My tribute to Sir William Smith, teacher extraordinaire

Every one of us, at some point, has someone who influences our lives in ways we only realise much later. Mr William Smith was one such person who influenced mine. As a high school student racing to the end of my schooling career, I pursued extra classes over weekends at the then University of Natal, in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.And it was here that I chanced upon a man who changed my perspective and my love for the above-named subjects. Smith did not simply teach Physics and Chemistry — he policed it — he “hammered” it, as it were. He enforced it — and even if one “hated”…