Radio Astronomer : John Bolton and a new window on the universe

by Peter Robertson

The leading Australian astronomer of his generation, John Bolton (1922–93), was born in Sheffield and educated at Cambridge University. After wartime service in the Royal Navy, he arrived in Sydney and joined the CSIRO Radiophysics Laboratory. In the late 1940s he discovered and identified the first discrete radio sources, unusual objects at vast distances with intense emission at radio frequencies. These discoveries marked the birth of a new field – extragalactic radio astronomy.

Bolton had the unusual distinction of being the inaugural director of two new observatories. In the late 1950s he built the first major observatory for radio astronomy at Caltech in the United States, returning to Australia to take charge of the newly completed Parkes telescope – featured in the acclaimed film The Dish – in New South Wales.

In this thoroughly researched and generously illustrated biography, Peter Robertson tells the remarkable story of how John Bolton, and his CSIRO colleagues, propelled Australia to the forefront of international radio astronomy.

430 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 1, 2017

Reviews

[Joe Callingham · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a radio astronomer, I thought it was time that I start working through some of the early history of the field. When radio astronomy opened a new window onto the Universe, discoveries were coming thick and fast. It was a time when serendipity and thorough work reigned supreme. Since John Bolton is my academic grandfather, and a key figure in radio astronomy, I thought his biography would be a great place to start. Robertson's biography covers all the key moments in Bolton's scientific life - his discovery that new radio sources where not stars but in fact mostly galaxies, the centre of the Milky Way, and the role of the Parkes radio telescope and Apollo 11. Robertson also dips his toes into Bolton's personal life but I think he largely comes up short in painting the true character of the man. The main issue with the biography is that Robertson does not really know which audience he is writing the novel for - is it professional or general? He commits sins for both groups equally throughout. While Robertson covers the scientific career of Bolton well, he falls too often into hagiography of his character. He also makes a couple of unsubstantiated claims on Bolton's personal character. All in all, I learnt a lot about my academic grand daddy but I will likely have to turn to historical texts more targeted to professional audiences to get my radio astronomy history fix.

[Warren Gossett · Rating 5 out of 5]

How did Australia get to be number one in radio astronomy in the 1940’s and 50’s? And it has remained among world leaders in the science. And what do radio telescopes see? This book selects one of the most prominent of pioneering Australian radio astronomers, John Bolton, and invites you to look behind the scenes at the antennas and the physics.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant history of the radio astronomy establishment in Australia . Builder of the Parkes Radio telescope, The Dish.