The Journey of a Radio Astronomer: Growth of Radio Astronomy in India

Abstract

In this autobiographical account, I first describe my family, then childhood and education in India. During 1953–55, I worked in the new field of radio astronomy at the Division of Radiophysics of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia. During 1956–57, I worked at the Radio Astronomy Station of Harvard University at Fort Davis, Texas, where I made observations of solar radio bursts at decimeter wavelengths. I then joined Stanford University as a graduate student in 1957. I contributed to the successful operation of the Stanford Cross Antenna and then used it for studying microwave radio emission from the Sun. I was awarded the Ph.D. degree by Stanford University in 1960 and was then appointed as an Assistant Professor for three years. With an urge to contribute to evolving scientific endeavors in India, I joined the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) at Mumbai, India, in April 1963. In my stay of more than three decades at TIFR, I conceived of, and guided, construction of two of the world's largest radio telescopes, namely the Ooty Radio Telescope and the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope. These instruments have led to several outstanding contributions and discoveries in the areas of radio galaxies, quasars, pulsars, and cosmology.