Sir Martin Ryle (27 September 1918 – 14 October 1984) was an Englishradio astronomer who developed revolutionaryradio telescope systems (see e.g.aperture synthesis) and used them for accurate location and imaging of weak radio sources. In 1946 Ryle andDerek Vonberg were the first people to publishinterferometric astronomical measurements at radio wavelengths. With improved equipment, Ryle observed the most distant known galaxies in the universe at that time. He was the first Professor ofRadio Astronomy in the University of Cambridge and founding director of theMullard Radio Astronomy Observatory. He was the twelfthAstronomer Royal from 1972 to 1982.[4] Ryle andAntony Hewish shared theNobel Prize for Physics in 1974, the first Nobel prize awarded in recognition of astronomical research.[5] In the 1970s, Ryle turned the greater part of his attention from astronomy to social and political issues which he considered to be more urgent. He was also an enthusiastic amateur radio operator (callsign G3CY).[6]
The focus of Ryle's early work in Cambridge was on radio waves from theSun.[8][9][10][11] His interest quickly shifted to other areas, however, and he decided early on that theCambridge group should develop new observing techniques. As a result, Ryle was the driving force in the creation and improvement ofastronomical interferometry andaperture synthesis, which paved the way for massive upgrades in the quality of radio astronomical data. In 1946 Ryle built the first multi-element astronomical radio interferometer.[12]
According to numerous reports Ryle was quick-thinking, impatient with those slower than himself and charismatic.[7]: 502, 508, 510 He was also idealistic,[7]: 519 a characteristic he shared with his father.[7]: 499 [13] In an interview[14]: 271 in 1982 he said "At times one feels that one should almost have a car sticker saying 'Stop Science Now' because we're getting cleverer and cleverer, but we do not increase the wisdom to go with it."
He was also intense and volatile,[15]: 327 the latter characteristic being associated with his mother.[7]: 499 [13]: Folder A.20 The historian Owen Chadwick described him as "arare personality, of exceptional sensitivity of mind, fears and anxieties, care and compassion, humour and anger."[13]: Folder A.28
Ryle was a new physics graduate and an experienced amateur radio enthusiast in 1939, when the Second World War started. He played an important part in the Allied war effort,[7] working mainly in radar countermeasures. After the war, "He returned to Cambridge with a determination to devote himself to pure science, unalloyed by the taint of war."[7]
In the 1970s, Ryle turned the greater part of his attention from astronomy to social and political issues which he considered to be more urgent. With publications from 1976 and continuing, despite illness[7] until he died in 1984, he pursued a passionate and intensive program on the socially responsible use of science and technology.[16] His main themes were:
Warning the world of the horrific dangers of nuclear armaments, notably in his pamphletTowards theNuclear Holocaust.[17]
Criticism of nuclear power, as inIs there a case for nuclear power?[18]
Research and promotion of alternative energy and energy efficiency, as inShort-term Storage and Wind Power Availability.[19]
Calling for the responsible use of science and technology. "...we should strive to see how the vast resources now diverted towards the destruction of life are turned instead to the solution of the problems which both rich - but especially the poor - countries of the world now face."[16]
In 1983 Ryle responded to a request from the President of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences for suggestions of topics to be discussed at a meeting onScience and Peace. Ryle's reply was published posthumously inMartin Ryle's Letter.[16] An abridged version appears inNew Scientist with the titleMartin Ryle's Last Testament.[20] The letter ends with "Our cleverness has grown prodigiously – but not our wisdom."
In their early years Ryle and his elder brother received lessons at home in carpentry[7]: 498 and manual skills became important for him throughout his life. This was for relaxation – he built boats to his own design[7]: 498 – and professionally. In his wartime radar work,[25] his post-war radio-telescope building[7]: 510 and his late researches into wind energy[7]: 517 he was a hands-on practical engineer as well as a scientist.
Ryle had a lifelong interest in sailing[7]: 498 and this matched his choice when in the 1970s he turned his research subject from astronomy to wind energy.[26]: 420–422
In his youth, Ryle became an amateur radio operator. While still at school (Bradfield College) he built his own transmitter and obtained a Post Office licence to operate it,[7]: 498–499 with the callsign G3CY. As undergraduate he was a leading member of the Oxford University Wireless Society (callsign G3MM).[6]
In 1936 the family moved to a house in Cambridge which became Ryle's home after the war. In 1947 he and Rowena Palmer married, and they lived in this house for rest of his life. They had three children, born in 1949, 1951 and 1952. Ryle died on 14 October 1984, in Cambridge. He was celebrated on a first class stamp issued in 2009 as part of an Eminent Britons set.[27] Lady Rowena Ryle died in 2013.
^The Papers of Martin Ryle have been catalogued by Anna-K Mayer and Tim Powell, NCUACS, in 2009 and are deposited with theChurchill Archives Centre, Cambridge.[1]
