Rodney Deane Davies
CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
FRS (8 January 1930 – 8 November 2015) was a Professor of
Radio Astronomy
Radio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies celestial objects at radio frequencies. The first detection of radio waves from an astronomical object was in 1933, when Karl Jansky at Bell Telephone Laboratories reported radiation comin ...
at the
University of Manchester
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...
. He was the President of the
Royal Astronomical Society
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in 1987–1989, and the Director of
Jodrell Bank Observatory
Jodrell Bank Observatory () in Cheshire, England, hosts a number of radio telescopes as part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. The observatory was established in 1945 by Bernard Lovell, a radio astro ...
in 1988–97. He is best known for his research on the
Cosmic microwave background
In Big Bang cosmology the cosmic microwave background (CMB, CMBR) is electromagnetic radiation that is a remnant from an early stage of the universe, also known as "relic radiation". The CMB is faint cosmic background radiation filling all spac ...
and the
21cm line
The hydrogen line, 21 centimeter line, or H I line is the electromagnetic radiation spectral line that is created by a change in the energy state of neutral hydrogen atoms. This electromagnetic radiation has a precise frequency of , w ...
.
Personal life
Davies was born on 8 January 1930
into a family of farmers in
Balaklava
Balaklava ( uk, Балаклáва, russian: Балаклáва, crh, Balıqlava, ) is a settlement on the Crimean Peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol. It is an administrative center of Balaklava Raion that used to be part of the Cri ...
, a village north of
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
, South Australia.
His parents were Holbin and Rena Davies.
He had three brothers.
He met Beth, his wife, at the Student Christian Movement at the University of Adelaide.
They married in 1953, and later that same year they moved to
Cheshire,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. They had four children: Rosalyn, Claire, Stewart and Warwick (who predeceased him), and eleven grandchildren:
Luke, Josh (m. Cat), Dom, Hannah, Nyasha, Laura, Eleanor, Hettie, Annie, Leo, and Jemima.
He became a
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
preacher at the age of 16 at his church in South Australia,
and regularly attended his Methodist chapel in Manchester. He also had an extensive knowledge of
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
s.
![Rod Davies gravestone-2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Rod_Davies_gravestone-2.jpg)
He suffered from
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
,
but carried on working regardless. His health declined in the last two months of his life,
and he died on 8 November 2015.
Education and career
He went to
Adelaide High School
Adelaide High School is a coeducational state high school situated on the corner of West Terrace and Glover Avenue in the Adelaide Parklands. Following the Advanced School for Girls, it was the second government high school in South Australi ...
.
In 1946
he was awarded a scholarship to study Physics at the
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...
,
receiving an Honours degree in 1951.
He then became a Research Officer in the Radiophysics Division of
CSIRO in Sydney,
observing radio bursts from the Sun.
When he was 23 he sent an airmail letter to
Bernard Lovell, a friend of his then-boss
Joe Pawsey, asking for a position at
Jodrell Bank Observatory
Jodrell Bank Observatory () in Cheshire, England, hosts a number of radio telescopes as part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. The observatory was established in 1945 by Bernard Lovell, a radio astro ...
,
and he was subsequently appointed Assistant Lecturer at the
University of Manchester
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...
in 1953.
He was awarded a PhD in 1956 on his work measuring the distance of galaxies using the
21cm line
The hydrogen line, 21 centimeter line, or H I line is the electromagnetic radiation spectral line that is created by a change in the energy state of neutral hydrogen atoms. This electromagnetic radiation has a precise frequency of , w ...
, examined by
Jan Oort
Jan Hendrik Oort ( or ; 28 April 1900 – 5 November 1992) was a Dutch astronomer who made significant contributions to the understanding of the Milky Way and who was a pioneer in the field of radio astronomy. His ''New York Times'' obituary ...
.
He was the Director of Jodrell Bank Observatory from 1988 until 1997.
He was the
President of the Royal Astronomical Society
The President of the Royal Astronomical Society (prior to 1831 known as President of the Astronomical Society of London) chairs the Council of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) and its formal meetings. They also liaise with government organisati ...
in 1987–89.
He became a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...
in 1992.
He received a CBE in 1995.
He retired in 1997, but he continued to actively work at Jodrell Bank until his death.
Research
Over the course of his career, he published over 500 scientific papers.
His research focused on the large-scale structure of the Universe. He studied emission from the
Hydrogen line
The hydrogen line, 21 centimeter line, or H I line is the electromagnetic radiation spectral line that is created by a change in the energy state of neutral hydrogen atoms. This electromagnetic radiation has a precise frequency of , w ...
in galaxies,
providing insight into the
Hubble flow
Hubble's law, also known as the Hubble–Lemaître law, is the observation in physical cosmology that galaxies are moving away from Earth at speeds proportional to their distance. In other words, the farther they are, the faster they are moving a ...
.
He observed OH emission using interferometers.
He was best known for his work measuring the
Cosmic Microwave Background
In Big Bang cosmology the cosmic microwave background (CMB, CMBR) is electromagnetic radiation that is a remnant from an early stage of the universe, also known as "relic radiation". The CMB is faint cosmic background radiation filling all spac ...
emission,
providing upper limits on the CMB anisotropies,
which began with observations on cold winter nights at Jodrell Bank Observatory in the late 1970s, before relocating his telescopes up the mountain on
Tenerife
Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...
in the early 1980s to take advantage of the clearer atmosphere at that location. By the early 1990s his instruments had detected the anisotropies of the CMB, however the publication of his results came after the results of the
Cosmic Background Explorer
The Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE ), also referred to as Explorer 66, was a NASA satellite dedicated to cosmology, which operated from 1989 to 1993. Its goals were to investigate the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB or CMBR) of t ...
had been announced; the COBE team went on to win the
Nobel Prize for Physics
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, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
for their discovery.
He also led research on the emission of the
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. ...
as measured by CMB experiments.
He worked on the
Planck satellite,
co-coordinating the Planck projects on Galactic and Solar System science.
He continued his research over 18 years after his retirement, with his final paper due to be published several months after his death.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Rod
1930 births
2015 deaths
Radio astronomers
20th-century Australian astronomers
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Presidents of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fellows of the Royal Society
People from Balaklava, South Australia
University of Adelaide alumni
People educated at Adelaide High School
Australian emigrants to England