Rod Davies | |
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 Rod Davies in 2007 | |
| Born | 8 January 1930  Balaklava |
| Died | 8 November 2015 (aged 85) |
| Occupation | Astronomer |
| Employer | |
Rodney Deane DaviesCBEFRS (8 January 1930 – 8 November 2015) was a Professor ofRadio Astronomy at theUniversity of Manchester. He was the President of theRoyal Astronomical Society in 1987–1989, and the Director ofJodrell Bank Observatory in 1988–97. He is best known for his research on theCosmic microwave background and the21cm line.
Davies was born on 8 January 1930[1] into a family of farmers inBalaklava, a village north ofAdelaide, South Australia.[1] His parents were Holbin and Rena Davies.[2] He had three brothers.[1]
He met Beth, his wife, at the Student Christian Movement at the University of Adelaide.[2] They married in 1953, and later that same year they moved toCheshire,United Kingdom. They had four children: Rosalyn, Claire, Stewart and Warwick (who predeceased him), and eleven grandchildren:[1] Luke, Josh (m. Cat), Dom, Hannah, Nyasha, Laura, Eleanor, Hettie, Annie, Leo, and Jemima.[2]
He became aMethodist preacher at the age of 16 at his church in South Australia,[1][3][2] and regularly attended his Methodist chapel in Manchester. He also had an extensive knowledge oftrees.[1]
He suffered fromcancer,[1] but carried on working regardless. His health declined in the last two months of his life,[2] and he died on 8 November 2015.[1]
He went toAdelaide High School.[2] In 1946[2] he was awarded a scholarship to study Physics at theUniversity of Adelaide,[1] receiving an Honours degree in 1951.[4] He then became a Research Officer in the Radiophysics Division ofCSIRO in Sydney,[4] observing radio bursts from the Sun.[2]
When he was 23 he sent an airmail letter toBernard Lovell, a friend of his then-bossJoe Pawsey, asking for a position atJodrell Bank Observatory,[1] and he was subsequently appointed Assistant Lecturer at theUniversity of Manchester in 1953.[4] He was awarded a PhD in 1956 on his work measuring the distance of galaxies using the21cm line, examined byJan Oort.[1] He was the Director of Jodrell Bank Observatory from 1988 until 1997.[4]
He was thePresident of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1987–89.[4] He became aFellow of the Royal Society in 1992.[4][5][6] He received a CBE in 1995.[4] He retired in 1997, but he continued to actively work at Jodrell Bank until his death.[2]
Over the course of his career, he published over 500 scientific papers.[1] His research focused on the large-scale structure of the Universe. He studied emission from theHydrogen line in galaxies,[1][7][8][9][10][11] providing insight into theHubble flow.[5] He observed OH emission using interferometers.[12]
He was best known for his work measuring theCosmic Microwave Background emission,[1] providing upper limits on the CMB anisotropies,[5][13][14][15][16] which began with observations on cold winter nights at Jodrell Bank Observatory in the late 1970s, before relocating his telescopes 2,400 metres (7,900 ft) up the mountain onTenerife in the early 1980s to take advantage of the clearer atmosphere at that location. By the early 1990s his instruments had detected the anisotropies of the CMB, however the publication of his results came after the results of theCosmic Background Explorer had been announced; the COBE team went on to win theNobel Prize for Physics for their discovery.[1]
He also led research on the emission of theMilky Way as measured by CMB experiments.[17] He worked on thePlanck satellite,[18] co-coordinating the Planck projects on Galactic and Solar System science.[19]
He continued his research over 18 years after his retirement, with his final paper due to be published several months after his death.[1]
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