Person
Pawsey, Joseph Lade (1908 - 1962)
FAA FRS
- Born
- 14 May 1908
Ararat, Victoria, Australia - Died
- 30 November 1962
Potts Point, New South Wales, Australia - Occupation
- Radiophysicist and Radio astronomer
Summary
Joseph Pawsey established radio astronomy in Australia. He made important discoveries about the relationships between solar radiation and sunspots. His team made many discoveries about radiation and radio emissions from the Milky Way and external galaxies and developed many new techniques later used world wide. In recognition of Pawsey's contributions to Australian physics the Australian Academy of Science has awarded the Pawsey Medal has been awarded annually since 1967. The crater Pawsey on the Moon was named in his honour.
Details
Chronology
- 1929
- Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), The University of Melbourne, Australia
- 1931
- Education - Masters of Science (MSc), The University of Melbourne, Australia
- 1931 - 1934
- Award - 1851 Exhibition Scholar (Scholarship), The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, England
- 1934 - 1939
- Career position - Research Physicist, EMI Ltd, England
- 1935
- Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Cambridge, England
- 1940 - 1949
- Career position - Research Physicist, Division of Radiophysics, CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research), Australia
- 1949 - 1952
- Career position - Research Physicist, Division of Radiophysics, CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), Australia
- 1952 - 1958
- Career Position - President, Radio Astronomy Commission, International Astronomical Union
- 1952 - 1962
- Career position - Assistant Chief, Division of Radiophysics, CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), Australia
- 1953
- Award - Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal, Australian National Research Council, Australia
- 1954 - 1962
- Award - Fellow, The Royal Society, London (FRS)
- 1954 - 1962
- Award - Foundation Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)
- 1955
- Career event - Wrote Radio Astronomy with R. N. Bracewell
- 1957
- Award - Matthew Flinders Medal and Lecture, Australian Academy of Science, Australia
- 1960
- Award - Hughes Medal, Royal Society, England
- 1960 - 1961
- Career Position - President, Australian Branch, Institute of Physics
- 1961
- Award - Doctorate of Science (HonDSc), honoris causa, Australian National University, Australia
- 1962
- Career event - Appointed Director of the United States of America National Radio Astronomy Observatory but died before taking office.
Related entries
Archival resources
Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science
Published resources
Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions
- Smith, Ailie, Adolph Basser Library Manuscript Collection, eScholarship Research Centre, 2012, http://www.eoas.info/basser_browse.html. Details
Books
- Goss, W. M.; Hooker, Claire; and Ekers, Ronald D., Joe Pawsey and the founding of Australian radio astronomy: early discoveries, from the sun to the cosmos (Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2023), 1815 pp. Details
- The Radiophysics Laboratory Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, A Textbook of Radar (Sydney; London: Angus & Robertson, 1947), 579 pp. Author of Chapter 2. Details
Book Sections
- Robertson, Peter, 'Pawsey, Joseph Lade (1908-1962), Physicist' in Australian Dictionary of Biography, John Ritchie, ed., vol. 15 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2000), pp. 578-579. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A150673b.htm. Details
Journal Articles
- 'Dr. Joseph L. Pawsey, 1908-1962', Proceedings of the Institution of Radio and Electronics Engineers, Australia, 24 (2) (1963), 94. Details
- 'Obituary: Dr. J.L. Pawsey', Australian Physicist, 1 (1) (1964), 6. Details
- Christiansen, W. N.; and Mills, B. Y., 'Joseph Lade Pawsey', Yearbook of the Australian Academy of Science (1964), 33-40. Details
- Christiansen, W. N.; Mills, B.Y., 'Biographical Memoirs [Joseph Lade Pawsey, including publications]', Australian Physicist, 1 (9) (1964), 137-141. Details
- Frater, R. H., 'The Australia Telescope: a Shortened Version of the Pawsey Memorial Lecture 1983', Australian Physicist, 21 (1984), 203-207. Details
- Lovell, A. C. Bernard, 'Joseph Lade Pawsey, 1908-1962', Biographical memoirs of fellows of the Royal Society of London, 10 (1964), 229-43. Details
- Orchiston, Wayne, Slee, Bruce and Burman, Ron, 'The Genesis of Solar Radio Astronomy in Australia', Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 9 (1) (2006), 35-56. Details
- Pawsey, J. L., 'Obituary notices: Charles Alexander Shain', Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, 1 (1960), 244-5. Details
- Pawsey, J. L., 'Australian Radio Astronomy: How it developed in this country', Australian Scientist, 1 (iii) (1961), 181-186. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q2090647. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/166611355. Details
- Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, Royal Society of London, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.1964.0014. Details
- 'Pawsey, Joseph Lade (1908-1962)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1467358. Details
Resource Sections
- 'Pawsey, Joseph Lade - Ms 20', in Listing of Adolph Basser Library holdings, Australian Academy of Science, 1994, http://www.science.org.au/basser/manuscript-collection/ms020.html. Details
- 'Pawsey, Joseph Lade', in Physics in Australia to 1945, R.W. Home, with the assistance of Paula J. Needham, Australian Science Archives Project, June 1995, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/physics/P000698p.htm. Details
- Ward, C., 'Joseph Lade (Joe) Pawsey', in CSIROpedia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), 2011, https://csiropedia.csiro.au/Pawsey-Joseph-Lade. Details
See also
- Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal, Australian Academy of Science, Canberra, 2023. https://www.science.org.au/supporting-science/awards-and-opportunities/thomas-ranken-lyle-medal. Details
- Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_p.html. Details
- Pawsey Medal, Australian Academy of Science, 2022. https://www.science.org.au/supporting-science/awards-and-opportunities/pawsey-medal. Details
- Bowen, E. G., 'From wartime radar to postwar radio astronomy in Australia', Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Australia, 8 (1), 1-11. Details
- Brown, R. Hanbury; Minnett, Harry C; White, Fredrick W. G., 'Edward George Bowen 1911-1991', Historical Records of Australian Science, 9 (2) (1992), 151-166. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9920920151. Details
- Mills, B. Y., 'Australian contribution to the science of radioastronomy', Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Australia, 8 (1) (1988), 12-23. Details
- White, F. W.G., 'Robert Gordon Menzies (1894-1978)', Historical Records of Australian Science, 5 (1) (1980), 68-102. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9800510068. Details
- Wisdom, John, A History of Defence Science in Australia (Melbourne: Defence Science and Technology Organisation, 1995), 267 pp. Details
Rosanne Walker
Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 15 June 2022
- Foundation Supporter - Committee to Review Australian Studies in Tertiary Education