Grocott's Mail
    Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Monday, May 19
    Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Grocott's Mail
    • NEWS
      • Courts & Crime
      • Features
      • Politics
      • People
      • Health & Well-being
    • SPORT
      • News
      • Results
      • Sports Diary
      • Club Contacts
      • Columns
      • Sport Galleries
      • Sport Videos
    • OPINION
      • Election Connection
      • Makana Voices
      • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
      • Newtown… Old Eyes
      • Incisive View
      • Your Say
    • ARTSLIFE
      • Cue
        • Cue Archives
      • Makana Sharp!
      • Visual Art
      • Literature
      • Food
      • Festivals
      • Community Arts
      • Going Places
    • OUR TOWN
      • What’s on
      • Spiritual
      • Emergency & Well-being
      • Covid-19
      • Safety
      • Civic
      • Municipality
      • Weather
      • Properties
        • Grahamstown Properties
      • Your Town, Our Town
    • OUTSIDE
      • Enviro News
      • Gardening
      • Farming
      • Science
      • Conservation
      • Motoring
      • Pets/Animals
    • ECONOMIX
      • Business News
      • Entrepreneurship
      • Personal Finance
    • EDUCATION
      • Education NEWS
      • Education OUR TOWN
      • Education INFO
    • EDITORIAL
    Grocott's Mail
    You are at:Home»ARTS & LIFE»The Annotated Old Four Legs
    ARTS & LIFE

    The Annotated Old Four Legs

    Steven LangBy Steven LangNovember 16, 2017Updated:November 22, 2017No Comments2 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

    Prof. Mike Bruton launched his latest book, The Annotated Old Fourlegs – The updated story of the Coelacanth at the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) last night. About sixty people attended the launch and lecture at the institute that Bruton once headed.

    The coelacanth is a rare fish that until 1938 was believed to be extinct since it was only known from fossils, many of which are considerably older than the dinosaurs.

    The legendary fish scientist, Prof JLB Smith published the original Old Fourlegs book in 1956 almost 18 years after the first living coelacanth was hauled up from the ocean off the coast of East London.

    Bruton said his motivation for republishing Smith’s book with the annotations was to “keep the coelacanth story alive” so that young people could learn about it and feel inspired to study this uniquely South African contribution to science.

    He explained that on his bookshelves he had a copy of The Annotated Alice and appreciated how much value the annotations added to Lewis Carroll’s classic so he thought he could do the same for old fourlegs. Bruton added a wealth of fascinating insights and stories to the margin notes of the original texts which are published in full.

    Bruton’s contributions make an already readable book more modern and relevant to today’s readers.

    This evening (Friday) Prof Bruton will be launching a second book, What a Great Idea! Awesome South African Inventions, at the Albany Museum at six pm. Both books will be available for sale at the venue.

    Previous ArticleLots of rain… and snow in November
    Next Article Southern Kings vs Scarlets at NMBS
    Steven Lang
    • Website

    Comments are closed.

    Code of Ethics and Conduct
    GROCOTT’S SUBSCRIPTION
    RMR
    Listen to RMR


    Humans of Makhanda

    Humans of Makhanda

    Weather    |     About     |     Advertise     |     Subscribe     |     Contact     |     Support Grocott’s Mail

    © 2025 Maintained by School of Journalism & Media Studies.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.