Jocelyn Bell Burnell
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Jocelyn Bell Burnell | |||||||||
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 Bell Burnell in 2009 | |||||||||
| Born | Susan Jocelyn Bell 15 July 1943[1] | ||||||||
| Education | The Mount School, York | ||||||||
| Alma mater |
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| Known for | Discovering the first four pulsars[3] | ||||||||
| Spouse(s) | Martin Burnell (m. 1968; div. 1993) | ||||||||
| Children | Gavin Burnell | ||||||||
| Awards |
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| Scientific career | |||||||||
| Fields | Astrophysics | ||||||||
| Institutions | |||||||||
| Thesis | The Measurement of radio source diameters using a diffraction method (1968) | ||||||||
| Doctoral advisor | Antony Hewish[4][5][6] | ||||||||
| Influences |
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| Website | www2 | ||||||||
Dame Susan Jocelyn Bell Burnell DBE FRS FRSE FRAS FInstP (/bɜːrˈnɛl/; born 15 July 1943) is a Northern Irish astrophysicist. She has been called as "one of the most significant scientific achievements of the 20th Century".[9]
Her work was recognised by the award of the Nobel Prize in Physics to her thesis supervisor Antony Hewish[5][6] and to the astronomer Martin Ryle. Bell was excluded, despite having been the first to observe and precisely analyse the pulsars.[10]
Burnell won the 2018 Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.
Awards[change | change source]
- The Albert A. Michelson Medal of the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia (1973, jointly with Dr. Hewish).[11][12]
- J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Prize from the Center for Theoretical Studies, University of Miami (1978).[13][14]
- Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize of the American Astronomical Society (1986).[15]
- Herschel Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1989).[16]
- Jansky Lectureship before the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (1995).[17]
- Magellanic Premium of the American Philosophical Society (2000).[18]
- Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) (March 2003).[19]
- Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) (2004).[1]
- William E. Gordon and Elva Gordon distinguished lecture at the Arecibo Observatory on 27 June 2006.[20]
- The Grote Reber Medal at the General Assembly of the International Radio Science Union in Istanbul (19 August 2011)[21]
- The Royal Medal of the Royal Society (2015).[22]
- The Women of the Year Prudential Lifetime Achievement Award (2015)[23]
- The Institute of Physics President's Medal (2017)[24]
- Grande Médaille of the French Academy of Sciences (2018)[25]
- Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2018)[26]
Honours[change | change source]
- In 1999, she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to Astronomy and promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2007.[27]
- In February 2013, she was assessed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4.[28]
- In February 2014, she was elected President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the first woman to hold that office. She held the position from April 2014 to April 2018 when she was succeeded by Dame Anne Glover.[9]
- In 2016, the Institute of Physics renamed their award for early-career female physicists the Jocelyn Bell Burnell Medal and Prize.[29]
Publications[change | change source]
Her publications include:
- Burnell, S. Jocelyn (1989). Broken for Life. Swarthmore Lecture. London: Quaker Home Service. ISBN 978-0-85245-222-6.
- Riordan, Maurice; Burnell, S. Jocelyn (27 October 2008). Dark Matter: Poems of Space. Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. ISBN 978-1-903080-10-8.
References[change | change source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Who's Who 2017.
- ↑ Lurgan Mail 2007.
- ↑ Bell Burnell 2007, pp. 579–581.
- ↑ Bell 1968.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Hewish et al. 1968, p. 709.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Pilkington et al. 1968, p. 126.
- ↑ AIP 2000.
- ↑ The Life Scientific 2011.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 BBC Scotland 2014.
- ↑ Hargittai 2003, p. 240.
- ↑ Franklin Institute.
- ↑ Fi.edu.
- ↑ Walter 1982, p. 438.
- ↑ AIoP 1978, p. 68.
- ↑ Aas.org 1986.
- ↑ RAS.
- ↑ Jansky Home Page.
- ↑ APS 2008.
- ↑ The Royal Society.
- ↑ Gold 2006.
- ↑ QVMAG 2016.
- ↑ Royal Society.
- ↑ Womenoftheyear.co.uk.
- ↑ Institute of Physics 2017.
- ↑ Académie des sciences 2018.
- ↑ Ouellette 2018.
- ↑ Addley 2007.
- ↑ BBC 1970.
- ↑ IOP JBB Prize.
Other websites[change | change source]
- Biographical article, indicating Bell Burnell's beliefs and personal life, from California State Polytechnic University NOVA project. (Accessed 24 December 2007).
- Irishwoman who discovered the "lighthouses of the universe" Irish Times profile.
- Counterbalance Library: Bell Burnell talk "Science and the Spiritual Quest" (24 Minutes) (Accessed 7 April 2010).
- University of Manchester – Jodcast Interview with Jocelyn Bell-Burnell
