As of the year 2007, the Natural Sciences Collection Unit of Déri Múzeum in Debrecen will launch its history of sciences exhibition series called Debrecen és a természettudományok kapcsolata (The Relationship between Debrecen and Natural Sciences). Within the framework of this series, we intend to present the lifeworks of such Debrecen-born educators, researchers, and scholars who have produced outstanding achievements at the national or international level in one or several fields of natural sciences (including geography, cartography, geology, zoology, botany, ecology, astronomy, etc.) and have managed to maintain close professional and/or personal ties with the city of Debrecen throughout their lives.

By hosting these spectacular exhibitions, celebrating the life-paths and professional achievements of both internationally famous and less acclaimed scholars, we wish to salute them for having rightly acquired the acknowledgment of their contemporaries through their excellent professional achievements and extraordinary personal traits while coincidentally setting an example to follow for successive generations of students and scholars alike.

The opening exhibition of the series is devoted to the uniquely versatile lifework of dr. Dénes Balázs (1924-1994), geographer, speleologist, author of several books on geography, organizer of scholarly and scientific activities, and founder of a museum. Dr. Balázs has been an outstanding figure of the discipline of Hungarian geography whose books and fascinating travelogues provided food for thought for a number of generations. Prompted by his charismatic way of lecturing and by his books written in a truly impressive style, numerous people have chosen the cultivation of the field of geography for their vocation and have turned definitively towards the exact sciences and towards uncovering the natural secrets of our wonderful planet, the Earth.