Person Gold; Thomas (1920 - 2004) Gold Thomas Astrophysicist 1920 - 2004 American British Austrian Male Vienna, Austria, Europe 22/05/1920 19200522 Ithaca, New York, United States of America, North America 22/06/2004 20040622

Astrophysicist Astronomy Biophysics Physics Astrophysics Education: Zuoz College, Switzerland; Trinity College, Cambridge (engineering) Career: Interned during WW2 as an enemy alien (May 1940-1941); researched radar ground clutter with Bondi and Hoyle for Admiralty, becoming Chief Scientific Advisor to the Ministry of Defence; Fellow, Trinity College, Cambridge (1947-1951); proposed "steady state" hypothesis of the universe with Fred Hoyle and fellow former internee Hermann Bondi; staff, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge (1946-1947, 1949-1952); staff, Medical Research Council Zoological Laboratory, Cambridge (1947-1949) to work on human hearing; Senior Principal Scientific Officer, Royal Greenwich Observatory (1952-1956); moved to USA to become Professor of Astronomy, Harvard University (1957-1958); Robert Wheeler Wilson Professor of Applied Astronomy, Harvard University (1958-1959); member of US President's Space Science Panel for seven years; John L Wetherill Professor of Astronomy, Cornell University (1971-1986, Emeritus), founder and director of Cornell Center for Radiophysics and Space Research (1959-1981) where he demonstrated that the newly discovered "pulsar" phenomenon must contain a rotating neutron star (a star more massive than the Sun but just 10 km in diameter) This 'opened the door' to Stephen Hawking, as it is a short step form accepting neutron stars to accepting black holes'; subsequently advanced another controversial theory, that of the "abiotic" origin of oil; wrote The Deep Hot Biosphere (1992) concerning existence of bacteria at depths far greater than previously believed - predicted that Mars would also have a deep hot biosphere; awarded gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society; member of US National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society Married (1947) Merle Tuberg, marriage dissolved; married (1972) Carvel Beyer Fellow 19/03/1964 43 Obituaries: Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 2006 vol 52 pp 117-135, plate, by Sir Hermann Bondi Obituaries in The Guardian (24/06/2004); The Times (28/06/2004); The Independent (29 June 2004) References: Sir Bernard Lovell, 'The Royal Society, the Royal Greenwich Observatory and the Astronomer Royal' in NR 1994 vol 48 pp 283-297 International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 The Deep Hot Biosphere 22 May 1920 - 22 Jun 2004 NA1529 21/11/2001 Andyg Pmab 05/06/2025 RS_NET\VirginiaM Yes http://viaf.org/viaf/79180248 3fff4314-d2d2-4461-89b5-7341abd8b1d3