Antony Hewish
Antony Hewish
Antony Hewish | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 11 May 1924 Fowey, England |
| Died | 13 September 2021 (aged 97) |
| Nationality | United Kingdom |
| Education | King's College, Taunton |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge (BA, PhD) |
| Known for | Pulsars |
| Spouse(s) | Marjorie Richards (m. 1950) |
| Awards |
|
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Radio astronomy |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | The fluctuations of galactic radio waves (1952) |
| Doctoral students | Jocelyn Bell Burnell[2] |
Antony Hewish FRS FInstP[3] (11 May 1924 – 13 September 2021) was a British radio astronomer who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1974 (together with fellow radio-astronomer Martin Ryle)[4] for his role in the discovery of pulsars. He was also awarded the Eddington Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1969.[5][6][7]
Early life and education[edit]
Hewish attended King's College, Taunton. His undergraduate degree at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, was interrupted by war service at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, and at the Telecommunications Research Establishment where he worked with Martin Ryle.[8] Returning to Cambridge in 1946, Hewish completed his degree and immediately joined Ryle's research team at the Cavendish Laboratory. For his PhD thesis, awarded in 1952, Hewish made both practical and theoretical advances in the observation and exploitation of the apparent scintillations of radio sources due to their radiation impinging upon plasma.[9]
Career and research[edit]
Hewish proposed, and secured funding for, the construction of the Interplanetary Scintillation Array, a large array radio telescope at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory (MRAO), Cambridge to conduct a high time-resolution radio survey of interplanetary scintillation. It was completed in 1967. One of Hewish's PhD students, Jocelyn Bell (later known as Jocelyn Bell Burnell), helped to build the array and was assigned to analyse its output. Bell soon discovered a radio source which was ultimately recognised as the first pulsar. The scientific paper announcing the discovery[10] had five authors, Hewish's name being listed first, Bell's second. Hewish and Ryle were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1974 for work on the development of radio aperture synthesis and for Hewish's decisive role in the discovery of pulsars. The exclusion of Bell from the Nobel prize was controversial and condemned by Hewish's fellow astronomer Fred Hoyle.[11] See Nobel prize controversies.[12]
Hewish was professor of radio astronomy in the Cavendish Laboratory from 1971 to 1989 and head of the MRAO from 1982 to 1988.[8] He developed an association with the Royal Institution in London when it was directed by Sir Lawrence Bragg. In 1965 he was invited to co-deliver the Royal Institution Christmas Lecture on "Exploration of the Universe". He subsequently gave several Friday Evening Discourses[7] and was made a Professor of the Royal Institution in 1977.[1][13] Hewish was a fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge. He was also a member of the Advisory Council for the Campaign for Science and Engineering.[14]
Awards and honours[edit]
Hewish had honorary degrees from six universities, including Manchester, Exeter and Cambridge, was a foreign member of the Belgian Royal Academy, American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Indian National Science Academy. The National Portrait Gallery holds multiple portraits of him in its permanent collection. [15] Other awards and honours include:[1]
- Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1968[3]
- Eddington Medal, Royal Astronomical Society (1969)[8]
- Dellinger Gold Medal, International Union of Radio Science (1972)[8]
- Albert A. Michelson Medal, Franklin Institute (1973, jointly with Jocelyn Bell Burnell)[16]
- Fernand Holweck Medal and Prize (1974)[8]
- Nobel Prize for Physics (jointly) (1974)[8]
- Hughes Medal, Royal Society (1976)[8]
- Elected a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (FInstP) in 1998[1]
Personal life[edit]
Hewish married Marjorie Elizabeth Catherine Richards in 1950. They had a son, a physicist, and a daughter, a language teacher.[7][17] Hewish died on 13 September 2021, aged 97.[8][18][19]
Religious views[edit]
Hewish argued that religion and science are complementary. In the foreword to Questions of Truth, Hewish writes, "The ghostly presence of virtual particles defies rational common sense and is non-intuitive for those unacquainted with physics. Religious belief in God, and Christian belief ... may seem strange to common-sense thinking. But when the most elementary physical things behave in this way, we should be prepared to accept that the deepest aspects of our existence go beyond our common-sense understanding."[20]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d "HEWISH, Prof. Antony". Who's Who. ukwhoswho.com. 2015 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription or UK public library membership required) (subscription required)
- ^ Bell, Susan Jocelyn (1968). The Measurement of radio source diameters using a diffraction method. repository.cam.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of Cambridge. doi:10.17863/CAM.4926. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.449485.
- ^ a b "Professor Antony Hewish FRS". London: Royal Society. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015.
- ^ István., Hargittai (2007) [2002]. The road to Stockholm : Nobel Prizes, science, and scientists. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0198607854. OCLC 818659203.
- ^ Hewish, A (1975). "Pulsars and High Density Physics". Science (published 13 June 1975). 188 (4193): 1079–1083. Bibcode:1975Sci...188.1079H. doi:10.1126/science.188.4193.1079. PMID 17798425. S2CID 122436403.
- ^ "Antony Hewish". nobel-winners.com. 2006. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- ^ a b c "Antony Hewish – Biographical". nobelprize.org. 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Professor Antony Hewish (1924 – 2021)". Gonville & Caius College. 16 September 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
- ^ Hewish, Antony (1952). The Fluctuations of Galactic Radio Waves (PhD thesis). University of Cambridge.
- ^ Hewish, A.; Bell, S. J.; Pilkington, J. D. H.; Scott, P. F. & Collins, R. A. (February 1968). "Observation of a Rapidly Pulsating Radio Source". Nature. 217 (5130): 709–713. Bibcode:1968Natur.217..709H. doi:10.1038/217709a0. S2CID 4277613. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- ^ "The Life Scientific, Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell". BBC Radio 4. 25 October 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- ^ Bell Burnell, S. Jocelyn (January 1979). "Little Green Men, White Dwarfs or Pulsars?". Cosmic Search. 1 (1): 16. Bibcode:1979CosSe...1...16B. Archived from the original on 6 June 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- ^ but according to a search of the Royal Institution website he was Professor of Astronomy during 1976–1981
- ^ "Advisory Council". Campaign for Science and Engineering. Archived from the original on 28 August 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
- ^ "Antony Hewish - Person - National Portrait Gallery". National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ "Franklin Laureate Database – Albert A. Michelson Medal Laureates". Franklin Institute. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
- ^ "Janus: The Papers of Professor Antony Hewish". Cambridge University Library. 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- ^ "Professor Antony Hewish, astronomer who jointly won the Nobel Prize for the discovery of pulsars – obituary". 16 September 2021. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
- ^ https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/17/science/space/antony-hewish-dead.html
- ^ Polkinghorne, John; Beale, Nicholas (19 January 2009). Questions of Truth: Fifty-one Responses to Questions about God, Science, and Belief. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-61164-003-8. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
External links[edit]
 | Wikiquote has quotations related to: Antony Hewish |
- "Antony Hewish interviewed on Web of Stories". Web of Stories.
- Interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 26 March 2008 (video)
- Antony Hewish on Nobelprize.org
including the Nobel Lecture, 12 December 1974 Pulsars and High Density Physics
Further reading[edit]
- Smith, Harrison (17 September 2021). "Antony Hewish, astronomer who won Nobel Prize for the discovery of pulsars, dies at 97". Obituaries. Washington Post. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- "Professor Antony Hewish FRS, 11 May 1924 - 13 September 2021". Churchill College, Cambridge. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
| General | |
|---|---|
| National libraries | |
| Other | |
- 1924 births
- 2021 deaths
- Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
- 20th-century British astronomers
- British Nobel laureates
- Fellows of Churchill College, Cambridge
- Fellows of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
- Nobel laureates in Physics
- People from Fowey
- Fellows of the Royal Society
- Foreign Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy
- English Christians
- People educated at King's College, Taunton
- People from Taunton
- English Nobel laureates
- Spectroscopists
- Radio astronomers
Comments
Post a Comment