The second world war was the spawning ground for radio astronomy. It generated a legion of scientists and engineers well versed in the technology of radar, radio transmission and radio electronics. Once the war ended, brilliant protagonists of radar and radio technology wished to venture much further with their innovative research. These included scientists like Martin Ryle, Fred Hoyle, John Bolton, Bernard Mills, Bernard Lovell, Arthur Covington, Joe Pawsey, and many more. Moreover, some fundamental discoveries of radio astronomy resulted from researches associated with radar, such as discrete sources of radio emission, and the bursting solar radio flares.
The very first radio astronomers—Karl Jansky and Grote Reber—were pre-war and from the USA. However, in the postwar surge to build the science, other countries—namely the UK, Australia and the Netherlands—took the lead. Canada got o↵ to a relatively slow start, but start it did, mainly through the dogged and inspirational efforts of one man—Covington, who in 1946 began monitoring the solar radio emission and its wild fluctuations. (That record is continuous to this day).
It is an appropriate time to tell the story of Canadian Radio Astronomy. Canada’s radio astronomy has been through crisis periods in which the very existence of the subject hung in the balance. Yet it has emerged triumphant—from Covington, to building (at the time) the finest radio paraboloid in the world, to national institutions, powerful university groups, and on to the present, at which time Canada finds itself involved in two billion-dollar international projects—and furthermore not just on coat-tails but in lead roles. Most recently there stands Canada’s own unique and transformational CHIME (Canadian Hi Mapping Experiment) telescope, churning out discoveries daily about objects as mysterious as any, and ruffling through the very beginnings of the Universe with its prime aim of exploring the history of the earliest forms of hydrogen.
On our journey through the development of radio astronomy in Canada we shall encounter remarkable aspects: observing from co ns; an “affable chef in the wilderness”; the still beauty of Ontario’s deep forest landscape and the train that runs though it; a world-leading telescope built from scrap parts and castoff reflectors; a Canadian born-and-bred digital correlator of such size and speed that several modern international telescopes are outfitted with it; and a telescope appearing to represent an unfinished skate park. These, together with a mix of telescope and observatory developments, include the unfolding of the science itself, running from meteors near our Sun through to planets, stars and their life-cycles, from how they formed to how they are extinguished, explosive galaxies and quasars, to exploration of the beginnings of time, and the very origin of our Universe.
Richard Jarrell, eminent historian of science, planned a book devoted to the history of Canadian radio astronomy. Jarrell’s earlier (1988) book The Cold Light of Dawn, an eloquent and thorough history of optical astronomy in Canada, did describe Canadian radio astronomy origins, but only briefly and necessarily, as this had been intertwined with the fortunes and fates of optical astronomy up to 1988. By 2013 he had planned a book describing the full story of Canada’s radio astronomy involvement (see Chapter 2). At the time of his demise in late 2013, he had got as far as drafting an outline.
It was always clear that a book on Canadian radio astronomy would be very different from an account of optical astronomy in several ways. The equipment is different; the pace is very different. Optical astronomy moved slowly for four centuries, maturing to something like its present state only in the last 50 or 60 years as modern-day technology and digital tools became available. Radio astronomy has moved at the pace of more than Moore’s law, a doubling in aspects of digital electronics about every two years.
One fortunate outcome is that many of the pioneers of the science of radio astronomy in Canada are still with us, and some volunteered to contribute their own stories in a united effort to realize the book that Jarrell was planning. The inspiration was his, as indeed were the hours of taped interviews he had carried out in his research for the book. One major difference, however, is that he planned to end his account at 1996, a time of low hopes, when an uncertain future was boding for Canadian Radio Astronomy. We have been able to move the story on from there, into an era of unprecedented international profile and explosive productivity, one in which Canada is highly competitive and plays leading roles.
In actuality this book came about in the following way. After his sudden and unexpected demise at the end of 2013, Jarrell’s wife, Martha Jarrell, asked Elizabeth Griffin how use could be made of Jarrell’s barely-begun manuscript, let alone his thorough research and lengthy archives. Jarrell had been Chair of the CASCA (Canadian Astronomical Society) Heritage Committee for many years, and its present members were naturally interested in what Richard had been planning, Elizabeth suggested that the Committee might possibly take on what Martha was asking, as a joint project. Both Elizabeth Griffin and Jasper Wall are members of that Committee, and since Jasper is also a professional radio astronomer the die seemed to be cast. Not long thereafter the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, near Penticton in the Okanagan region of BC, organized a symposium on the History of Canadian Radio Astronomy, hosted by Director Sean Dougherty and Tim Robishaw. Many of the observatories and universities described in this book were represented, and all of those present expressed hope that the different pieces of this fascinating story be told, retained and set down. This is the task Jasper and Elizabeth have undertaken: constructing a coherent narrative with Jarrell’s research, from colleagues, and from input from those at the meeting, as well as first-hand knowledge of radio astronomy.
This part of the story would not be complete without relating how Jasper met Martha at Vancouver railway station as she staggered o↵ the train with a gigantic suitcase—The Archive. She trusted but herself to bring it from her home in Toronto. This archive now sits at the DRAO, accessible to all.
Jasper Wall, White Rock, BC, Canada
Elizabeth Griffin, Victoria, BC, Canada
October 2022