Under the Radar: The First Woman in Radio Astronomy: Ruby Payne-Scott [Paperback]

It is rare for a complete biography of an Australian scientist, particularly of an Australian woman scientist, to be published. It is rarer for such a book to be co-authored by an American. Although scientists have written discourses on the history of their discipline, it is most unusual for a scientist to write a full length biography of a colleague in his ?eld. It is also uncommon for a man to write about an Australian woman scientist; most of the work on Australian women scientists has been done by other women. However, these authors, both distinguished researchers in the ?eld of radio astr- omy, became so interested in the history of their discipline and in the career of the pioneer radio astronomer Ruby Payne-Scott that they spent some years bringing this book to fruition. Until relatively recently, Ruby Payne-Scott had been the only woman scientist mentioned brie?y in histories of Australian science or of Australian radio astronomy. This book will be an invaluable resource for anyone interested in these disciplines. Being scientists themselves, the authors explain Payne-Scotts scienti?c work in detail; therefore, the value and importance of her contributions can, for the ?rst time, be recognised, not only by historians but also by scientists.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: 19121938, 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  19441945.- Payne-Scott at Dover Heights 19451947: 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, 19491951: Movies olÓ'