THE DISCOVERY OF THE BINARY PULSAR

Abstract

Exactly 20 years ago today, on December 8, 1973, I was at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico recording in my notebook the confirming observation of the first pulsar discovered by the search which formed the basis for my Ph.D. thesis. As excited as I am sure I was at that point in time, I certainly had no idea of what lay in store for me in the months ahead, a path which would ultimately lead me here today. I would like to take you along on a scientific adventure, a story of intense preparation, long hours, serendipity, and a certain level of compulsive behavior that tries to make sense out of everything that one observes. The remarkable and unexpected result of this detective story was a discovery which is still yielding fascinating scientific results to this day, nearly 20 years later, as Professor Taylor will describe for you in his lecture. I hope that by sharing this story with you, you will be able to join me in reliving the challenges and excitement of this adventure, and that we will all be rewarded with some personal insights as to the process of scientific discovery and the nature of science as a human endeavor.