FRED HOYLE’S UNIVERSE This page intentionally left blank FRED HOYLE’S UNIVERSE Jane Gregory 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Jane Gregory 2005 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2005 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organizations. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available ISBN 0–19–850791–7 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 Typeset by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk Printed in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc Contents Acknowledgements ix 1 Coming to light 1 Schooldays and scientific ambition; undergraduate life at Cambridge; becoming a mathematician; graduate studies; marriage to Barbara 2 Hut no. 2 19 War posting; radar; meeting Bondi and Gold; radar problems; a trip to the USA; the origin of the elements; return to Cambridge 3 Into the limelight 36 A new cosmology; post-war gloom; steady-state theory in the spotlight; The Nature of the Universe; the Massey conference; confronting Ryle 4 New world 58 Out of the doldrums; an American road trip; getting noticed at Caltech; meeting Willy Fowler; finding a new state of carbon; the cosmological controversy; religion and politics; A Decade of Decision 5 Under fire 78 Fowler, the Burbidges and the origin of the elements; a challenge from Ryle; Frontiers of Astronomy; cosmological controversy 6 New Genesis 94 The origin of the elements and B2FH; The Black Cloud; Clarkson Close; the Plumian Chair; the age of the universe; Ossian’s Ride; Alchemy of Love 7 Eclipsed 111 Funding for science; the politics of science; an idea for an institute; the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics; another challenge from Ryle vi (cid:1) Contents 8 Fighting for space 129 Responding to Ryle; trouble for the institute; problems with computers; A for Andromeda on television; Rockets in Ursa Major on stage; the institute goes to Sussex 9 Storm clouds 147 Hoyle on television; the Ferranti ATLAS affair; Fifth Planet; what, and where, are quasars?; curing the Los Angeles smog; a new theory of gravity (without apples); Roger Tayler and the helium abundance 10 ‘Dear Mr Hogg’ 164 Problems at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics; problems at the Treasury for the Sussex institute; Hoyle lobbies the Minister; Hoyle makes a decision and takes to the hills; an invitation from the Minister; the Vice-Chancellor’s Special Committee on the Hoyle Problem 11 His institute 186 A change of Government; Of Men and Galaxies; more trouble for the institute; a blow for steady-state theory; Hoyle despairs of Cambridge; the institute comes to Cambridge 12 The end of the beginning 208 Establishing the institute; October the First is Too Late; more on the quasar redshift; steady-state theory revisited; Stonehenge is an observatory; Australia will host a telescope for the southern hemisphere; organic polymers in space 13 The Astronomer Hoyle 228 Problems at the institute; Northern Hemisphere Review; an attack on the Royal Observatories; the new Astronomer Royal; the merger at Cambridge; Sir Fred 14 The beginning of the end 246 Resignation, The Inferno, the Anglo-Australian Telescope 15 On the loose 266 Moving to the Lake District; how to write science fiction; pulsars; controversy over Nobel Prize; Hoyle’s 60th birthday Contents (cid:1) vii 16 Apocalyptic visions 283 Academic isolation; more on interstellar dust; life from space; diseases from space; championing nuclear power; The Incandescent Ones; dust grains are bacteria; the last Munro; ‘there must be a God’; the next Ice Age 17 Evolution on trial 302 The battle of Little Rock; the cosmic intelligence; controversy over another Nobel Prize; Comet Halley and Comet Halley; feathers fly over ‘fake’ fossil; autobiographies; astrobiology 18 A new cosmology 321 Steady-state theory turns 40; the redshift problem; the quasi-steady-state theory; Hoyle’s legacy References 342 Picture acknowledgements 392 Index 393 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgements The research for this book has its roots in my postgraduate studies, and my PhD thesis ‘Fred Hoyle and the Popularisation of Cosmology’ (University of London, 1998). The people who helped with that deserve thanks here too. More recently, Hoyle’s colleagues have generously been the source of information, entertainment and enlightenment, and meeting them was a privilege. Their names are given alongside their contributions. Of the many libraries that were useful, three deserve special mention. The Caltech Institute Archives at the California Institute of Technology is a remarkable resource, and proved invaluable. Shelley Erwin, Bonnie Ludt and Jay Labinger enabled my very productive time there. The National Archive at Kew, still known to many as ‘the PRO’ from its days as the Public Record Office, is a national treasure. The Library of St John’s College, Cambridge holds Hoyle’s personal papers, and Jonathan Harrison has done sterling work in cataloguing this extensive collection in the short time since Hoyle’s death. He was always helpful and hospitable in the face of my frequent requests. Sincere thanks are due to four people who read draft manuscripts: Jenny Campbell, Alison Goddard, Andrew Gregory (no relation) and Colin Gregory (my father). Each brought a different critical perspective to bear on the book, and helped me to see it with fresh eyes. Two colleagues generously shared unpublished research with me. Carolyn Little’s work on radioastronomy in Australia provided important insights, and Allan Jones’ on-going study of the early days of science broadcasting added valuable context. I am grateful to Cambridge University for allowing me access to adminis- trative records, and to Jacqueline Cox for facilitating this research. Thanks too to Jen Cole and Simon Lock for assistance with Chapter 18, to Andrew Gregory, Ofer Lahav and Steve Miller for sharing their technical expertise, and to Bruce Armbruster and John Faulkner for opening doors in Califor- nia. Jacqueline Cox, Carol Dyhouse, Shelley Erwin, Jonathan Harrison, Geoffrey Hoyle and Angela Milner responded mercifully to last-minute cries for help. Lawyers Carter-Ruck gave constructive and sensitive advice.