Andrew Yee[_1_]
July 25th 07, 09:30 PM
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
P.O. Box O
Socorro, NM 87801
http://www.nrao.edu
Contacts:
Jay Lockman
(304) 456-2302
Dave Finley, Public Information Officer
Socorro, NM
(505) 835-7302
July 23, 2007
New Book Recounts Exciting, Colorful History Of Radio Astronomy in Green
Bank, West Virginia
A new book published by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)
tells the story of the founding and early years of the Observatory at Green
Bank, West Virginia. But it was Fun: the first forty years of radio
astronomy at Green Bank, is not a formal history, but rather a scrapbook of
early memos, recollections, anecdotes and reports. But it was Fun... is
liberally illustrated with archival photographs. It includes historical and
scientific papers from symposia held in 1987 and 1995 to celebrate the
birthdays of two of the radio telescopes at the Observatory.
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory was formed in 1956 after the
National Science Foundation decided to establish an observatory in the
eastern United States for the study of faint radio signals from distant
objects in the Universe. But it was Fun... reprints early memos from the
group of scientists who searched the mountains for a suitable site -- an
area free from radio transmitters and other sources of radio interference --
"in a valley surrounded by as many ranges of high mountains in as many
directions as possible," which was "at least 50 miles distant from any city
or other concentration of people." The committee settled on Green Bank, a
small village in West Virginia, and the book documents the struggles that
followed to create a world-class scientific facility in an isolated area
more accustomed to cows than computers.
Groundbreaking at the Observatory, then a patchwork of farms and fields,
took place in October 1957, only a few days after the launch of Sputnik by
the Soviet Union. A year later, Green Bank's first telescope was dedicated,
and the book contains a transcription of speeches given at that ceremony,
when the Cold War, the space race and America's scientific stature were
issues of the hour.
The centerpiece of the new Observatory was to be a highly-precise radio
telescope 140 feet in diameter, but it was expected that it would soon be
surpassed by dishes of much greater size. The book reprints internal memos,
reports, and recollections of astronomers who were there, as the initial
elation turned to frustration when the 140 Foot Telescope project became
mired in technical difficulties, plans for larger dishes were put on hold,
and the scientific staff of the fledgling Observatory struggled to create a
National Observatory with inadequate equipment in a very remote location.
Articles by David Heeschen and John Findlay tell the story of the creation
of the 300 Foot Telescope, at that time the largest in the world, which went
from initial concept to full operation in only 23 months, and began a rich
life of research that put the NRAO on the world scientific map. The 300 Foot
Telescope was originally intended to be an interim instrument, but as
documented in the book, demand for its use was so high that it was kept in
operation long after its initial planned retirement, with regular upgrades
and new generations of electronics.
The sudden collapse of the 300 Foot Telescope on a calm evening after 26
years of operation shocked the astronomical community. But it was Fun...
features dramatic first-hand accounts by the people who were there that
night: the telescope operator who found himself under a falling structure;
the Observatory staff who at first could not believe what happened, and
those who worked during the night and into the next day to secure the area,
preserve information on what happened, and deal with the rush of publicity.
The book includes extensive photographs and the Executive Summary Report of
the panel which was commissioned to investigate the collapse and its
implication for the design of other large radio telescopes.
But it was Fun... will appeal to a variety of audiences. Historians of
science will be interested in the articles by David Heeschen, Gerald Tape,
and Hugh van Horn, on the evolution of the concept of a National
Observatory, and the difficulties of putting the concepts into practice in
Green Bank. Those interested in astronomical discovery will find fascinating
and highly personal accounts by Peter Mezger on observations of radio
recombination lines, by Lewis Snyder and Barry Turner on the early days of
astrochemistry, by Don Backer and David Nice on observations of pulsars, and
by David Shaffer, James Moran, Ken Kellermann and Barry Clark on aspects of
the development of long baseline interferometric techniques.
Today's generation of scientists will find interesting reminiscences by
Patrick Palmer, Thomas Wilson, and Nobel Laureate Joseph Taylor on their
experiences as graduate students doing thesis research at Green Bank, and
from Sebastian von Hoerner and Jaap Baars on their work in telescope
development. The volume also relates the entry of computers into radio
astronomy, and reprints the one-page memo from 1960 which laid out the
protocol for use of the new "single roll of magnetic tape" just acquired by
the Observatory.
A major portion of the book describes some singular events associated with
this singular place: the first search for radio signals from
extraterrestrial civilizations -- Project Ozma -- conducted by Dr. Frank
Drake in 1960. But it was Fun... documents how this routine project thrust
the NRAO into the national spotlight to the discomfort of its director, a
distinguished astronomer of the old school. The book also recounts a few
episodes in the amazing life of Grote Reber, the engineer who built the
first-ever radio dish in his backyard and was a regular visitor to Green
Bank.
The NRAO Green Bank Observatory is an international center for research, and
in two unique and frequently hilarious articles, Ken Kellermann and Barry
Clark tell their stories of the first cooperative radio astronomical
projects between the Soviet Union and the U.S., which involved transporting
an atomic clock from Green Bank to a Soviet Observatory on the Black Sea at
a time when international tensions were high, and it was impossible to make
a phone call from the USSR to Green Bank.
But it was Fun... includes a historical introduction which summarizes the
early development of radio astronomy and events at the NRAO in Green Bank, a
list of science highlights from the 300 Foot and 140 Foot Telescope research
programs, chronologies of technical developments and lists of the early
users. But it was Fun: the first 40 years of radio astronomy at Green Bank
is a unique book which offers insight on the workings of a major scientific
institution and the "overabundance of interesting people" who have populated
it.
The book is available from the NRAO. For information on ordering, see:
http://www.gb.nrao.edu/epo/itwasfun.html
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National
Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated
Universities, Inc.
P.O. Box O
Socorro, NM 87801
http://www.nrao.edu
Contacts:
Jay Lockman
(304) 456-2302
Dave Finley, Public Information Officer
Socorro, NM
(505) 835-7302
July 23, 2007
New Book Recounts Exciting, Colorful History Of Radio Astronomy in Green
Bank, West Virginia
A new book published by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)
tells the story of the founding and early years of the Observatory at Green
Bank, West Virginia. But it was Fun: the first forty years of radio
astronomy at Green Bank, is not a formal history, but rather a scrapbook of
early memos, recollections, anecdotes and reports. But it was Fun... is
liberally illustrated with archival photographs. It includes historical and
scientific papers from symposia held in 1987 and 1995 to celebrate the
birthdays of two of the radio telescopes at the Observatory.
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory was formed in 1956 after the
National Science Foundation decided to establish an observatory in the
eastern United States for the study of faint radio signals from distant
objects in the Universe. But it was Fun... reprints early memos from the
group of scientists who searched the mountains for a suitable site -- an
area free from radio transmitters and other sources of radio interference --
"in a valley surrounded by as many ranges of high mountains in as many
directions as possible," which was "at least 50 miles distant from any city
or other concentration of people." The committee settled on Green Bank, a
small village in West Virginia, and the book documents the struggles that
followed to create a world-class scientific facility in an isolated area
more accustomed to cows than computers.
Groundbreaking at the Observatory, then a patchwork of farms and fields,
took place in October 1957, only a few days after the launch of Sputnik by
the Soviet Union. A year later, Green Bank's first telescope was dedicated,
and the book contains a transcription of speeches given at that ceremony,
when the Cold War, the space race and America's scientific stature were
issues of the hour.
The centerpiece of the new Observatory was to be a highly-precise radio
telescope 140 feet in diameter, but it was expected that it would soon be
surpassed by dishes of much greater size. The book reprints internal memos,
reports, and recollections of astronomers who were there, as the initial
elation turned to frustration when the 140 Foot Telescope project became
mired in technical difficulties, plans for larger dishes were put on hold,
and the scientific staff of the fledgling Observatory struggled to create a
National Observatory with inadequate equipment in a very remote location.
Articles by David Heeschen and John Findlay tell the story of the creation
of the 300 Foot Telescope, at that time the largest in the world, which went
from initial concept to full operation in only 23 months, and began a rich
life of research that put the NRAO on the world scientific map. The 300 Foot
Telescope was originally intended to be an interim instrument, but as
documented in the book, demand for its use was so high that it was kept in
operation long after its initial planned retirement, with regular upgrades
and new generations of electronics.
The sudden collapse of the 300 Foot Telescope on a calm evening after 26
years of operation shocked the astronomical community. But it was Fun...
features dramatic first-hand accounts by the people who were there that
night: the telescope operator who found himself under a falling structure;
the Observatory staff who at first could not believe what happened, and
those who worked during the night and into the next day to secure the area,
preserve information on what happened, and deal with the rush of publicity.
The book includes extensive photographs and the Executive Summary Report of
the panel which was commissioned to investigate the collapse and its
implication for the design of other large radio telescopes.
But it was Fun... will appeal to a variety of audiences. Historians of
science will be interested in the articles by David Heeschen, Gerald Tape,
and Hugh van Horn, on the evolution of the concept of a National
Observatory, and the difficulties of putting the concepts into practice in
Green Bank. Those interested in astronomical discovery will find fascinating
and highly personal accounts by Peter Mezger on observations of radio
recombination lines, by Lewis Snyder and Barry Turner on the early days of
astrochemistry, by Don Backer and David Nice on observations of pulsars, and
by David Shaffer, James Moran, Ken Kellermann and Barry Clark on aspects of
the development of long baseline interferometric techniques.
Today's generation of scientists will find interesting reminiscences by
Patrick Palmer, Thomas Wilson, and Nobel Laureate Joseph Taylor on their
experiences as graduate students doing thesis research at Green Bank, and
from Sebastian von Hoerner and Jaap Baars on their work in telescope
development. The volume also relates the entry of computers into radio
astronomy, and reprints the one-page memo from 1960 which laid out the
protocol for use of the new "single roll of magnetic tape" just acquired by
the Observatory.
A major portion of the book describes some singular events associated with
this singular place: the first search for radio signals from
extraterrestrial civilizations -- Project Ozma -- conducted by Dr. Frank
Drake in 1960. But it was Fun... documents how this routine project thrust
the NRAO into the national spotlight to the discomfort of its director, a
distinguished astronomer of the old school. The book also recounts a few
episodes in the amazing life of Grote Reber, the engineer who built the
first-ever radio dish in his backyard and was a regular visitor to Green
Bank.
The NRAO Green Bank Observatory is an international center for research, and
in two unique and frequently hilarious articles, Ken Kellermann and Barry
Clark tell their stories of the first cooperative radio astronomical
projects between the Soviet Union and the U.S., which involved transporting
an atomic clock from Green Bank to a Soviet Observatory on the Black Sea at
a time when international tensions were high, and it was impossible to make
a phone call from the USSR to Green Bank.
But it was Fun... includes a historical introduction which summarizes the
early development of radio astronomy and events at the NRAO in Green Bank, a
list of science highlights from the 300 Foot and 140 Foot Telescope research
programs, chronologies of technical developments and lists of the early
users. But it was Fun: the first 40 years of radio astronomy at Green Bank
is a unique book which offers insight on the workings of a major scientific
institution and the "overabundance of interesting people" who have populated
it.
The book is available from the NRAO. For information on ordering, see:
http://www.gb.nrao.edu/epo/itwasfun.html
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National
Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated
Universities, Inc.