In July 1967 Ph.D research student Jocelyn Bell
made one of the great astronomical discoveries of the 20th century. She worked
in the astronomy department at Cambridge University on a team researching
quasars.
Quasars were a newly discovered high energy radio source to astronomy. Her role
was to help build a 4 acre wide antenna matrix radio telescope. Tiny anomalies
in signal data from the telescope, dismissed as man-made, grabbed her
attention. Determined to find the source she proved that they were not only
extra-terrestrial but an entirely new type of star - a pulsar. Pulsars are
rapidly spinning neutron stars, a result from the cataclysmic compression
forces of the supernova from when an
unstable star explodes.
The 1974 Nobel Prize for Physics included the
discovery of pulsars but controversially Jocelyn Bell was not conferred with a joint award even though she was a
co-author of the associated scientific paper. She accepted this gracefully and went on
to become one of our top scientists. With an array of scientific awards from
around the world Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell has been named one the top 100 most
influential women in the UK.
She had been inspired to go into physics by her
teacher at school. During the 1960's it was unusual for women to have a career
in physics and she needed resolve to be successful in what was a male dominated
environment.
Her discovery was not just luck and required
a deep understanding of astrophysics
and hard work. As Louis Pasteur
once said "chance favours the prepared mind".
Take heart if you struggle with exams, Dame Jocelyn Bell
Burnell DBE FRS PRSE FRAS did not
pass her 11+!
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