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Radio techniques were the nrst to lead astronomy away from the
quiescent and limited Universe revealed by traditional observations
at optical wave lengths. In the earliest days of radio astronomy, a
handful of radio physicists and engineers made one startling
discovery after another as they opened up the radio sky. With this
collection of classic papers and the extensive intro ductory
material, the reader can experience these exciting discoveries, as
well as understand the developing techniques and follow the
motivations which prompted the various lines of inquiry. For
instance he or she will follow in detail the several attempts to
detect radio waves from the sun at the turn of the century; the
unravelling by Jansky of a "steady hiss type static"; the
incredible story of Reber who built a 9 meter dish in his backyard
in 1937 and then mapped the Milky Way; the vital discoveries by Hey
and colleagues of radio bursts from the Sun and of a discrete
source in the constellation of Cygnus; the development of receivers
and interferometry in the post-war years by the groups led by Ryle
in Cambridge and Pawsey in Sydney; the nrst measurements and
exciting identiftcations of Taurus A (the Crab Nebula), Centaurus
A, Virgo A, Cassiopeia A, and Cygnus A, the last opening the neld
of radio cosmology; the early development of synchroton theory; and
the prediction and discovery seven years later of the 21 cm line of
neutral hy drogen."
Radio techniques were the nrst to lead astronomy away from the
quiescent and limited Universe revealed by traditional observations
at optical wave lengths. In the earliest days of radio astronomy, a
handful of radio physicists and engineers made one startling
discovery after another as they opened up the radio sky. With this
collection of classic papers and the extensive intro ductory
material, the reader can experience these exciting discoveries, as
well as understand the developing techniques and follow the
motivations which prompted the various lines of inquiry. For
instance he or she will follow in detail the several attempts to
detect radio waves from the sun at the turn of the century; the
unravelling by Jansky of a "steady hiss type static"; the
incredible story of Reber who built a 9 meter dish in his backyard
in 1937 and then mapped the Milky Way; the vital discoveries by Hey
and colleagues of radio bursts from the Sun and of a discrete
source in the constellation of Cygnus; the development of receivers
and interferometry in the post-war years by the groups led by Ryle
in Cambridge and Pawsey in Sydney; the nrst measurements and
exciting identiftcations of Taurus A (the Crab Nebula), Centaurus
A, Virgo A, Cassiopeia A, and Cygnus A, the last opening the neld
of radio cosmology; the early development of synchroton theory; and
the prediction and discovery seven years later of the 21 cm line of
neutral hy drogen."
Radio astronomy has revolutionized the course of modern astronomy.
Marking the fiftieth anniversary of Jansky??'s discovery in 1933 of
extraterrestrial radio emission, Professor Sullivan asked many of
the pioneers in the field to set down their versions of events and
the people who made them. Each of the score of contributors seeks
to give a good ???feeling??? for the times to the great majority of
readers who will not have experienced them. Over 150 illustrations,
mostly historical photographs of men and machines, enliven the
various recollections and reflections. The list of contributors
includes many of the key personalities and covers all the major
laboratories and countries involved in radio astronomy before 1960.
In addition to the radio astronomers themselves, there are
contributions from optical astronomers and theorists closely
related to the field, as well as historians of twentieth century
astronomy.
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