South African school children placed last in math and science, according to a recently released global study. The South African science score was less than half the test average. There's a need to push science as a whole, and just teaching people through book work won't be the way to do it. The South African Large Telescope , to be built in four to five years, will help scientists study the formation of the universe. With an effective aperture of 11 yards, it initially will tie as the world's largest optical telescope with the twin Keck telescopes in Hawaii.
Plans are under way for larger telescopes in the northern hemisphere.
The telescope will specialize in spectroscopy, measuring the colors present in light reflected by an object to learn what materials it comprises and how it is moving. The government hopes the telescope will also boost tourism and improve the skills of South African companies, which will do much of the construction and provide most of the materials. The telescope will stand in the desolate Karoo region. Cape Town is 175 miles to the southwest. The telescope will give scientists a better view of the Magellanic Clouds, galaxies that are impossible to observe from the Northern Hemisphere, Dennefeld said.