Bhathal, Ragbir Singh (1936 - 2022)

Summary

Ragbir Bhathal was a much-respected astrophysicist and historian of science. His research focused on nanosecond laser pulsed communications, astrophysics, galactic surveys, and astronomical image analysis and processing. He was known for his research on extra-terrestrial intelligence (SETI), pioneering Optical SETI, the search for alien laser communication signals. For 30 years he taught at the University of Western Sydney where he became a Distinguished Teaching Fellow in the School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics. He taught the only University-based course on SETI in any Australian University. Bhathal was responsible for the design and building of the 2-domed Campbelltown Observatory on the University's campus, of which he was Director from 2000 to 2022. Before coming to Australia, Bhathal was a member of the academic staff of the University of Singapore. He was Foundation Director of the Singapore Science Centre, and Secretary of the Singapore National Academy of Science. Bhathal's research in the history of Australian science, particularly astronomy, resulted in an extensive bibliography, and included a number of well-received books. He played a central role in the restoration of the Sydney Observatory, and the Powerhouse Museum. An active member of the Royal Society of New South Wales he served on Council and was President in 1984.

Details

Chronology

1982 - 2018

Career position - Member, Royal Society of New South Wales

1984

Career position - President, Royal Society of New South Wales

1985

Career position - Vice-President, Royal Society of New South Wales

1988

Award - Royal Society of New South Wales Medal

1996

Career position - Foundation Member, MacArthur Astronomical Society

1997 - 2011

Career position - Patron, MacArthur Astronomical Society

1998 - 2015

Career position - Member, Australian Institute of Physics

2000 - 2022

Career position - Director, Campbelltown Rotary Observatory, University of Western Sydney

2018 - 2022

Award - Fellow, Royal Astronomical Society

2018 - 2022

Award - Fellow, Royal Society of New South Wales

Related entries

Archival resources

National Library of Australia

• Papers of Ragbir Singh Bhathal, 1949-2006 (bulk 1996-1999), 1949 - 2006, MS 9365; Bhathal, Ragbir Singh (1936 - 2022); National Library of Australia. Details

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

• Adrienne Clarke interviewed by Ragbir Bhathal for the Australian women scientists oral history project [sound recording], 18 October 1996, TRC 3516; Bhathal, Ragbir Singh (1936 - 2022), Clarke, Adrienne Elizabeth (1938 - ); National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Australian women scientists oral history project, 1996 - c. 2023, 1597750 [NLA bib ID]; Bhathal, Ragbir (Ragbir Singh), interviewer; Bhathal, Ragbir Singh (1936 - 2022); National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Interview with Dr Mary Rose, agricultural scientist (sound recording), interviewer: Ragbir Bhathal, 18 April 1997, TRC 3586; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Interview with Dr Shirley Jeffrey, marine biologist [sound recording] / interviewer, Ragbir Bhathal., TRC 3573; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Interview with Jan Anderson, plant biochemist and international expert in photosynthesis research, Chief Research Scientist, Division of Plant Industry, CSIRO (sound recording), interviewer: Ragbir Bhathal, 9 August 1996, TRC 3479; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Interview with Kathleen Rachel Makinson, wool researcher and Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Textile Physics [sound recording] / interviewer, Ragbir Bhathal, 1997, TRC 3564; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Interview with Lynda Beazley, Professor of Zoology, University of Western Australia (sound recording), interviewer: Ragbir Bhathal, 20 February 1998, TRC 3678; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Interview with Professor Helen Garnett, scientist and Executive Director of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (sound recording), interviewer: Ragbir Bhathal, 29 April 1998, TRC 3708; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Interview with Professor Margaret Bullock, academic, physiotherapist and ergonomist, Health and Rehabilitation, University of Queensland (sound recording), interviewer: Ragbir Bhathal, 13 March 1998, TRC 3693; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Suzanne Cory interviewed by Ragbir Bhathal in the Australian women scientists oral history project [sound recording], 28 January 1997, TRC3549; Bhathal, Ragbir Singh (1936 - 2022), Cory, Suzanne (1942 - ); National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

Published resources

Books

• Bhathal, Ragbir, Australian Astronomers: Achievements at the Frontiers of Astronomy (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 1996), 243 pp. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, Profiles, Australian women scientists (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 1999), 191 pp. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, Aboriginal astronomy (Sydney: ARI, 2010), 93 pp. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir S., Australian Astronomer John Tebbutt: the Life and World of the Man on the $100 Note (Kenthurst: Kangaroo Press, 1993), 111 pp. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, Sutherland, Ralph and Butcher, Harvey, Mt Stromlo Observatory: From Bush Observatory to the Nobel Prize (Collingwood (Vic.): CSIRO, 2013), 330 pp. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir; White, Graeme, Under the Southern Cross: a Brief History of Astronomy in Australia (Kenthurst: Kangaroo Press, 1991), 96 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Bhathal, R., 'Bolliger, Adolph (1897-1962), biochemist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 13: 1940 - 1980 A-De, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1993), pp. 213-214. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130245b.htm. Details
• Bhathal, R., 'Bosworth, Richard Charles Leslie (1907-1964), chemist and academic' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 13: 1940 - 1980 A-De, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1993), pp. 226-227. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130257b.htm. Details
• Bhathal, R., 'Lemberg, Max Rudolph (1896-1975), Biochemist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 15: 1940 - 1980 Kem-Pie, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2000), pp. 60-62. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A150102b.htm. Details
• Bhathal, R., 'Bowen, Edward George (1911-1991), engineer and radio physicist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 19: 1991 - 1995 A-Z, Melanie Nolan, ed. (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 2021), pp. 78-79, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bowen-edward-george-17857. Details
• Bhathal, R., 'Bolton, John Gatenby (1922-1993), radio astronomer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 19: 1991 - 1995 A-Z, Melanie Nolan, ed. (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 2021), pp. 73-74, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bolton-john-gatenby-18055. Details
• Bhathal, R., 'Gottlieb, Kurt (1910-1995), engineer, draftsman, astronomer and Jewish community leader' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 19: 1991 - 1995 A-Z, Melanie Nolan, ed. (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 2021), pp. 321-322, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/gottliebkurt-18054. Details

Conference Papers

• Bhathal, R., 'Accessibility to Scientific and Engineering Heritage', in Fourth National Conference on Engineering Heritage 1988: Preprints of Papers (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 1988), pp. 116-118.. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.624166678420349. Details

Journal Articles

• Bhathal, R., 'Henry Chamberlain Russell: 19th Century Astronomer, Meteorologist and Organizer of Australian Science', Journal and proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 124 (1991), 1-21. Details
• Bhathal, R., 'Dreamtime astronomy', Australian physics, 43 (5) (2006), 170-4. Details
• Bhathal, R., 'Antarctic Astronomy', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 141 (2008), 39-43 . Details
• Bhathal, R., 'Some Aspects of the Scientific Development and Astronomical Research of Penny Sackett', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 146 (2013), 142-52. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, 'Bernie Mills: inventor of the Mills Cross Telescope [interview with Mills]', Australian and New Zealand physicist, 32 (10) (1995), 209-14. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, 'Women Astronomers in Australia', Astronomy & Geophysics, 42 (4) (2001), 29-31. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, 'Astronomy in Aboriginal Culture', Astronomy & Geophysics, 47 (5) (2006), 27-30. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, 'Australian Astronomers: What Made Them Great?', News and Reviews in Astronomy and Geophysics, 48 (2007), 533-6. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, 'Profile: Matthew Colless', Astronomy & Geophysics, 49 (5) (2008), 5-18. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, '150 Years of Sydney Observatory', Astronomy & Geophysics, 50 (3) (2009), 26-30. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, 'Stellar Astrophysics', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 142 (3/4) (2009), 25-30. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, 'Australia's Great Comet Hunter', Astronomy and Geophysics, 51 (1) (2010), 1.23-1.25, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-4004.2010.51123.x/abstract. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, 'A Governor's Observatory', Astronomy & Geophysics, 52 (2) (2011), 2.31, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-4004.2011.52231.x/full. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, 'The Accelerating Universe: a New View of the Universe', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 144 (3/4) (2011), 63-90. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, 'Bernard Mills and Australian Radio Astronomy', Astronomy & Geophysics, 53 (2) (2012), 19-21, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-4004.2012.53219.x. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, 'Profile: Brian Schmidt', Astronomy & Geophysics, 53 (1) (2012), 13-15, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-4004.2012.53113.x. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, 'Some Scientific Aspects of Parramatta Observatory', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 145 (2012), 111-27. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, 'Some Aspects of the Scientific Development and Astronomical Research of Warrick Couch', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 146 (2013), 17-24. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, 'How Mount Stromlo Observatory shed its imperial beginnings', A&G: News and Reviews in Astronomy & Geophysics, 55 (6) (2014), 6.33-6.35. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, 'How the US Influenced Mount Stromlo', A&G: News and Reviews in Astronomy & Geophysics, 56 (1) (2015), 1.19-1.21, http://astrogeo.oxfordjournals.org/content/56/1/1.19.abstract?etoc. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, 'A life among the galaxies', A & G: News and Reviews in Astronomy and Geophysics, 57 (2016), 5.35 - 5.36, http://astrogeo.oxfordjournals.org/content/57/5/5.35.abstract?sid=1986c96d-d90e-42b3-910e-07861a5442d3. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, 'Naomi McClure-Griffiths: Milky Way astronomer', A&G: News and Reviews in Astronomy & Geophysics, 58 (2017), 40-2. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir, 'Martin Asplund: stellar astrophysicist', Astronomy and Geophysics, 59 (2) (2018), 2.34-2.36. https://doi.org/10.1093/astrogeo/aty086. Details
• Bhathal, Ragbir and Mason, Terry, 'Aboriginal Astronomical Sites, Landscapes and Paintings', Astronomy & Geophysics, 52 (4) (2011), 4.12-4.16. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-4004.2011.52412.x/full. Details
• Jackson, Davina and Marks, Robert, 'Ragbir Singh Bhathal FRSN 1936 - 30 November 2022', Journal and proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 156 (1) (2023), 176-7. https://www.royalsoc.org.au/images/pdf/journal/156-1-Obit-Bhathal.pdf. Details
• Orchiston, Wayne and Bhathal, Ragbir, 'Illuminating Incidents in Antipodean Astronomy: the saga of 'The Great Sydney Telescope',', British Astronomical Association, New South Wales Branch Bulletin, 612 (supplement) (1982), S1-S9. Details
• Orchiston, Wayne and Bhathal, Ragbir, 'Illuminating Incidents in Antipodean Astronomy: Section A of the Royal Society of New South Wales', Australian Journal of Astronomy, 4 (2) (1991), 49-67. Details
• Orchiston, Wayne; and Bhathal, Ragbir, 'Illuminating Incidents in Antipodean Astronomy: Attempted Formation of the Australian Astronomical Society in 1892', Proceedings of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 5 (1984), 422-425. Details

Reviews

• Robertson, Peter, Radio astronomer: John Bolton and a new window on the universe (2017)
  Bhathal, Ragbir, Australian journal of biography and history, 1, (2018), 189-90. Details