Antony Hewish

Antony Hewish was a pioneering British radio astronomer whose work fundamentally altered our understanding of the universe. He is most celebrated for his pivotal role in the discovery of pulsars, rapidly rotating neutron stars that emit precise beams of radio waves, a breakthrough for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Physics. His career, spent almost entirely at the University of Cambridge, was also distinguished by his development of the interplanetary scintillation technique to study quasars and the solar wind. Hewish's contributions cemented the importance of radio astronomy in 20th-century astrophysics.

Early life and education

Born in the coastal town of Fowey, Cornwall, he developed an early interest in science. He attended King's College, Taunton, before winning a scholarship to study at the University of Cambridge. His undergraduate studies at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge were interrupted by service during the Second World War, where he worked at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough on radar counter-measures. Returning to Cambridge after the war, he completed his degree and began postgraduate research under the supervision of Martin Ryle at the Cavendish Laboratory, earning his PhD in 1952 for work on radio wave propagation.

Career and research

Hewish remained at Cambridge for his entire career, becoming a lecturer and later a professor of radio astronomy. His early research focused on using radio emissions to study the turbulent atmosphere and the Sun. A major innovation was his development of the interplanetary scintillation method, inspired by the twinkling of stars in visible light. He designed a large radio telescope at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory to exploit this technique, which allowed his team to measure the angular sizes of distant quasars and investigate the structure of the solar wind streaming from the Sun. This work positioned his group at the forefront of extragalactic astronomy.

Pulsar discovery and Nobel Prize

The construction of Hewish's innovative scintillation array, a four-acre array of over two thousand dipole antennas, was completed in 1967. The project was designed and led by Hewish, with Jocelyn Bell Burnell as his research student tasked with analyzing the voluminous chart recorder data. In August 1967, Bell Burnell identified a peculiar, rapidly repeating radio signal, which the team initially humorously labeled "LGM-1". Hewish ensured rigorous verification, and they soon concluded it was a new type of astronomical object: a pulsating radio star, or pulsar. This discovery of the first pulsar, later identified as PSR B1919+21, provided the first direct evidence for the existence of neutron stars, a prediction from quantum mechanics and general relativity. In 1974, Hewish and Martin Ryle were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, a decision that later sparked debate as Bell Burnell was not included.

Later work and legacy

Following the Nobel award, Hewish continued his academic leadership at Cambridge, serving as head of the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory and as a fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. His later research interests included using pulsars to study the interstellar medium and further developments in radio telescope design. He received numerous other honors, including the Eddington Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society and the Hughes Medal of the Royal Society. His legacy is firmly rooted in the opening of an entirely new field of high-energy astrophysics, with pulsars becoming crucial tools for testing theories of gravity and the laws of physics under extreme conditions.

Personal life

Hewish married Marjorie Elizabeth Catherine Richards in 1950, and they had a son and a daughter. Described as a private and dedicated family man, his hobbies included sailing, a passion likely nurtured from his Cornish upbringing. He was also a committed Christian, engaging in dialogues about the relationship between science and religion. He remained active in the scientific community well into retirement, passing away in Cambridge in 2021. His papers are held in the archives of Churchill College, Cambridge.

Category:English astronomers Category:Nobel laureates in Physics Category:1924 births Category:2021 deaths