Under the Radar

Introduction: The Life of Ruby Violet Payne-Scott - 28 May 1912 (Grafton NSW, Australia) to 25 May 1981 (Sydney, Australia).- Ruby Payne-Scott: the Early Years: 1912-1938, Ancestors, Childhood, Secondary School and Sydney University.- Woodlands School, AWA, New Career Opportunities for Women in World War II.- Personnel File from CSIR/CSIRO.- War Time Research by Payne-Scott at RPL.- Payne-Scott - The First Woman Radio Astronomer and the Transition to Peacetime - 1944-1945.- Payne-Scott at Dover Heights 1945-1947: Discovery of Type I, II and III Solar Bursts and the Introduction of Fourier Synthesis in Astronomy.- Hornsby 1948: Type III Bursts Revealed; Conflicts with Bolton.- Payne-Scott at Potts Hill, 1949-1951: Movies of the Outward Motions of Solar Outbursts with the Swept-Lobe Interferometer.- Payne-Scott and URSI, 1952: Her Last Experience as a Radio Astronomer.- Reminiscences and Anecdotes of Ruby Payne-Scott as Told by Friends and Colleagues.- A Remarkable Family: Bill and Ruby Hall.- Payne-Scott, Communist Party of Australia, Commonwealth Investigation Service and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.- Danebank School 1963-1974; the Ruby Payne-Scott Lectures.- The End of Payne-Scott's Life: A Retrospective.- Epilogue: Why Did We Write This Book?.

Miller Goss received his undergraduate degree in astronomy from Harvard in 1963 and a PhD from the University of California (Berkeley) in 1967, working on the newly discovered OH radio frequency line at the Hat Creek Observatory. He then moved to Australia to the CSIRO Division of Radiophysics, first as a postdoctoral fellow and later as a staff member. In 1976 he was the recipient of the Pawsey Medal of the Australian Academy of Science. From 1977 to 1986 he was on the staff of the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute of the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, and then professor from 1980 to 1986. In 1986 he moved to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Socorro New Mexico (USA). He was Director of the Very Large Array and the Very Long Baseline Array from 1988 to 2002. He and Dick McGee began working on Under the Radar, the First Woman in Radio Astronomy: Ruby Payne-Scott, in 1997. It was published in 2009 with book launches in Sydney and Canberra. At present Goss and Claire Hooker are working on a joint biography of J.L. Pawsey and J.G. Bolton. Goss scientific interests are radio astronomical studies of the interstellar medium in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies. Goss is currently on the scientific staff of NRAO and is the author of over 500 astronomical publications.

From the reviews:

"This is a beautifully-researched, copiously-illustrated and well-written book that tells us much more than the life of one amazing female radio astronomer. It also provides a profile on radar developments during WWII and on Australia's pre-eminent place in solar radio astronomy in the years following WWII. Under the Radar is compelling reading, and if you have taken the time to read right through this review then it certainly belongs on your bookshelf!" (Wayne Orchiston, Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, March, 2010) "Under the Radar is a technically thorough biography of Ruby Payne-Scott, who had a remarkable career as a radio astronomer in Australia. ... Goss (National Radio Astronomy Observatory, New Mexico) and McGee (CSIRO, Australia) are also radio astronomers. ... Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty, and professionals." (M. Dickinson, Choice, Vol. 47 (9), May, 2010)

"This detailed biography of Ruby Payne-Scott ... one of the early pioneers in Sydney, is a welcome and scholarly addition to this growing body of work. ... written in a style that would probably appeal more to radio astronomers with an interest in history ... . The book concludes with a lengthy Appendix divided into fourteen sections covering a diverse range of subjects ... ." (Peter Robertson, Historical Records of Australian Science, Vol. 22 (2), 2011)

"Under the Radar, a biography of the first woman in radio astronomy ... . The book Under the Radar is a much deserved look at her life and times, and is an extremely through look at her background, her family, and the astronomy and physics involved in her research, definitely one worth searching out!" (Astroguyz, April, 2012)

From the reviews:

"This is a beautifully-researched, copiously-illustrated and well-written book that tells us much more than the life of one amazing female radio astronomer. It also provides a profile on radar developments during WWII and on Australia's pre-eminent place in solar radio astronomy in the years following WWII. Under the Radar is compelling reading, and if you have taken the time to read right through this review then it certainly belongs on your bookshelf!" (Wayne Orchiston, Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, March, 2010) "Under the Radar is a technically thorough biography of Ruby Payne-Scott, who had a remarkable career as a radio astronomer in Australia. ... Goss (National Radio Astronomy Observatory, New Mexico) and McGee (CSIRO, Australia) are also radio astronomers. ... Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty, and professionals." (M. Dickinson, Choice, Vol. 47 (9), May, 2010)

"This detailed biography of Ruby Payne-Scott ... one of the early pioneers in Sydney, is a welcome and scholarly addition to this growing body of work. ... written in a style that would probably appeal more to radio astronomers with an interest in history ... . The book concludes with a lengthy Appendix divided into fourteen sections covering a diverse range of subjects ... ." (Peter Robertson, Historical Records of Australian Science, Vol. 22 (2), 2011)

"Under the Radar, a biography of the first woman in radio astronomy ... . The book Under the Radar is a much deserved look at her life and times, and is an extremely through look at her background, her family, and the astronomy and physics involved in her research, definitely one worth searching out!" (Astroguyz, April, 2012)