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Overview
The T.K. Sidey medal is awarded by the Royal Society of New Zealand for outstanding scientific research in electromagnetic radiation. The medal was established to commemorate the passing of the Summer-Time Act 1927.
The obverse depicts a profile of Sidey facing left with the inscriptions “CARPE DIEM” “TO COMMEMORATE THE WORK OF SIR THOMAS K. SIDEY IN REGARD TO SVMMER TIME / NEW ZEALAND / 1909 TO 1927.”
The reverse depicts two classically draped female figures, Demeter (Goddess of the Harvest), left, and Hygeia (Goddess of Health), right, with the sun above. Demeter holds a sheaf of wheat in one hand, a wreath in the other. Hugeia holds a bowl in the left hand andhas a snakearound her right arm. The legend reads "AWARDED BY THE NEW ZEALAND INSTITVTE FOR RESEARCH IN RADIATION AS BEARING ON HVMAN WELFARE". There are two Greek words on either side that can be read as "earthmother" and "health"
Thomas Sidey
Thomas Sidey was a politician in the early twentieth century. In Parliament, Sidey fought for the acceptance of the New Zealand Local Time Bill, which aimed to increase the leisure time available in the evenings during the summer. Sidey was finally successful in 1927, after 18 years of lobbying, with the passing of the Summer Time Act.