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Antony Hewish

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Astronomer

The Resume

    (May 11, 1924-September 13, 2021)
    Born in Fowey, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom
    Professor of Radio Astronomy at Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge (1971-89)
    Head of the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory at Cambridge (1982-88)
    Co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of pulsars (1974)

Why he might be annoying:

    Jocelyn Bell Burnell, the graduate student who actually discovered the first pulsar, was not awarded a share of the Nobel Prize with him.
    In the paper announcing the discovery of pulsars (1968), he violated convention by listing himself ahead of Bell Burnell, implying that he had the primary role in the discovery. (Traditionally, if a student makes a discovery with guidance and equipment provided by a professor, the paper announcing the discovery lists the student first and the professor last, with any additional collaborators in between.)
    Fellow astronomer Fred Hoyle criticized the Nobel Prize committee's decision so vehemently that many observers suspected that it played a major role in Hoyle being omitted when his collaborator, William Fowler, won the Prize (1983).
    In response to Hoyle's criticism, he said, 'Jocelyn was a jolly good girl, but she was just doing her job.'
    He justified his religious beliefs with an argument that boiled down to, 'A lot about quantum mechanics violates common sense, but is accepted by scientists. Why should they mind if religion also violates their common sense?'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was married to Marjorie Richards for 70 years.
    During World War II, he developed ways of jamming the radar of German night fighters.
    He proposed the construction of and secured the funding for the Interplanetary Scintillation Array that was used to discover pulsars.
    He enjoyed the challenge of explaining complex ideas to a general audience and felt scientists needed to convey the excitement of their work to the public.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying