Education
Ph.D. University of Maryland, 1971.
Selcted Bibliography
"Kapteyn's influence on the style and content of twentieth century
Dutch astronomy", in The Legacy of J.C. Kapteyn (eds. P.C.
van der Kruit and K. van Berkel), pp. 229-264 (2000)
"The entry of radio astronomy into cosmology: radio stars and Martin
Ryle's 2C survey", in Modern Cosmology in Retrospect (eds.
B. Bertotti et al. ), pp. 309-30 (1990).
"The early years of Australian radio astronomy", in Australian
Science in the Making (ed. R. W. Home), pp. 308-44 (1988).
"Frank Kerr and radio waves: from wartime radar to interstellar atoms",in
The Outer Galaxy (eds. L. Blitz and F. J. Lockman), pp. 268-87
(1988).
"Early radio astronomy", chap. 11 in Astrophysics andTwentieth-century
Astronomy to 1950 (ed. O. Gingerich), Vol. 4A of A General History
of Astronomy (ed. M. Hoskin), pp. 190-8 (1984).
The Early Years of Radio Astronomy: Reflections Fifty Years After
Jansky's Discovery (Cambridge University Press, 1984). (Editor and
contributor to a collection of 25 retrospective and historical articles
covering the pre-1960 era).
Classics in Radio Astronomy (Reidel, 1982; Vol. 10 of the series
"Studies
in the History of Modern Science", gen. eds. R. S. Cohen, E. N. Hiebert
and E. I.
Mendelsohn). (A collection of 37 reprinted articles covering the period
1896-1954, with extensive commentary).
Research in Progress
My historical research emphasizes the twentieth century, in particular
the development of early radio astronomy and of the Search for Extraterrestrial
Intelligence (SETI). I've long been trying to finish my main study on
the worldwide development of radio astronomy in the pre-1955 era, tentatively
entitled Cosmic Noise. I'm also interested in charting how the
nascent field of Astrobiology is today rapidly changing and maturing -
is it becoming a discipline in its own right?
As an adjunct professor in the History Department, I teach history of
physics and astronomy (HST 313 in alternate years), and mentor those History
graduate students wishing to study History of Science and be part of the
Astrobiology Program.
http://depts.washington.edu/astrobio
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