Jocelyn Bell Burnell

Dame Susan Jocelyn Bell Burnell DBE FRS FRSE FRAS FInstP (/bɜːrˈnɛl/; born 15 July 1943) is a Northern Irish astrophysicist. Her discovery of radio pulsars has been called as "one of the most significant scientific achievements of the 20th Century".[9]


Jocelyn Bell Burnell

DBE FRS FRSE FRAS FInstP
Bell Burnell in 2009
Born
Susan Jocelyn Bell

(1943-07-15) 15 July 1943[1]
EducationThe Mount School, York
Alma mater
Known forDiscovering the first four pulsars[3]
Spouse(s)
Martin Burnell
(m. 1968; div. 1993)
ChildrenGavin Burnell
Awards
  • J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Prize (1978)
  • Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize (1986)
  • Herschel Medal (1989)
  • Michael Faraday Prize (2010)
  • Royal Medal (2015)
  • Grande Médaille (2018)
  • Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2018)
Scientific career
FieldsAstrophysics
Institutions
ThesisThe Measurement of radio source diameters using a diffraction method (1968)
Doctoral advisorAntony Hewish[4][5][6]
Influences
  • Fred Hoyle Frontiers of Astronomy (1955)
  • Henry Tillott[7] (her school physics teacher)
Websitewww2.physics.ox.ac.uk/contacts/people/bellburnell
Composite Optical/X-ray image of the Crab Nebula, showing synchrotron emission in the surrounding pulsar wind nebula. This is powered by the injection of magnetic fields and particles from the central pulsar

Her work was recognised by the award of the Nobel Prize in Physics to her thesis supervisor Antony Hewish[5][6] and to the astronomer Martin Ryle. Bell was excluded, despite having been the first to observe and precisely analyse the pulsars.[10]

Burnell won the 2018 Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.

Awards

  • The Albert A. Michelson Medal of the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia (1973, jointly with Dr. Hewish).[11][12]
  • J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Prize from the Center for Theoretical Studies, University of Miami (1978).[13][14]
  • Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize of the American Astronomical Society (1986).[15]
  • Herschel Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1989).[16]
  • Jansky Lectureship before the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (1995).[17]
  • Magellanic Premium of the American Philosophical Society (2000).[18]
  • Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) (March 2003).[19]
  • Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) (2004).[1]
  • William E. Gordon and Elva Gordon distinguished lecture at the Arecibo Observatory on 27 June 2006.[20]
  • The Grote Reber Medal at the General Assembly of the International Radio Science Union in Istanbul (19 August 2011)[21]
  • The Royal Medal of the Royal Society (2015).[22]
  • The Women of the Year Prudential Lifetime Achievement Award (2015)[23]
  • The Institute of Physics President's Medal (2017)[24]
  • Grande Médaille of the French Academy of Sciences (2018)[25]
  • Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2018)[26]

Honours

Publications

Her publications include:

  • Burnell, S. Jocelyn (1989). Broken for Life. Swarthmore Lecture. London: Quaker Home Service. ISBN 978-0-85245-222-6.
  • Riordan, Maurice; Burnell, S. Jocelyn (27 October 2008). Dark Matter: Poems of Space. Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. ISBN 978-1-903080-10-8.

References

Works cited

Other websites

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