Mr Zeus Amphion Merfield (OM 1918)
Last updated: 2008
Zeus Merfield was among Australia's leading astrophysicists. Merfield pursued his interest in outer space by exploring the physical processes at work in the universe. He studied at The University of Melbourne, where he became a Research Assistant and then a Research Fellow.
During the 1920s he led a number of observatory and solar eclipse expeditions. He was selected as Australian representative to the 1928 International Astronomical Union Congress in the Netherlands. From 1932 to 1938 he established and ran Merfield & Sons, a firm of Consultant Physicists.
After the Second World War he became Senior Experimental Officer in the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research's Aeronautics Division. He was then a physicist at the Commonwealth Department of Supply Aeronautical Research Laboratories, where he worked for 15 years.
Merfield was honoured as a Freeman of the City of London and was a Liveryman of Worshipful Company of Clockmakers.
Melbourne Grammar School marked its sesquicentenary in 2008. As part of the celebrations, a Talents Committed Exhibition was staged. This exhibition recognised 150 Old Melburnians who have made a difference to the City of Melbourne, the State of Victoria and the wider community in Australia and overseas.
The above profile was included in the Talents Committed Exhibition in 2008.