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Taking the Back off the Watch: A Personal Memoir
Thomas Gold (1920-2004) had a curious mind that liked to solve problems. He was one of the most remarkable astrophysicists in the second half of the twentieth century, and he attracted controversy throughout his career. Based on a full-length autobiography left behind by Thomas Gold, this book was edited by the astrophysicist and historian of science, Simon Mitton (University of Cambridge). The book is a retrospective on Gold’s remarkable life. He fled from Vienna in 1933, eventually settling in England and completing an engineering degree at Trinity College in Cambridge. During the war, he worked on naval radar research alongside Fred Hoyle and Hermann Bondi – which, in an unlikely chain of events, eventually led to his working with them on steady-state cosmology. In 1968, shortly after their discovery, he provided the explanation of pulsars as rotating neutron stars. In his final position at Cornell, he and his colleagues persuaded the US Defense Department to fund the conversion of the giant radio telescope at Arecibo in Puerto Rico into a superb instrument for radio astronomy. Gold’s interests covered physiology, astronomy, cosmology, geophysics, and engineering. Written in an intriguing style and with an equally intriguing foreword by Freeman Dyson, this book constitutes an important historical document, made accessible to all those interested in the history of science.
252 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
About the author
Thomas Gold
25 books12 followersTommy Gold is an Austrian-born American polymath and astrophysicist who has done pioneering work in cosmology, pulsars, and lunar science, informing the world that neutrons are unstable, with a mean lifetime of ten minutes.
Born in Vienna, Gold became a refugee from the Austrian Anschluss and gained his BA in 1942 from Cambridge University, England. He lectured there in physics from 1948 to 1952 before joining the Royal Greenwich Observatory as chief assistant to the Astronomer Royal. He moved to the United States in 1956, founding the Center for Radiophysics and Space Research at Cornell University and serving as its first director from 1959 to 1981, and as professor of astronomy from 1971 to 1986. He was also on the EASTEX committee.
In 1948, together with Hermann Bondi and Fred Hoyle, proposed the steady-state theory of the universe. In the late 1960s he correctly interpreted the newly-discovered pulsars in terms of rotating neutron stars (a proposal made independently by Franco Pacini).
He has won notable prizes in the sciences including:
John Frederick Lewis Award (1972)
Humboldt Prize (1979)
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1985)
Anthony Tucker of The Guardian said of Professor Gold, "Throughout his life he would dive into new territory to open up problems unseen by others – in biophysics, astrophysics, space engineering, or geophysics. Controversy followed him everywhere. Possessing profound scientific intuition and open-minded rigour, he usually ended up challenging the cherished assumptions of others and, to the discomfiture of the scientific establishment, often found them wanting. His stature and influence were international."
Born in Vienna, Gold became a refugee from the Austrian Anschluss and gained his BA in 1942 from Cambridge University, England. He lectured there in physics from 1948 to 1952 before joining the Royal Greenwich Observatory as chief assistant to the Astronomer Royal. He moved to the United States in 1956, founding the Center for Radiophysics and Space Research at Cornell University and serving as its first director from 1959 to 1981, and as professor of astronomy from 1971 to 1986. He was also on the EASTEX committee.
In 1948, together with Hermann Bondi and Fred Hoyle, proposed the steady-state theory of the universe. In the late 1960s he correctly interpreted the newly-discovered pulsars in terms of rotating neutron stars (a proposal made independently by Franco Pacini).
He has won notable prizes in the sciences including:
John Frederick Lewis Award (1972)
Humboldt Prize (1979)
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1985)
Anthony Tucker of The Guardian said of Professor Gold, "Throughout his life he would dive into new territory to open up problems unseen by others – in biophysics, astrophysics, space engineering, or geophysics. Controversy followed him everywhere. Possessing profound scientific intuition and open-minded rigour, he usually ended up challenging the cherished assumptions of others and, to the discomfiture of the scientific establishment, often found them wanting. His stature and influence were international."
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 21, 2022
I read this book first in 2003 when I helped Thomas Gold finish it shortly before his death. The stories captivated me because he investigated so many diverse topics. Professor Gold's capture of his scientific moments through each chapter educated me in science and history in a unique, fascinating way. I wish the book was cheaper as I would like to buy more copies. I purchased one when it came out but I think many people could learn from Professor Gold. In an age of specialization, Thomas Gold brought systems together in his view of science and in his work.
February 6, 2019
Wonderful and amazing trip through powerful innovation, Space and Time by one of the most brilliant Astronomers of our time
Tommy Gold's startling breadth and depth of knowledge and insight into Astronomy, Physics, Geology/Planetary Sciences and even Human Hearing with major original innovations in each should have merited several Nobel Prizes. For example, his correct prediction of rapidly rotating neutron stars with enormously dense magnetic fields in Supernova Remnants, generating powerful rotating radio beacons which appear from Earth as rapidly pulsating compact radio sources which slow predictably as they lose energy in this process revolutionized observed endpoints of stellar evolution when the first such observations were still being called LGM for "Little Green Men".
His memoirs are exciting, moving and inspiring throughout, taking the reader to the edges of the feasible in individual inference. Highly recommended for readers interested in the sciences.
Tommy Gold's startling breadth and depth of knowledge and insight into Astronomy, Physics, Geology/Planetary Sciences and even Human Hearing with major original innovations in each should have merited several Nobel Prizes. For example, his correct prediction of rapidly rotating neutron stars with enormously dense magnetic fields in Supernova Remnants, generating powerful rotating radio beacons which appear from Earth as rapidly pulsating compact radio sources which slow predictably as they lose energy in this process revolutionized observed endpoints of stellar evolution when the first such observations were still being called LGM for "Little Green Men".
His memoirs are exciting, moving and inspiring throughout, taking the reader to the edges of the feasible in individual inference. Highly recommended for readers interested in the sciences.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews