| 1 | Name: | Sir Bernard Lovell | |
| Institution: | University of Manchester & Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories, Jodrell Bank | ||
| Year Elected: | 1974 | ||
| Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 101. Astronomy | ||
| Residency: | International | ||
| Living? : | Deceased | ||
| Birth Date: | 1913 | ||
| Death Date: | August 6, 2012 | ||
Sir Alfred Charles Bernard Lovell was a British radio astronomer and former director of the Jodrell Bank Observatory. He studied physics at the University of Bristol, obtaining a Ph.D. in 1936. At the University of Manchester, he worked on the cosmic ray research team until the outbreak of World War II, during which time he worked for the Telecommunications Research Establishment developing radar systems to be installed in aircraft, for which he received an OBE in 1946. Lovell attempted to continue his cosmic ray work with an ex-military radar unit, and following interference from trams on Manchester's Oxford Road, he moved to Jodrell Bank. There he was able to show that radar echoes could be obtained from daytime meteor showers, and he subsequently constructed the then largest steerable radiotelescope in the world, which now bears his name; upon its completion in 1957 it was used to track the first artificial satellite, Sputnik I. Lovell was knighted in 1961 for his important contributions to the development of radio astronomy. A secondary school is also named for him in his home village of Oldland. Lovell's other honors include the Royal Medal of the Royal Society (1960) and the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1981). He was Professor of Radio Astronomy Emeritus at the University of Manchester, with which he had been affiliated since 1951. Sir Bernard Lovell died August 6, 2012, at the age of 98 at his home in Swettenham Village, England. | |||