William E. Gordon
William Edwin Gordon (born January 8, 1918 in Paterson , New Jersey , USA ; † February 16, 2010 in Ithaca , New York , USA) was an American electrical engineer , physicist and astronomer .
Life
After attending school, he first studied at the Teacher's College of Montclair (New Jersey) and graduated with a bachelor's degree . He then studied at New York University , where he graduated with a Master of Science (M.Sc.). This was followed by his promotion to Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University .
Gordon was working on a radar system for exploring the Earth's ionosphere in the late 1950s when he discovered that his developments could also be incorporated into studies in the new field of radio astronomy .
Funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), he developed a telescope in 1960 with a 1000- foot (about 305 meters) fixed spherical reflector and a movable focusing system installed above the reflector. Construction of the Arecibo Observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico was completed in 1963. This radio telescope was fundamental to several discoveries such as the determination of the rotation time of Mercury , the study of pulsars (rapidly rotating neutron stars ) and the finding of the first binary pulsar PSR 1913 + 16 by Russell Hulse and Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr. in 1974.
After completing his work at the Arecibo Observatory, he received a teaching position at Rice University in Houston (Texas) in 1966 . Gordon, whose retirement took place in 1985, was also a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1968 and of the National Academy of Engineering since 1975 . Eventually he became a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1986 .
The Arecibo Observatory he built also played an important role in the public idea of what science should look like and was featured in both the James Bond film Goldeneye (1995) and the motion picture Contact (1997) starring Jodie Foster .
On the 40th anniversary of the Arecibo Observatory, operated by Cornell University through the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center for the National Science Foundation , Gordon said in 2003:
- "When we were talking about building the telescope back in the late '50s, we were told by eminent authorities it couldn't be done. We were in the position of trying to do something that was impossible, and it took a lot of guts and we were young enough that we didn't know we couldn't do it. It took five years from idea to dedication, and that is short. But we were in the right place at the right time and had the right idea and the right preparation. We had no rules or precedents. "
- ("When we were talking about building such a telescope in the late 1950s, major authorities told us it wasn't possible. We were at a stage of trying something that wasn't possible, and it took a lot of guts and us were young enough that we didn't know we couldn't do it. It took five years from idea to inauguration and that's short. But we were in the right place at the right time and had the right idea and the right preparation . We had no rules and no precedents. ")
Web links
- Engineer who built Arecibo Observatory dies , USA Today , February 18, 2010
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gordon, William E. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Gordon, William Edwin |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American astronomer, electrical engineer, and physicist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 8, 1918 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Paterson , New Jersey , USA |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 16, 2010 |
| Place of death | Ithaca , New York , USA |