Australia did not have a learned society for the whole of the Commonwealth of Australia equivalent to the (British) Royal Society - each of the states had its own. (For example, the Royal Society of New South Wales.) Martyn was one of the then 12 Fellows of the Royal Society resident in Australia, and it was largely through his patient negotiation that the various scientific bodies in Australia agreed that 11 of these 12 Fellows were independent enough to form a credible Australian Academy of Science (AAS), which they did in 1954. As well as being a Foundation Fellow of the AAS, he was elected its Secretary for Physical Sciences for 1954-5 and its president for 1969 until his death in 1970. He was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1980.[9]
His tours, lectures, diplomacy and encouragement were strongly influential in establishing an effectively communicating Australian scientific community. His main interests were radiographic studies of the upper atmosphere and the sun, though his main contributions were theoretical. In 1959, Martyn delivered the first four of the annual series of ABC lectures (subsequently named the Boyer Lectures) on "Society in the Space Age".[2]
Personal
Martyn was born in Cambuslang, Scotland, the son of Harry Somerville Martyn, ophthalmic surgeon and Elizabeth Craig Allan, née Thom.[4] He was a keen trout fisherman, which partly explains his growing interests in environmental matters.[2] He married Margot Adams, from Sydney in 1944. They had no children.[2] He died in Camden, New South Wales on 5 March 1970.[4]
