Susan Jocelyn Bell Burnell Biography

    Susan Jocelyn Bell Burnell, born on July 15^th, 1943 in Belfast, Ireland is a well known astronomer who has contributed greatly to the field.  Her interest in astronomy was peaked by her father who worked as an architect for the Armagh Observatory.  She studied physics in college at the University of Glasgow and later attained her Ph.D. From Cambridge.  With professor Antony Hewish she successfully made a 81.5 megaherz radio telescope at Cambridge.  Using this resource, she studied interplanetary scintillation of compact radio sources.  This basically means she was studying what would later become known as pulsars.  She discovered the first pulsar during these years while searching for quasars.  The first four pulsars ever discovered were all found by Bell Burnell  A pulsar is a radio star which is emitting flashes of electromagnetic radiation in a pattern associated with its rotation.  A lighthouse is a commonly used example of pulsar like behavior.  Burnell's discovery of the first pulsar came after analyzing a 400 foot long paper chart created from observations using her telescope.  This discovery took place in 1967 and she published her findings in an appendix on her thesis.

    After her discovery, controversy arose when Bell Burnell was not awarded the Nobel Prize for her work.  Instead, the prize was given to Sir Martin Ryle and Tony Hewish.  The discovery of the pulsar was attributed to Hewish although Bell Burnell was known to have actually made this breakthrough. 

    After her discovery, Bell Burnell studied and taught as a teacher's assistant at the University of Southampton.  She was mostly focused on studying electron density.  During her time at Southampton she developed a 1-10 million electron volts gamma-ray telescope.

    After her time at Southampton, Bell Burnell continued to research and work as a programmer at various laboratories in England.  Some of her most notable work includes studying the x-ray emission coming from galactic features.  She used the information she gained to observe various types of galactic objects including star systems and galaxies.  She also held many teaching positions throughout her career and was the editor for The Observatory.  The Observatory is a renowned journal focusing on astronomy. 

    Bell Burnell's discovery of pulsars has been instrumental in the field of astronomy.  Pulsars have been used to confirm that gravitational radiation exists and also later led to the discovery of the first extrasolar planets.  Pulsars are usually extremely precise in terms of the periods between their pulses.  Therefore, pulsars are used to build pulsar clocks which have been found to be more accurate than atomic clocks.  Some pulsars are also used to find gravitational waves which are basically ripples in spacetime predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity.

    In addition to making a huge contribution to the field of astronomy, Bell Burnell provided many women scientists with hope that they too could become successful and be recognized for their work.  When she discovered pulsars, there were not many notable women scientists for young women hoping to pursue a career in the sciences to look up to.  Bell Burnell became this role model for many although she was not recognized with a Nobel Prize for her discovery which was instead given to a man working on the project with her.  Nonetheless, Bell Burnell has received numerous awards including the Michelson Medal from the Franklin Institute, the J Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Prize, the Beatrice M Tinsley Prize, and the Herschel Medal from the Royal Astronomical Society in London.  She has also been the president of the Royal Astronomical Society and the Institute of Physics.  Besides her work in the field of science, Bell Burnell has also worked to give more young girls the change to continue their education by being the house patron of Burnell House at Cambridge House Grammar School.

    Bell Burnell is now 69.  There was a documentary created about her entitled “Beautiful Minds” in which she spoke about the sexism present in scientific fields and her beliefs.  She is a Quaker and says that”Quakerism and research science fit together very, very well.” 

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