View source for Antony Hewish

{{Short description|British radio astronomer (1924–2021)}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Antony Hewish
| honorific_suffix  = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRS|FInstP}}
| box_width         = 
| image             = Antony_Hewish_1976.jpg
| image_size        = 
| alt               = 
| caption           = Hewish in 1976
| birth_name        = 
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|df=yes|1924|5|11}}
| birth_place       = [[Fowey]], Cornwall, England
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2021|9|13|1924|5|11}}
| death_place       = 
| death_cause       = 
| nationality       = British<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Anthony Hewish |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]] |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Antony-Hewish |access-date=16 January 2023 }}</ref>
| thesis_title      = The fluctuations of galactic radio waves
| thesis_year       = 1952
| thesis_url        = http://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=35256
| fields            = [[Radio astronomy]]
| education         = [[King's College, Taunton]]
| alma_mater        = [[University of Cambridge]] (BA, PhD)
| workplaces        = {{Plainlist|
* [[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]] 
* [[Cavendish Laboratory]]}}
| doctoral_advisor  = 
| academic_advisors = 
| doctoral_students = [[Jocelyn Bell Burnell]]<ref name=bell_thesis>{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Susan Jocelyn|last=Bell |title=The Measurement of radio source diameters using a diffraction method |publisher=University of Cambridge |date=1968 |url=https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/260694|website=repository.cam.ac.uk|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.449485}}|doi=10.17863/CAM.4926|author-link=Jocelyn Bell Burnell}} {{free access}}</ref>
| notable_students  = 
| known_for         = [[Pulsar]]s
| influences        = 
| influenced        = 
| awards            = {{Plainlist|
* [[Hughes Medal]] (1977)
* [[Nobel Prize for Physics]] (1974)
* [[Eddington Medal]] (1969)}}
| signature         = <!--(filename only)-->
| signature_alt     = 
| footnotes         = 
| spouse            = {{marriage|Marjorie Richards|1950}}<ref name="WW"/>
}}

'''Antony Hewish''' (11 May 1924 – 13 September 2021) was a British [[radio astronomy|radio astronomer]] who won the [[Nobel Prize for Physics]] in 1974 (together with fellow radio-astronomer [[Martin Ryle]])<ref>{{Cite book|title=The road to Stockholm : Nobel Prizes, science, and scientists|last=István.|first=Hargittai|date=2007|orig-year=2002|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0198607854|location=Oxford|oclc=818659203}}</ref> for his role in the discovery of [[pulsar]]s. He was also awarded the [[Eddington Medal]] of the [[Royal Astronomical Society]] in 1969.<ref>{{Cite journal
|pmid= 17798425
|last1=Hewish
|first1=A.
|date=13 June 1975
|title=Pulsars and High Density Physics.
|volume=188
|issue=4193
|pages=1079–1083
|doi = 10.1126/science.188.4193.1079
|journal = Science
|bibcode = 1975Sci...188.1079H
|s2cid=122436403
|url=https://www.europhysicsnews.org/10.1051/epn/19750603001/pdf
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.nobel-winners.com/Physics/antony_hewish.html |title=Antony Hewish |work=nobel-winners.com |year=2006 |access-date=16 December 2015}}</ref><ref name="NobelA"/>

==Early life and education==
Hewish attended [[King's College, Taunton]].<ref name=guardian/> His [[undergraduate degree]], at [[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]], was interrupted by the [[Second World War]]. He was assigned to war service at the [[Royal Aircraft Establishment]], and at the [[Telecommunications Research Establishment]] where he worked with [[Martin Ryle]].<ref name=death/> Returning to the [[University of Cambridge]] in 1946, Hewish completed his undergraduate degree and became a [[postgraduate student]] in [[Cavendish Astrophysics Group|Ryle's research team]] at the [[Cavendish Laboratory]].<ref name=guardian/> For his [[PhD thesis]], awarded in 1952, Hewish made practical and theoretical advances in the observation and exploitation of the [[Interplanetary scintillation|scintillation]]s of [[astronomical radio source]]s, due to foreground [[Plasma (physics)|plasma]].<ref name=phd>{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Antony|last=Hewish |title=The Fluctuations of Galactic Radio Waves |publisher=University of Cambridge |date=1952 |url=http://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=35256}}</ref>

==Career and research==
Hewish proposed the construction of a large [[phased array]] radio telescope, which could be used to perform a [[astronomical survey|survey]] at high [[time-domain astronomy|time resolution]], primarily for studying [[interplanetary scintillation]].<ref name=guardian/> In 1965 he secured funding to construct his design, the [[Interplanetary Scintillation Array]], at the [[Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory|Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory (MRAO)]] outside [[Cambridge]].<ref name=guardian/> It was completed in 1967. One of Hewish's [[PhD]] students, [[Jocelyn Bell Burnell|Jocelyn Bell]] (later known as Jocelyn Bell Burnell), helped to build the array and was assigned to analyse its output.<ref name=guardian/> Bell soon discovered a radio source which was ultimately recognised as the first [[pulsar]]. Hewish initially thought that the signal might be [[radio frequency interference]],<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wamsley |first1=Laurel |title=In 1974, They Gave The Nobel To Her Supervisor. Now She's Won A $3 Million Prize |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/09/06/645257118/in-1974-they-gave-the-nobel-to-her-supervisor-now-shes-won-a-3-million-prize |access-date=1 March 2023 |publisher=[[NPR]] |date=6 September 2018}}</ref> but it remained at a constant [[right ascension]], which is unlikely for a terrestrial source.<ref name=bell_thesis/><ref name=nature/> The [[scientific paper]] announcing the discovery<ref name=nature>{{cite journal |url= https://www.nature.com/articles/217709a0 |title=Observation of a Rapidly Pulsating Radio Source |first1=A. |last1=Hewish |first2=S. J. |last2=Bell |first3=J. D. H. |last3=Pilkington |first4=P. F. |last4=Scott |first5=R. A. |last5=Collins |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=217 |issue=5130 |pages=709–713 |date=February 1968 |doi=10.1038/217709a0 |bibcode=1968Natur.217..709H |s2cid=4277613 |access-date=16 December 2015 |name-list-style=amp|url-access=subscription }}</ref> had five authors, Hewish's name being [[first author|listed first]], Bell's second.

Hewish and Ryle were awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] in 1974 for work on the development of radio aperture synthesis and for Hewish's decisive role in the discovery of pulsars. The exclusion of Bell from the Nobel prize was controversial (see [[Nobel Prize in Physics controversies#1974: Ryle and Hewish |Nobel Prize in Physics controversies]]). Fellow Cambridge astronomer [[Fred Hoyle]] argued that Bell should have received a share of the prize,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016812j |title=The Life Scientific, Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell |publisher=[[BBC Radio 4]] |date=25 October 2011 |access-date=16 December 2015}}</ref> although Bell herself stated "it would demean Nobel Prizes if they were awarded to research students, except in very exceptional cases, and I do not believe this is one of them".<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.bigear.org/CSMO/HTML/CS01/cs01p16.htm |journal=Cosmic Search |title=Little Green Men, White Dwarfs or Pulsars? |first=S. Jocelyn |last=Bell Burnell |volume=1 |number=1 |date=January 1979 |page=16 |access-date=16 December 2015 |bibcode=1979CosSe...1...16B |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606124420/http://www.bigear.org/CSMO/HTML/CS01/cs01p16.htm |archive-date=6 June 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Michael Rowan-Robinson]] later wrote that "Hewish was undoubtedly the major player in the work that led to the discovery, inventing the scintillation technique in 1952, leading the team that built the array and made the discovery, and providing the interpretation".<ref name=guardian>{{cite news |last1=Rowan-Robinson |first1=Michael |author1-link=Michael Rowan-Robinson |title=Antony Hewish obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/oct/03/sir-antony-hewish-obituary |access-date=5 October 2021 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=3 October 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

[[Image:26. Tagung 1976 Physiker; Gruppen beim Bayrischen Frühstück Antony Hewish - W134Nr.106841b - Willy Pragher.jpg|thumb|right|Hewish at a conference in 1976]]
Hewish was professor of radio astronomy in the [[Cavendish Laboratory]] from 1971 to 1989 and head of the [[Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory|MRAO]] from 1982 to 1988.<ref name=death/> He developed an association with the [[Royal Institution]] in London when it was directed by Sir [[Lawrence Bragg]]. In 1965 he was invited to co-deliver the [[Royal Institution Christmas Lectures|Royal Institution Christmas Lecture]] on "Exploration of the Universe". He subsequently gave several Friday Evening Discourses<ref name="NobelA">{{cite web |url= https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1974/hewish-bio.html |title=Antony Hewish – Biographical |work=nobelprize.org |year=2015 |access-date=16 December 2015}}</ref> and was made a Professor of the Royal Institution in 1977.<ref name="WW">{{Who's Who |title=HEWISH, Prof. Antony |id=U19992 |volume=2015 |edition= online [[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref><ref>but according to a search of the [[Royal Institution]] website{{fcn|date=March 2022}} he was Professor of Astronomy during 1976–1981</ref> Hewish was a [[fellow]] of [[Churchill College, Cambridge]]. He was also a member of the Advisory Council for the [[Campaign for Science and Engineering]].<ref name="CaSE Advisory Council">{{cite web|url=http://www.sciencecampaign.org.uk/about/who/advisory.htm |title=Advisory Council |work=[[Campaign for Science and Engineering]] |access-date=11 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100828110110/http://www.sciencecampaign.org.uk/about/who/advisory.htm |archive-date=28 August 2010 }}</ref>

===Awards and honours===
Hewish had honorary degrees from six universities, including Manchester, Exeter and Cambridge, was a foreign member of the [[The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium|Belgian Royal Academy]], [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] and the [[Indian National Science Academy]]. The [[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]] holds multiple portraits of him in its permanent collection.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Antony Hewish - Person - National Portrait Gallery|url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp06515|url-status=live|access-date=17 September 2021|website=National Portrait Gallery, London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217162651/https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp06515 |archive-date=17 February 2020 }}</ref> Other awards and honours include:<ref name="WW"/>
* Elected a [[List of Fellows of the Royal Society elected in 1968|Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1968]]<ref name=frs>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117031352/https://royalsociety.org/people/antony-hewish-11609/|archive-date=17 November 2015|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/antony-hewish-11609/|title=Professor Antony Hewish FRS|publisher=[[Royal Society]]|location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Longair |first=Malcolm S. |date=2022 |title=Antony Hewish. 11 May 1924—13 September 2021 |journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |volume=72|pages=173–196 |doi=10.1098/rsbm.2021.0045 |s2cid=247453648 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
* [[Eddington Medal]], [[Royal Astronomical Society]] (1969)<ref name=death/>
* Dellinger Gold Medal, [[International Union of Radio Science]] (1972)<ref name=death/>
* [[Albert A. Michelson Medal]], [[Franklin Institute]] (1973, jointly with [[Jocelyn Bell Burnell]])<ref name="MichelsonMedal_Laureates">{{cite web |url=http://www.fi.edu/winners/show_results.faw?gs=&ln=&fn=&keyword=&subject=&award=MICH+&sy=1967&ey=1997&name=Submit |title=Franklin Laureate Database – Albert A. Michelson Medal Laureates |work=[[Franklin Institute]] |access-date={{Format date|2011|6|15|df=y}} |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406103546/http://www.fi.edu/winners/show_results.faw?gs=&ln=&fn=&keyword=&subject=&award=MICH+&sy=1967&ey=1997&name=Submit |archive-date=6 April 2012 }}</ref>
* [[Fernand Holweck Medal and Prize]] (1974)<ref name=death/>
* Nobel Prize for Physics (jointly) (1974)<ref name=death/>
* [[Hughes Medal]], [[Royal Society]] (1976)<ref name=death/>
* Elected a [[Fellow of the Institute of Physics]] (FInstP) in 1998<ref name="WW"/>

==Personal life==
Hewish married Marjorie Elizabeth Catherine Richards in 1950. They had a son, a physicist, and a daughter, a language teacher.<ref name="NobelA"/><ref>{{cite web|year=|title=The Papers of Professor Antony Hewish|url=https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/9/resources/1643|url-status=live|access-date=11 October 2021|work=Churchill Archives Centre|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004222539/https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/9/resources/1643 |archive-date=4 October 2021 }}</ref> Hewish died on 13 September 2021, aged 97.<ref name=death>{{cite news |title=Professor Antony Hewish (1924 – 2021) |url=https://www.cai.cam.ac.uk/news/professor-antony-hewish-1924-%E2%80%93-2021 |access-date=16 September 2021 |publisher=[[Gonville & Caius College]] |date=16 September 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

===Religious views===
Hewish argued that religion and science are complementary. In the foreword to ''[[Questions of Truth]]'', Hewish writes, "The ghostly presence of [[virtual particle]]s defies rational common sense and is non-intuitive for those unacquainted with physics. Religious belief in God, and Christian belief ... may seem strange to common-sense thinking. But when the most elementary physical things behave in this way, we should be prepared to accept that the deepest aspects of our existence go beyond our common-sense understanding."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Polkinghorne |first1=John |author-link=John Polkinghorne | last2=Beale |first2=Nicholas |title=Questions of Truth: Fifty-one Responses to Questions about God, Science, and Belief |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jiXANZ1CPD4C |date=19 January 2009 |publisher=[[Westminster John Knox Press]] |page=12 |isbn=978-1-61164-003-8 |access-date=27 July 2012}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of astronomers]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
<!-- These obituaries could be incorporated as sources -->
* {{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Harrison |title=Antony Hewish, astronomer who won Nobel Prize for the discovery of pulsars, dies at 97 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/antony-hewish-dead/2021/09/17/9380ef98-17c2-11ec-9589-31ac3173c2e5_story.html |access-date=21 September 2021 |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |department=Obituaries |date=17 September 2021|url-access=subscription}}
* {{cite web |title=Professor Antony Hewish FRS, 11 May 1924 - 13 September 2021 |date=16 September 2021 |url=https://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/news/2021/sep/16/professor-antony-hewish-frs-obituary/ |publisher=[[Churchill College, Cambridge]] |access-date=21 September 2021}}
* {{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2021/09/16/professor-antony-hewish-astronomer-jointly-won-nobel-prize-discovery/ |title=Professor Antony Hewish, astronomer who jointly won the Nobel Prize for the discovery of pulsars |department=Obituaries |newspaper=The Telegraph |access-date=2021-09-16|date=2021-09-16 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916180633/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2021/09/16/professor-antony-hewish-astronomer-jointly-won-nobel-prize-discovery/ |archive-date=2021-09-16}}
* {{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/17/science/space/antony-hewish-dead.html|title=Antony Hewish, Astronomer Honored for the Discovery of Pulsars, Dies at 97|newspaper=The New York Times|date=17 September 2021|last1=Wade|first1=Nicholas|url-access=subscription}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* [http://www.webofstories.com/play/antony.hewish/1 Antony Hewish interviewed] on ''[[Web of Stories]]''
* [https://www.sms.cam.ac.uk/media/1120921 Interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 26 March 2008 (video)]
* {{Nobelprize}} including the Nobel Lecture, 12 December 1974 ''Pulsars and High Density Physics''
* {{NPG name}}
*[https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/9/resources/1643 The Papers of Professor Antony Hewish] held at [[Churchill Archives Centre]]

{{Nobel Prize in Physics Laureates 1951–1975}}
{{1974 Nobel Prize winners}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hewish, Antony}}
[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:20th-century British astronomers]]
[[Category:British Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Fellows of Churchill College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Fellows of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physics]]
[[Category:People from Fowey]]
[[Category:Place of death missing]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Foreign fellows of the Indian National Science Academy]]
[[Category:English Christians]]
[[Category:People educated at King's College, Taunton]]
[[Category:People from Taunton]]
[[Category:English Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Spectroscopists]]
[[Category:Radio astronomers]]