BBC Knowledge Asia Edition 3

I grew up in Co Armagh, N Ireland. My father was an

architect who did his own surveying. Sometimes, he’d let me

come along while he took measurements. Then in the car on the

way home, he’d let me reduce the observations. It introduced

me to science and taught me how to design a good experiment.

In the 1950s, the assumption was that girls would get

married and not have jobs. So at secondary school, girls

did domestic science and boys did science. My parents had

to fight to get me into science class. That first term we did

physics and astronomy, and I discovered I was good at

physics.

I did a physics degree at Glasgow University,

where I was the only woman in my honours class.

When I walked into the lecture theatre, everybody would

wolf whistle at me. When I told my female housemates I

was the only girl, they presumed I would change subject,

but it never occurred to me.

To become an optical astronomer I would have to

stay up at night, which I’m not good at. So I took

an interest in radio astronomy, which you can do during

the day.

I didn’t think I was bright enough to go to

Cambridge. When I was accepted to do a PhD there

I was delighted. I spent the first two years – armed

with screwdriver, wire cutters and pliers – helping to

physically build the radio telescope.

When it was up and running; the telescope

generated miles of data. It was my job to analyse it

all. A small, quarter-inch smudge caught my eye. After

many careful checks, I realised it was a signal from an

entirely new type of stellar object.

When we described this ‘pulsar’ to the media,

journalists would ask my supervisor about the

science, but ask me about my vital statistics.

It made me feel objectified and a lot less appreciated.

I was enormously pleased when, in 1974, the Nobel

Prize for Physics was awarded for the discovery of

pulsars. It was the first time ever the prize had been awarded

to astronomers, but my exclusion from it led some people to call

it the ‘No-Bell’ Prize.

Since then, I have had a rich and varied astronomical

career. The lack of a Nobel Prize has been more than

compensated for by the many other rewards I’ve been lucky

MY LIFE SCIENTIFIC

ILLUSTRATION: ORLAGH MURPHY

DAME JOCELYN BELL BURNELL is president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the

discoverer of pulsars.

In the 1950s, the assumption was that girls would get married

and not have jobs

DAME JOCELYN BELL BURNELL

enough to receive. I think things are definitely improving for

women in science, but there’s still a lot more work that needs to

be done.

I’m no longer an active researcher, but I do keep busy.

I’m visiting professor at Oxford University and president of

the Royal Society of Edinburgh. I like classical music and I’m

incredibly fond of my garden. I’m also very active in the Quakers.

It’s an essential part of me. ß

SCIENCE