Ordinary Meeting and Exhibition Meeting, 2005 June 25

The Merlin Medal and Gift

The President announced that the Merlin Medal and Gift were to be awarded to Mr Melvyn Taylor, in recognition of his prolific observational work, submitting observations of the finest quality to so many of the Association's Observing Sections, most notably the Variable Star, Comet and Meteor Sections. The number that he had submitted to the Variable Star Section now exceeded 80,000, assuring his undoubted position as one of the UK's leading variable star observers. In addition to his observational work, Mr Taylor had also held many administrative posts within the Section, including those of Secretary, Assistant Director and Binocular Secretary. It was added that Mr Taylor was also renown for his talent for communicating his knowledge to newcomers to the Section.

After the applause, Mr Taylor wished to thank the Association for honouring him in this way. He wished especially to thank the members of his local astronomical societies, the Leeds Astronomical Society, with which he was very proud to have recently celebrated his fortieth anniversary of joining, and the West Yorkshire Astronomical Society. Finally, he wished to recommend the Scottish Astronomers' Group Weekends to all members in the area: he felt that he had gleaned a great wealth of knowledge from the recent such events.