Kenneth Freeman, Fellow of the Royal Society, penned the following words about this discovery:
 
“The findings, through the eyes of the Spitzer Space Telescope imaging the majestic Andromeda Spiral Galaxy, ranks as one of the most important discoveries yet made concerning that galaxy’s history, ever since Charles Messier catalogued it as a diffuse object on August 3, 1764.”
 
David Block is married to Elizabeth, who lectures in Geography at the Soweto campus of the University of Johannesburg. They have three sons, Aaron (16) and ten year-old twin boys, Nathanael Zvi Khethile and Tevye Lewis Nkwenkwezi (their African names having been given to them by Nelson Mandela!)
 
US astronomer, John Kormendy, describes the career of Professor Block:
“David Block is to South Africa what Carl Sagan was to American astronomy – his pioneering discoveries are reshaping astronomical paradigms, and his imprint on human culture is a legacy to all South Africans as you build your future in the technological 21st century.”
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ACADEMIC
 
Qualifications
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B.Sc. (Honours) in Applied Mathematics, 1976. (With distinction) (University of the Witwatersrand)

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M.Sc. in Relativistic Astrophysics/Applied Mathematics, 1977. (University of South Africa)
  Title of dissertation:
  "Active and Conformally Active Symmetries in Spacetimes admitting Collineations"
  Supervisor: Professor G. Lemmer
  External Examiner: Professor G.F.R. Ellis

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Ph.D. in Astronomy, 1980. (University of Cape Town)
  Title of dissertation:
  "The Morphology and Absolute Diameters of Galaxies"
   
  External Examiners:
(i) Dr. V.C.Rubin (Carnegie Institution of Washington)
(ii) Professor G.A.Tammann (University of Basel)
(iii) Professor S.v.d.Bergh (Dominion Astrophysical Observatory)
   
  Internal Supervisor:
Professor Anthony P. Fairall
   
Membership of Professional Societies
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Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (London)
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Member of the International Astronomical Union
 
Academic Distinctions/Awards/Evidence of Professional Standing
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Recipient of the Vice-Chancellor’s Research Award (2006). This award is given to the most distinguished researcher at the University of the University of the Witwatersrand, as deemed by the Vice-Chancellor’s Research Award Committee, in consultation with international referees.
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University Council Fellowship in 1990, awarded by the Council of the University.
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The Convocation Distinguished Teachers Award (1988), based on the highest scores for lecturer evaluations as rated by the students.
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Twice been invited by the director of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) to be a Visiting Scientist at their Garching Headquarters.
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He has been a guest astronomer at the Institute for Astronomy (IFA) in Hawaii (twice)
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 Visiting Scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute (Maryland), at the California Institute of Technology (Pasadena) and at Harvard University.
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 Served as Chair, or Co-Chair, of the Scientific Organizing Committee (SOC) of three International Conferences on Galaxy Morphology and Cosmic Dust. In 2004, the SOC was co-chaired with K.C. Freeman. In 1999 and 1996, chaired the international SOCs.
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 Selected to serve as an editor for the forthcoming major 2008 international astronomy volume “The Dictionary”, to be published by Springer (New York).
 
Academic and Professional Experience
 
1976: Lecturer in Applied Mathematics at the University of South Africa
1977 - December 1980: Lecturer in the Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Cape Town
1981 - July 1982: Senior Lecturer in Astronomy at the University of the Orange Free State
August 1982 - December 1983: Lecturer in the Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Fort Hare
January 1984 - December 1985: Lecturer in Department Computational & Applied Mathematics, University of the Witwatersrand.
January 1986 - December 1989: Senior Lecturer in Astronomy & Applied Mathematics, University of the Witwatersrand.
1990 – July 2007: Associate Professor in the School of Computational & Applied Mathematics, University of the Witwatersrand.
July 2007 – present: Professor in the School of Computational & Applied Mathematics, University of the Witwatersrand.
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RESEARCH
 
My research has largely focused on the domains of (near-infrared) galaxy morphology and of cosmic dust. I have had an intense interest in developing “dust-penetrated” classification schemes (see for example, publications 9 and 15 below). Near-infrared studies at ~2 microns offer unprecedented opportunities to study the actual mass distribution in spiral disks. We continue to find a rich duality in spiral structure between optical and near-infrared morphologies, beginning with a Nature Letter in 1990 (publication 30 below). Over the years, we also continue to find a ubiquity of low-order m=1 and m=2 modes in the near-infrared regime (publication 23 and follow-up papers), which can be beautifully explained in the modal theory of spiral structure (developed by Bertin and collaborators).

Over 700 different pointings were made by IRAC/ Spitzer Space Telescope to map the Andromeda Spiral Galaxy Messier 31. In the early days in ~1990 when the NICMOS HgCdTe arrays became available for use at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii, we often concentrated on imaging only one galaxy such as NGC 309, which subsequently appeared on the cover of Nature (publication number 30 below). Much care has been exercised in the development of new infrared galaxy classification schemes, based upon Fourier spectral analysis and upon gravitational bar torques.

Another exciting area of research to have spearheaded was the existence of cold (15 Kelvin – 25 Kelvin) and very cold (< 15 Kelvin) dust grains in our Universe. The astronomical community in the early 1990s was diametrically divided as to whether cold and very cold cosmic dust existed or not. My collaborators and I, as principal investigator, set about developing a totally new technique to definitively settle the issue. We did this because, while cold dust grains do radiate in the submm regime, the inversion of the spectral energy distribution into a dust temperature distribution is ill conditioned. In order words, it is possible to find markedly different dust temperature distributions from an identical set of sub-mm/mm observations. And very cold dust grains do not radiate in the sub-mm at all.
We used optical/near infrared imaging and combined our V-K or B-K maps with radiative transfer codes, invoking multiple (as opposed to single) scattering of dust grains. We could therefore study the distribution of dust grains of all temperatures, since the extinction cross section of a dust grain in such maps is independent of its temperature.
We unambiguously detected these dust grains (publication 24 and subsequent papers): the dust masses of spiral galaxies in our Local Universe, as computed using InfraRed Astronomy Satellite IRAS observations, increased by 90 percent. IRAS had completely missed cold and very cold cosmic dust grains in spiral galaxies external to our Milky Way. Our methodology definitively proved the existence of cold and very cold dust grains in our Universe. As an aside, cold cosmic dust had moreover been detected by us at unprecedented spatial resolution: one order of magnitude better than that possible with the largest sub-mm/mm telescopes and two orders of magnitude better than with observations with IRAS.
Over the years, it is also pleasing to note that the galaxy NGC 6872 which I identified many years ago as the largest known barred spiral galaxy (publication 35) still holds that record today. I also initiated the observing program at Mauna Kea to detect the largest reflection nebula external to our Milky Way (publication 17).
Recent discoveries of which I have been lead author have included the detection of a ring of intermediate age carbon stars in the outer disk of the Triangulum Spiral Galaxy Messier 33 (publication 6) and a near head-on collision in the Andromeda Spiral Galaxy (publication 1).
 
Publications in ISI listed journals
(ISI citations given in [ ])
1. D.L. Block, F. Bournaud, F. Combes, R. Groess, P. Barmby, M.L.N. Ashby, G.G. Fazio, M.A. Pahre, S.P. Willner, Letter to Nature. “An almost head-on collision as the origin of two off-centre rings in the Andromeda galaxy”, Volume 443, pp 832-834 (2006). [ISI: 1]
2. J. Kormendy, M.E. Cornell, D.L. Block, J.H. Knapen, E.L. Allard, "Pseudobulges in the Disk Galaxies NGC 7690 and NGC 4593" The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 642, Issue 2, pp. 765-774 (2006). [ISI: 1]
3. R. Buta, E. Laurikainen, H. Salo, D.L. Block, J.H. Knapen, "Fourier Dissection of Early-Type Galaxy Bars" The Astronomical Journal, Volume 132, pp 1859-1876 (2006). [ISI: 0]
4. M.S. Seigar, D.L. Block, I. Puerari, N.E. Chorney, P.A. James, "Dust-penetrated arm classes: insights from rising and falling rotation curves" Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 359, Issue 3, pp. 1065-1076 (2005). [ISI: 1]
5. D.L. Block, R. Buta, J.H. Knapen, D.M. Elmegreen, B.G. Elmegreen, I. Puerari, "Gravitational bar and spiral arm torques from Ks-band observations and implications for the pattern speeds", The Astronomical Journal, Volume 128, 183-201 (2004). [ISI: 9]
6. D.L. Block, K.C. Freeman, T.H. Jarrett, I. Puerari, G. Worthey, F. Combes, R. Groess, "Very Luminous Carbon Stars in the Outer Disk of the Triangulum Spiral Galaxy", Astronomy & Astrophysics, volume 425, L37-L40 (2004). [ISI: 3]
7. R. Buta, D.L. Block, J.H. Knapen, "A Technique for Separating the Gravitational Torques of Bars and Spirals in Disk Galaxies", The Astronomical Journal. Volume 126, 1148-1158 (2003). [ISI: 10]
8. David L. Block, Frederic Bournaud, Francoise Combes, Ivânio Puerari, Ron Buta, "Gravitational torques in spiral galaxies: gas accretion as a driving mechanism of galactic evolution", Astronomy and Astrophysics. Volume 394, Pages L35-L38 (2002). [ISI: 16]
9. R. Buta, D.L. Block, "A Dust-penetrated Classification Scheme for Bars as Inferred from Their Gravitational Force Fields", The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 550, pp. 243-252 (2001). [ISI: 42]
10. D.L. Block, I. Puerari, J.H. Knapen, B.G. Elmegreen, R. Buta, S. Stedman, D.M. Elmegreen, "The gravitational torque of bars in optically unbarred and barred galaxies" Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 375, pp761-769 (2001). [ISI: 21]
11. D.L. Block, I. Puerari, M. Takamiya, R. Abraham, A. Stockton, I. Robson, W. Holland, “Dust Penetrated morphology in the high-redshift universe: Clues from NGC 922", Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 371, pp393-403 (2001). [ISI: 5]
12. Ivânio Puerari, D.L. Block, B.G. Elmegreen, J.A. Frogel, P.B. Eskridge, "The detection of spiral arm modulation in the stellar disk of an optically flocculent and an optically grand design galaxy", Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 359, pp932-940 (2000). [ISI: 8]
13. D.L. Block, M. Sauvage, "A unified image of dust grains for the warped spiral galaxy in the merger Centaurus A", Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 353, pp72-76 (2000). [ISI: 4]
14. I.F. Mirabel, the ISOCAM Team and D.L. Block, "A barred spiral at the centre of the giant elliptical radio galaxy Centaurus A", Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 341, 667-674, (1999). [ISI: 44]
15. D.L. Block and I. Puerari, "Toward a dust penetrated classification of the evolved stellar Population II disks of galaxies", Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 342, 627-642, (1999). [ISI: 34]
16. B.G. Elmegreen and D.L. Block, "Bogus dust screens from well mixed exponential disks in galaxies", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 303, 133 -138 (1999). [ISI: 8]
17. D.L. Block, Stockton, A., Elmegreen, B.G. and Willis, J. "Reflection of Bulge Light from a 2 kiloparsec segment of Dust Lane in the Galaxy NGC 2841" , Astrophysical Journal, Volume 522, L25-L27, (1999). [ISI: 4]
18. P.J. Grosbøl, D.L. Block, P.A. Patsis, “Dust lanes in spiral galaxies”, Astrophysics and Space Science, Volume 269, 423-426 (1999). [ISI: 1]
19. N. Schneider, J. Stutzki, G. Winnewisser and D.L. Block, ''The Rosette Molecular Complex. I. CO Observations", Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 335, 1049 -1069, (1998). [ISI: 16]
20. D.L. Block, B.G. Elmegreen, A. Stockton and M. Sauvage, "Macromolecules, very small grains and large dust particles in the Whirlpool Galaxy M51 and its companion: A Unified View. Astrophysical Journal, Volume 486, L95-L98, (1997). [ISI: 12]
21. D.L. Block, B.G. Elmegreen and R.J. Wainscoat, "Smooth Dark Spiral Arms in the Flocculent Galaxy NGC 2841" Nature, Volume 381, 674-676 (1996). [ISI: 20]
22. D.L. Block, "A first time detection of long, dark infrared spirals of dust in the interstellar medium of a galaxy", S.A. Journal of Science, 92, 421-425 (1996). [ISI: 0]
23. D.L. Block, G. Bertin, A. Stockton, P. Grosbøl, A.F.M. Moorwood and R.F. Peletier, "2.1 Micron Images of the evolved stellar disk and the morphological classification of spiral galaxies" Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 288, 365-382 (1994). [ISI: 79]
24. D.L. Block, A.N. Witt, P. Grosbøl, A. Stockton and A. Moneti, "Imaging in the Optical and Near-Infrared Regimes: II. Arcsecond Spatial Resolution of widely distributed cold dust in spiral galaxies" Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 288, 383-395 (1994). [ISI: 43]
25. A.N. Witt, R.S. Lindell, D.L. Block and R. Evans, "K'-Band Observations of the Evil Eye Galaxy: Are the Optical and Near-Infrared Dust Albedos Identical?" Astrophysical Journal, Volume 427, 227-231 (1994). [ISI:19]
26. P.S. Conti, D.L. Block, T.R. Geballe and M.M Hanson, "First Detection of Ionized Helium Absorption Lines in Infrared K Band Spectra of 0- Type Stars". Astrophysical Journal, Volume 406, L21-L23 (1993). [ISI: 8]
27. D.L. Block, T.R. Geballe and J.E. Dyson, "An embedded cluster of stars at the Rosette GMC CO peak". Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 273, L41-L43 (1993). [ISI: 5]
28. M.M. Hanson, T.R. Geballe, P S Conti and D.L. Block, "On the nature of the stellar cluster at the Rosette GMC CO peak". Astrononomy and Astrophysics, Volume 273, L44-L46 (1993). [ISI: 5]
29. D.L. Block, J.E. Dyson and C. Madsen, "Primordial Giant Molecular Cloud Clumps can be Probed-optically." Astrophysical Journal, Volume 390, L13-L16 (1992). [ISI: 17]
30. D.L. Block and R.J. Wainscoat, "Morphological differences between optical and infrared images of the spiral galaxy NGC309." NATURE, Volume 353, 48-50 (1991). [ISI: 50]
31. D.L. Block and A. Stockton, "Structure in Host Galaxies of Steep-Spectrum Radio QSOs." Astronomical Journal, Volume 102, 1928-1932 (1991). [ISI: 9]
32. D.L. Block, "A family of cometary globules around an infrared source near the Rosette nebula." NATURE, Volume 347, 452-455 (1990). [ISI: 10]
33. D.L. Block, "Arm Width as a Function of Absolute Luminosity for Type bc, c Spiral Galaxies" Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 109, 336-339, (1982). [ISI: Not available prior to 1985]
34. A.M. van Genderen and D.L. Block, "Photometry (VBLUW System) of 26 RR Lyrae Variables in the direction of a Proposed Intergalactic Dust Cloud in Microscopium" Astronomy and Astrophysics (Supplement Series), Volume 39, 199-204 (1980). [ISI: Not available prior to 1985]
35. D.L. Block, "NGC 6872: A Remarkable Barred Spiral" Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 79, L22 L23 (1979). [ISI: Not available prior to 1985]
36. D.L. Block, "Dynamic Variational Principle for Geodesics in a (M,g) Manifold, using Pontryagin's Principle" S.A. Journal of Science. 71, 155-156 (1975). [ISI: Not available prior to 1985]
   
Telescopes used in publications
 
The data for the publications listed have been secured from the following telescopes:

The William Herschel Telescope (La Palma)
The Anglo Australian Telescope (Australia)
Telescopes at La Silla / the European Southern Observatory (Chile)
The Spitzer Space Telescope (in earth-trailing orbit about the Sun)
The Keck telescopes at the Mauna Kea Observatory (Hawaii, USA)
 
Publications in other peer-reviewed journals
1. D.L. Block, "General Relativity and Its Applications to Selected Astrophysical and Cosmological Topics" in 'Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society', London. Volume 15, 264-291, 1974.
2. A.P. Fairall and D.L. Block, "Examples of Angular Rotation Curves of Galaxies", Monthly Notices of the Astron. Soc. of SA, Volume 40, 40-42 (1981).
3. D .L. Block and A.P. Fairall, "Some Comments on the Pitch Angle in Spiral Structure" Monthly Notices of the Astron. Soc. of SA, Volume 40, 43-46 (1981).
 
Publications in ‘Sky and Telescope’
1. D.L. Block, "Black Holes and their Astrophysical Implications - Part I" Sky and Telescope, Volume 50, No.1, 20-23 (1975).
2. D.L. Block, "Black Holes and their Astrophysical Implications - Part II" Sky and Telescope, Volume 50, No.2, 87-90 (1975).
3. D.L. Block, "NGC 6872, the Largest Known Barred Spiral" Sky and Telescope, Volume 62, 116-117 (1981).
4. D.L. Block, "How Big Is M81?" Sky and Telescope, Volume 72, 454 (1986).
5. D.L. Block, "Penetrating the Dust: The Duality of Spiral Structure", Sky and Telescope, Volume 101, No.1 (2001).
 
Books and/or chapters in books (Titles of books are in bold)
1. “New Extragalactic Perspectives in the New South Africa” (Kluwer Academic Press, Dordrecht, 1996), edited by D.L. Block and J. Mayo Greenberg. 653 page volume.
2. “Toward A New Millennium in Galaxy Morphology: from z=O to the Lyman Break” (Kluwer Academic Press, Dordrecht, 2000), edited by D.L. Block, I. Puerari, A. Stockton and deWet Ferreira. . 821 page volume
3. “Penetrating Bars Through Masks of Cosmic Dust: The Hubble Tuning Fork Strikes a New Note” (Springer New York & Dordrecht, 2004), edited by D.L. Block, I. Puerari, K.C. Freeman, R. Groess and E.K. Block. 874 page volume
4. D.L. Block, "Black Holes" 1976 Yearbook of Astronomy (Sidgwick and Jackson, London), 175-191 (1976).
5. D.L. Block, "A Photographic Atlas of primarily Late Type Spiral Galaxies printed as if each Galaxy were at the same distance". 35 pp. Includes 23 plates. University of Fort Hare Press, 1984.
6. D.L. Block, "Spiral Galaxies, Side by Side" in the '1986 Yearbook of Astronomy'
( Sidgwick and Jackson, London), 192-209 (1986).
7. D.L. Block in the “Astronomy Encyclopaedia”, 1988. Mitchell-Beazley, London. Invited contributor on selected topics.
8. D.L. Block, "Our Universe: Accident or Design?" Starwatch Publishers, SA, 40pp (1992). Foreword by two Nobel laureates: A. Penzias and J.C. Eccles. Printed at the Beith Photographic Laboratories (Johannesburg, South Africa)
9. D.L. Block, "A tribute to Cosmic Dust Pioneer: J. Mayo Greenberg” A special 12 page chapter highlighting the achievements of the J. Mayo Greenberg, in "Penetrating Bars through Masks of Cosmic Dust: The Hubble Tuning Fork strikes a New Note", 1-12 (2004).
   
Non-technical illustrated books for the general public
1. D.L. Block, "Starwatch", Lion Publishing, Oxford, U.K. pp.160 (1988 and 1994). Foreign Language editions in German and Swedish. First print run: 20 000 copies.
2. D.L. Block, “Our Universe: Accident or Design?”
3. D.L. Block and K.C. Freeman “Shrouds of the Night”, To be published by Springer (New York) in 2008.
 
Publications in conference proceedings
1. D.L. Block, "Arcsecond Resolution of Cold Dust in Spiral Galaxies using Optical and NearInfrared Imaging- Dust Masses increase by Nine Hundred Percent" , in The Opacity of Spiral Disks, edited by J. Davies and D. Burstein (Kluwer: Dordrecht, 1995); 227-242.
2. D.L. Block, B.G. Elmegreen, A. Stockton and M. Sauvage, ''The Distribution of dust grains of all temperatures in normal spiral galaxies - Toward a Unified Observational Picture" (an invited paper, 18 printed pages in length, in the book Extragalactic Astronomy in the Infrared eds. Mamon, Thuan and Van, Editions Frontieres, Gifsur-Yvette, France, 1997. Pgs 161-178).
3. Preben J. Grosbøl, David L. Block, Panos A. Patsis, "Location of Dust Lanes in Spiral Galaxies" Dynamics of Galaxies: from the Early Universe to the Present, 15th IAP meeting held in Paris, France, July 9-13, 1999, Eds.: Francoise Combes, Gary A. Mamon, and Vassilis Charmandaris, ASP Conference Series, Vol. 197, ISBN: 1-58381-024-2, 2000, p. 191.
4. D.L. Block, I. Puerari, J. A. Frogel, P.B. Eskridge, A. Stockton and B. Fuchs, “Cosmic Masks still dance”, in “Toward A New Millennium in Galaxy Morphology: from z=O to the Lyman Break” (Kluwer Academic Press, Dordrecht, 2000), pp. 5-29.
5. D.L. Block, I. Puerari, R.J. Buta, R. Abraham, M. Takamiya, A. Stockton, "The Duality of Spiral Structure, and a Quantitative Dust Penetrated Morphological Tuning Fork at Low and High Redshift" in "Galaxy Disks and Disk Galaxies", proceeding of a conference held in Rome, Italy, June 12-16, 2000 at the Pontifical Gregorian University and sponsored by the Vatican Observatory. ASP Conference Series, Vol. 230. Edited by José G. Funes, S. J. and Enrico Maria Corsini. San Francisco: Astronomical Society of the Pacific. ISBN: 1-58381-063-3, 2001, pp. 137-144.
6. Ivânio Puerari, D.L. Block, B.G. Elmegreen, J.A. Frogel, P.B. Eskridge, "The Detection of Spiral Arm Modulation in the Mass Distribution of an Optically Flocculent Galaxy" in "Galaxy Disks and Disk Galaxies", proceeding of a conference held in Rome, Italy, June 12-16, 2000 at the Pontifical Gregorian University and sponsored by the Vatican Observatory. ASP Conference Series, Vol. 230. Edited by José G. Funes, S. J. and Enrico Maria Corsini. San Francisco: Astronomical Society of the Pacific. ISBN: 1-58381-063-3, 2001, pp. 151-152
7. D. L. Block, R. Buta, I. Puerari, J. H. Knapen, B. G. Elmegreen, S. Stedman, D. M. Elmegreen "Penetrating the Mask: All Spial Galaxies become barred on bar torque scales between zero and six", in "The Dynamics, Structure, and History of Galaxies", G. S. Da Costa & H. Jergen, eds., ISBN: 1-58381-114-1. San Francisco. ASP Conf. Ser pp 97-109 (2002).
8. M.S. Seigar, P.A. James, D.L. Block, I. Puerari, "The Link between rotation curve type and spiral arm structure in disk galaxies.", In volume: Galaxy evolution, theory and observations. Cozumel. April 8- 12, 2002
9. Robert Groess, David L. Block, Ivânio Puerari "Bar and spiral torques in the Triangulum Galaxy M33" in in “Penetrating Bars Through Masks of Cosmic Dust: The Hubble Tuning Fork Strikes a New Note” - Springer (New York & Dordrecht), pp. 777-779 (2004).
10. K. Sheth, K. Menendez-Delmestre, N. Scoville, T. Jarrett, L.E. Strubbe, M.W. Regan, E. Schinnerer, D. Block, "Using Bars As Signposts of Galaxy Evolution at High and Low Redshifts", in in “Penetrating Bars Through Masks of Cosmic Dust: The Hubble Tuning Fork Strikes a New Note” - Springer (New York & Dordrecht), pp. 405- 414 (2004).
11. K. Menendez-Delmestre, K. Sheth, N. Scoville, T. Jarrett, E. Schinnerer, M.W. Regan, D. Block, "How Barred is the NIR Nearby Universe? An analysis using 2MASS", in “Penetrating Bars Through Masks of Cosmic Dust: The Hubble Tuning Fork Strikes a New Note” - Springer (New York & Dordrecht), pp. 787-788 (2004).
12. Marc S. Seigar, David L. Block, Ivânio Puerari, "Dust penetrated arm classes: insight from rising and falling rotation curves", in “Penetrating Bars Through Masks of Cosmic Dust: The Hubble Tuning Fork Strikes a New Note” - Springer (New York & Dordrecht), pp. 155-163 (2004).
13. D.L. Block, K.C. Freeman, I. Puerari, F. Combes, R. Buta, T. Jarrett and G. Worthey. “The Hubble Tuning Fork strikes a New Note” in “Penetrating Bars Through Masks of Cosmic Dust: The Hubble Tuning Fork Strikes a New Note” - Springer (New York & Dordrecht), pp. 15-37 (2004).
14.

D.L. Block, I. Puerari, A. Stockton, G. Canalizo, K.C. Freeman, T.H. Jarrett, F. Combes, R. Groess, G. Worthey, R.D. Gehrz, C.E. Woodward, E.F. Polomski, G.G. Fazio, “The Building of Galactic Disks: Insights from the Triangulum Spiral Galaxy Messier 33” to appear in "Galaxy Evolution across the Hubble Time" (eds. Combes, Francoise & Palous, Jan), Springer - New York (to appear 2007).
   
Plenary/invited/keynote addresses
1. Invited speaker at the International Astronomical Union XXXVI Assembly in Prague. Title of invited talk: “Building of Galactic Disks: Insights from the Triangulum Spiral Messier 33” ( 2006).
2. Plenary address delivered at the International Conference "Penetrating Bars through Masks of Cosmic Dust: The Hubble Tuning Fork strikes a New Note" held at Bakubung, South Africa (2004).
3. Keynote speaker at the Conference “Time & Eternity: A Cosmic Odyssey”, C.S. Lewis Foundation. Other keynote speakers included Sir John Polkinghorne FRS, winner of the Templeton Prize. Lecture delivered at the University of Cambridge, UK (2002).
4. Invited speaker at “The Dynamics, Structure and History of Galaxies: A Workshop in Honour of Professor Ken Freeman. “ Dunk Island Resort, Queensland, Australia (2001).
5. Plenary address delivered at the International Conference “”Toward a New Millennium in Galaxy Morphology” held at ESKOM, South Africa (1999).
6. Plenary address "Changing Perceptions of the Morphology and Dust Content in Galaxies" at the International Conference “New Extragalactic Perspectives in the New South Africa held at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa (1996).
7. Invited speaker at the NATO Workshop “The Opacity of Spiral Disks” held at the University of Wales, College of Cardiff (1994).
 
Referee
I have been requested to referee research papers by the following five international research journals:
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Nature
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Astrophysical Journal (USA)
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Astronomical Journal (USA)
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Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (UK)
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Astronomy & Astrophysics (Europe).
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SERVICE TO THE UNIVERSITY/ COMMUNITY
Administration
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Honorary Vice-President, Student Engineers' Council, Chamber of Mines, University of the Witwatersrand (1994/5/6/7).
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Member of the Planetarium Management Committee from early 1980s to present.
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During my tenure at the University, I have served on the Board of the Faculty of Science.
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Acting Head (on a rotational basis) while Prof D.P. Mason was Head of CAM.
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Course coordinator for several of the topics/courses I have lectured.
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Served as a Faculty of Science “Open Day” Coordinator.
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For the period 1989 – 1990, I served as Assistant Dean in the Faculty of Science, Finance Portfolio.
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As Director of the Anglo American Cosmic Dust Laboratory, I have organized three international conferences. Attendance averaged about 100 astronomers per conference. I chaired the SOCS in 1996 and in 1999. The 2004 SOC was co-chaired by K.C. Freeman FRS and myself; the 2004 SOC consisted of some 20 international astronomers. I personally supervised each Conference from the very beginning (raising of sponsorship etc.) to carefully editing the Kluwer/Springer Conference Volumes which combined contain more than 2340 pages. I also chaired the LOC meetings, which usually commenced 12 months prior to each Conference.
In 2006, I was invited by the Dean, Professor. R. Bharuthram, to coordinate the Faculty of Science contribution to the University’s Community Engagement Showcase.
University Outreaches to School Learners
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 I coordinated viewings of the Transit of Venus in the Pilanesberg, Bakubung to school-children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Video-link feeds were also held between the University of Cambridge (UK) and the University of the Witwarersrand.
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 About 6 bi-monthly outreaches to school learners from disadvantaged backgrounds. Large-scale images from Hubble, Spitzer and ground-based telescopes are used to motivate learners. These are held in the University Great Hall, and are attended by 1000 school learners per time The outreaches are sponsored by the TISO Foundation and by Kagiso Exhibitions.
 

Public Lectures (Oral/Radio/Television)

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I have been involved in communicating astronomy and science to the public ever since my student days in the 1970s. For over a decade, I have had weekly radio crossings to Radio 702, for example. My outreaches extend to television (BBC, MNET, etv, DSTV, SABC). When Mark Shuttleworth visited the International Space Station, I was invited to anchor the eight part television series “Around the Block in Eight Days” beamed to millions on the African continent via DSTV.
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I developed a course of 8 public lectures (delivered over a period of one year). The course was held at the Linder Auditorium (1000 seater) and attended by members of the general ublic. The series was entitled “The Greatest Astronomical Discoveries of the Millennium”.
 
DVD for School Learners.
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I have recorded a motivational DVD especially for high school students, entitled “The Power of Vision”. The DVD was produced in a professional TV studio in Johannesburg, and is specifically designed for the young exploring mind. The TISO Foundation sponsored production of the DVD.
 
Presentation of Moon Rock to President N. Mandela
Invited by Professional Aviation Services to show Nelson Mandela a piece of Moon rock collected by Apollo 17 and brought to South Africa from NASA
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