Jump to content

Antony Hewish

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Antony Hewish
FRSFInstP
Nobel Prize portrait, 1974
Born(1924-05-11)11 May 1924
Fowey,Cornwall, England
Died13 September 2021(2021-09-13)(aged 97)
NationalityBritish[2]
EducationKing's College, Taunton
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge(BA, PhD)
Known forPulsars
Spouse
Marjorie Richards
​
(m.1950)​
[3]
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsRadio astronomy
Institutions
ThesisThe fluctuations of galactic radio waves(1952)
Doctoral studentsJocelyn Bell Burnell[1]

Antony HewishFRSFInstP[4](11 May 1924 – 13 September 2021) was a Britishradio astronomerwho won theNobel Prize for Physicsin 1974 (together with fellow radio-astronomerMartin Ryle)[5]for his role in the discovery ofpulsars.He was also awarded theEddington Medalof theRoyal Astronomical Societyin 1969.[6][7][8]

Early life and education

[edit]

Hewish attendedKing's College, Taunton.[9]Hisundergraduate degree,atGonville and Caius College, Cambridge,was interrupted by theSecond World War.He was assigned to war service at theRoyal Aircraft Establishment,and at theTelecommunications Research Establishmentwhere he worked withMartin Ryle.[10]Returning to theUniversity of Cambridgein 1946, Hewish completed his undergraduate degree and became apostgraduate studentinRyle's research teamat theCavendish Laboratory.[9]For hisPhD thesis,awarded in 1952, Hewish made practical and theoretical advances in the observation and exploitation of thescintillationsofastronomical radio sources,due to foregroundplasma.[11]

Career and research

[edit]

Hewish proposed the construction of a largephased arrayradio telescope, which could be used to perform asurveyat hightime resolution,primarily for studyinginterplanetary scintillation.[9]In 1965 he secured funding to construct his design, theInterplanetary Scintillation Array,at theMullard Radio Astronomy Observatory (MRAO)outsideCambridge.[9]It was completed in 1967. One of Hewish'sPhDstudents,Jocelyn Bell(later known as Jocelyn Bell Burnell), helped to build the array and was assigned to analyse its output.[9]Bell soon discovered a radio source which was ultimately recognised as the firstpulsar.Hewish initially thought that the signal might beradio frequency interference,[12]but it remained at a constantright ascension,which is unlikely for a terrestrial source.[1][13]Thescientific paperannouncing the discovery[13]had five authors, Hewish's name beinglisted first,Bell's second.

Hewish and Ryle were awarded theNobel Prize in Physicsin 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 (seeNobel prize controversies). Fellow Cambridge astronomerFred Hoyleargued that Bell should have received a share of the prize,[14]although Bell herself stated "it would demean Nobel Prizes if they were awarded to research students, except in very exceptional cases, and I do not believe this is one of them".[15]Michael Rowan-Robinsonlater wrote that "Hewish was undoubtedly the major player in the work that led to the discovery, inventing the scintillation technique in 1952, leading the team that built the array and made the discovery, and providing the interpretation".[9]

Hewish at a conference in 1976

Hewish was professor of radio astronomy in theCavendish Laboratoryfrom 1971 to 1989 and head of theMRAOfrom 1982 to 1988.[10]He developed an association with theRoyal Institutionin London when it was directed by SirLawrence Bragg.In 1965 he was invited to co-deliver theRoyal Institution Christmas Lectureon "Exploration of the Universe". He subsequently gave several Friday Evening Discourses[8]and was made a Professor of the Royal Institution in 1977.[3][16]Hewish was afellowofChurchill College, Cambridge.He was also a member of the Advisory Council for theCampaign for Science and Engineering.[17]

Awards and honours

[edit]

Hewish had honorary degrees from six universities, including Manchester, Exeter and Cambridge, was a foreign member of theBelgian Royal Academy,American Academy of Arts and Sciencesand theIndian National Science Academy.TheNational Portrait Galleryholds multiple portraits of him in its permanent collection.[18]Other awards and honours include:[3]

Personal life

[edit]

Hewish married Marjorie Elizabeth Catherine Richards in 1950. They had a son, a physicist, and a daughter, a language teacher.[8][21]Hewish died on 13 September 2021, aged 97.[10]

Religious views

[edit]

Hewish argued that religion and science are complementary. In the foreword toQuestions of Truth,Hewish writes, "The ghostly presence ofvirtual particlesdefies 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. "[22]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^abBell, 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.EThOSuk.bl.ethos.449485.Free access icon
  2. ^"Anthony Hewish".Encyclopaedia Britannica.Retrieved16 January2023.
  3. ^abcd"HEWISH, Prof. Antony".Who's Who.Vol. 2015 (onlineOxford University Pressed.). A & C Black.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
  4. ^ab"Professor Antony Hewish FRS".London:Royal Society.Archived fromthe originalon 17 November 2015.
  5. ^István., Hargittai (2007) [2002].The road to Stockholm: Nobel Prizes, science, and scientists.Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0198607854.OCLC818659203.
  6. ^Hewish, A (1975)."Pulsars and High Density Physics".Science.188(4193) (published 13 June 1975): 1079–1083.Bibcode:1975Sci...188.1079H.doi:10.1126/science.188.4193.1079.PMID17798425.S2CID122436403.
  7. ^"Antony Hewish".nobel-winners.2006.Retrieved16 December2015.
  8. ^abc"Antony Hewish – Biographical".nobelprize.org.2015.Retrieved16 December2015.
  9. ^abcdefRowan-Robinson, Michael(3 October 2021)."Antony Hewish obituary".The Guardian.Retrieved5 October2021.
  10. ^abcdefgh"Professor Antony Hewish (1924 – 2021)".Gonville & Caius College.16 September 2021.Retrieved16 September2021.
  11. ^Hewish, Antony (1952).The Fluctuations of Galactic Radio Waves(PhD thesis). University of Cambridge.
  12. ^Wamsley, Laurel (6 September 2018)."In 1974, They Gave The Nobel To Her Supervisor. Now She's Won A $3 Million Prize".NPR.Retrieved1 March2023.
  13. ^abHewish, 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.S2CID4277613.Retrieved16 December2015.
  14. ^"The Life Scientific, Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell".BBC Radio 4.25 October 2011.Retrieved16 December2015.
  15. ^Bell Burnell, S. Jocelyn (January 1979)."Little Green Men, White Dwarfs or Pulsars?".Cosmic Search.1(1): 16.Bibcode:1979CosSe...1...16B.Archived fromthe originalon 6 June 2013.Retrieved16 December2015.
  16. ^but according to a search of theRoyal Institutionwebsite[full citation needed]he was Professor of Astronomy during 1976–1981
  17. ^"Advisory Council".Campaign for Science and Engineering.Archived fromthe originalon 28 August 2010.Retrieved11 February2011.
  18. ^"Antony Hewish - Person - National Portrait Gallery".National Portrait Gallery, London.Archivedfrom the original on 17 February 2020.Retrieved17 September2021.
  19. ^Longair, Malcolm S. (2022)."Antony Hewish. 11 May 1924—13 September 2021".Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society.72:173–196.doi:10.1098/rsbm.2021.0045.S2CID247453648.
  20. ^"Franklin Laureate Database – Albert A. Michelson Medal Laureates".Franklin Institute.Archived fromthe originalon 6 April 2012.Retrieved15 June2011.
  21. ^"The Papers of Professor Antony Hewish".Churchill Archives Centre.Archivedfrom the original on 4 October 2021.Retrieved11 October2021.
  22. ^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.ISBN978-1-61164-003-8.Retrieved27 July2012.

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related toAntony Hewish.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Antony_Hewish&oldid=1234676412"