Joseph L. Pawsey

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Joseph Lade Pawsey
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Joseph Pawsey
Pawsey as a research physicist in CSIRO
Born
Joseph Lade Pawsey

(1908-05-14)14 May 1908
Ararat, Victoria, Australia
Died30 November 1962(1962-11-30) (aged 54)
Sydney, Australia
Alma materUniversity of Melbourne
Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Known forEarly leadership of radio astronomy and ionospheric physics,
Radio observations of the Sun and Galaxy
AwardsFellow of the Royal Society[1]
Hughes Medal (1960)
Scientific career
FieldsRadio astronomy
InstitutionsCSIRO

Joseph Lade Pawsey (14 May 1908 – 30 November 1962) was an Australian scientist, radiophysicist and radio astronomer.

Education

Pawsey was born in Ararat, Victoria to a family of farmers. At the age of 14 he was awarded a government scholarship to study at Wesley College, Melbourne, followed by a scholarship to study at the University of Melbourne. In 1929, he earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the university, followed by a Master of Science in Natural Philosophy in 1931.

Pawsey was then awarded an Exhibition Research Scholarship to study at

PhD from Cambridge and in September of that year he married Greta Lenore Nicoll, a 32-year-old Canadian.[3]

Pawsey then became a research physicist at

EMI
until 1939.

Career

In February 1940, Pawsey returned to Australia to work at the recently formed Division of Radiophysics in CSIR (later renamed

CSIRO). One group he led developed a microwave set for the Royal Australian Navy while another group under his direction investigated the 'super-refraction' of radio waves in the Earth's atmosphere.[3]
Pawsey continued as a research physicist at the Division of Radiophysics until 1962, becoming assistant chief of division in 1952.

At the end of

corona at one million degrees. The observations with the Collaroy antenna not only marked the beginning of radio astronomy in Australia, but also the first time radio astronomy had provided important information on a problem in traditional optical astronomy.[4]

The introduction of interferometry was probably Pawsey's most important contribution to radio astronomy.

Cambridge University led by Martin Ryle.[4]

Members of Pawsey's group invented techniques that were subsequently incorporated into general use in radio astronomy and made important discoveries about the discrete sources of radio emission in the Milky Way and external galaxies.

Paul Wild
, who in 1971 became division chief, said:

Joe Pawsey was the ... father of radio astronomy in Australia. ... His influence on the growth of radio astronomy in Australia was great because … he just provided ideal conditions, an ideal environment to allow everyone to use their own initiative. ... [He] was a wonderfully inspiring leader, very self-effacing and taking no credit for himself, and he was a delight to work under. ... [His advice] was often very perceptive, very good".[5][6]

International authorities gave much credit to his leadership. In 1963, in his introduction to the Utrecht Symposium on the Solar Spectrum, Professor M.G.J. Minnaert remarked:

The history of solar radio-spectroscopy is mainly the history of Australian work on this subject. At each meeting of the IAU, at each important symposium on radio-astronomy, highly competent specialists such as Wild, Smerd and Christianson, headed by the dynamic personality of ... Pawsey, were able to announce spectacular progress.[7]

In 1952, Pawsey became president of the Radio Astronomy Commission of the

brain tumour before he took office.[3] He was survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.[8]

The crater Pawsey on the Moon is named after him.[9] Also named after him is the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre,[10] the home of petascale supercomputing facilities and expertise to support international Square Kilometre Array research and other high-end science (based at Technology Park in the Perth suburb of Kensington).

Awards and honours

Bibliography

  • R.N. Bracewell and J.L. Pawsey, Radio Astronomy, 1955, Clarendon Press.
  • J L Pawsey et al., "Cosmic radio waves and their interpretation", 1961, Rep. Prog. Phys. 24.

See also

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.1098/rsbm.1964.0014
    .
  2. ^ a b c d "Joseph Pawsey: Radiophysicist and Radio Astronomer". Archived from the original on 25 February 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  3. ^ a b c d e Robertson, Peter. Pawsey, Joseph Lade (Joe) (1908–1962). Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, Canberra. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-0-521-41408-1
    .
  5. ISBN 0642106169
    .
  6. ISBN 0642106665
    .
  7. ^ de Jager, C., ed. (1965). The Solar spectrum: proceedings of the symposium held at the University of Utrecht, 26–31 August, 1963. Dordrecht, Holland: D. Reidel Pub. Co. p. 4.
  8. ^ "Death of Dr J. L. Pawsey, Scientist, 54". The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 December 1962.
  9. ^ "Planetary Names". planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  10. ^ "Pawsey Centre". Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  11. ^ "Two scientists honoured", The Canberra Times, 13 January 1954.
  12. ^ Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal Archived 28 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Australian Academy of Science, retrieved 2010-06-06.
  13. The Royal Society
    . Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  14. ^ "Matthew Flinders Medal and Lecture". Australian Academy of Science. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  15. ^ "Deceased Fellows and memoirs". Australian Academy of Science. Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2012.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joseph_L._Pawsey&oldid=1170604625"