Joseph Lade Pawsey

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

He 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 B.Sc. from the university, followed by a M.Sc. in Natural Philosophy in 1931. He was then awarded an Exhibition Research Scholarship to study at Cambridge University. In 1935 he was awarded a Ph.D. from Cambridge. He then became a research physicist at EMI Ltd. until 1939.

In 1940 he returned to his native country of Australia, and from 1940 until 1962 he was a research physicist at the CSIR/CSIRO Division of Radiophysics, becoming assistant chief in 1952. In 1952 he also became president of the Radio Astronomy Commission of the IAU, serving until 1958. From 1960 until 1961 he was president of the Australian Branch for the Institute of Physics. He was appointed as director of the U.S. National Radio Astronomy Observatory in 1962, but he died in Sydney, Australia before he took office.

Dr. Pawsey was responsible for pioneering the study of radio astronomy in Australia. In 1945 Dr. Pawsey and his associated began studying the Sun in the radio spectrum. They employed an instrument called the Cliff Interferometer, which was placed along a cliff edge and collected radio waves directly and emissions reflected off the ocean. He was able to use this device to detect strong radio emissions above a sunspot. He also made measurements of the temperature of the Sun's outer atmosphere, and performed studies of radio emissions from the Milky Way and other galaxies. Many of the techniques he developed became widely used.

[edit] Awards and honors

Thomas Rankin Lyle medal, 1953.
Royal Society Hughes Medal, 1960.
Fellow of the Royal Society, 1954.
Foundation Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, 1954.
Honorable D.Sc. from Australian National University, 1961.
The Pawsey Medal of the Australian Academy of Science commemorates his contributions, and has been awarded since 1967.
The Pawsey Memorial Lecture is delivered annually by a distinguished scientist.
Pawsey crater on the Moon is named after him.

[edit] 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.