Radio astronomer : John Bolton and a new window on the universe / Peter Robertson ; foreword by Ron Ekers and Ken Kellermann.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Robertson, Peter (Science writer), author.

Contributor:

Ekers, R. D. (Ron D.), writer of foreword.

Kellermann, Kenneth I., 1937- writer of foreword.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bolton, J. G.

Parkes Observatory.

Astronomers--Australia--Biography.

Astronomers.

Radio astronomy--Australia--History.

Radio astronomy.

Radio telescopes--Australia--New South Wales.

Radio telescopes.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (viii, 421 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Sydney, NSW : NewSouth Publishing, 2017.

Summary:

"The leading Australian astronomer of his generation, John Bolton (1922-93), was born in Sheffield and educated at Cambridge University. After wartime service in the Royal Navy, he arrived in Sydney and joined the CSIRO Radiophysics Laboratory. In the late 1940s he discovered and identified the first discrete radio sources, unusual objects at vast distances with intense emission at radio frequencies. These discoveries marked the birth of a new field extragalactic radio astronomy.Bolton had the unusual distinction of being the inaugural director of two new observatories. In the late 1950s at Caltech he built the first major observatory for radio astronomy in the United States, and then returned to Australia to take charge of the newly completed Parkes telescope in New South Wales featured in the acclaimed film The Dish. In this thoroughly researched and generously illustrated biography, Peter Robertson tells the remarkable story of how John Bolton, and his CSIRO colleagues, propelled Australia to the forefront of international radio astronomy." --Inside jacket.

Contents:

Front Cover

Title Page

Half Title

Dedication

Copyright

Contents

Foreword by Ron Ekers and Ken Kellermann

Prologue

1. A Yorkshire lad

2. Farewell to old England

3. Under the Milky Way

4. Go east, young man

5. Australia leads the way

6. Head in the clouds

7. Welcome to Millikan's school

8. High in the Sierras

9. Radiophysics in transition

10. Starting with a splash

11. Charting southern skies

12. A salute to Karl

13. One small step

14. Astronomer at large

15. A sunburnt Yorkshireman

Notes

Acknowledgments

Bibliography

Selected Bolton publications

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-74224-274-X