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 annually since 1967. The crater Pawsey on the Moon was named in his honour.

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Details

Chronology

1929
Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Melbourne
1931
Education - Masters of Science (MSc), University of Melbourne
1931 - 1934
Award - 1851 Exhibition Overseas Scholarship, studied in 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 - Founding 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
1960
Award - Hughes Medal, Royal Society, England
1960 - 1961
Career Position - President, Australian Branch, Institute of Physics
1961
Award - Doctorate of Science (DSc), honoris causa, Australian National University, Australia
1962
Career event - Appointed Director, United States of America National Radio Astronomy Observatory, but died before taking office.

Related Corporate Bodies

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

  • Joseph Lade Pawsey - Records, 1953 - 1964, MS 020; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

Books

  • CSIRO, CSIRO research for Australia: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (Canberra: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Organisation, 1962), 64 pp, https://www.eoas.info/bib-pdf/ASBS15940.pdf. Details
  • 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
  • McKay, Andrew, Surprise and Enterprise: Fifty Years of Science for Australia: CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Australia) (Melbourne: CSIRO, 1976), 48 pp, https://www.eoas.info/bib-pdf/ASBS00655.pdf. Details
  • Pawsey, J. L.; Bracewell, R. N., Radio astronomy (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955), 361 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

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, 10 (1964), 229-43, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.1964.0014. Details
  • McCready, L. L., Pawsey, J. L. and Payne-Scott, R., 'Solar radiation at radio frequencies and its relation to sun spots', Proceedings of the Royal Society, A, 190 (1947), 357-75. 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
  • Pawsey, J. L., Payne Scott, R. and McCready. L. L., 'Radio-frequency energy from the sun', Nature, 157 (1946), 158-9. Details

Resources

Resource Sections

See also

  • 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
  • Bhathal, Ragbir, 'Australian Astronomers: What Made Them Great?', News and Reviews in Astronomy and Geophysics, 48 (2007), 533-6. 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
  • Engineers Australia ed., Wonders never cease: 100 Australian engineering achievements (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2019), 236 pp, https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/2025-08/EA1_Wonders%20never%20cease.pdf. "An astronomical achievement", pp.212-3. 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: 23 April 2024

EOAS ID: biogs/P000698b.htm

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