Interview with Richard Ellis
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RICHARD ELLIS (b. 1950) INTERVIEWED BY HEIDI ASPATURIAN January – February 2014 Photo by Bob Paz, February 2008 ARCHIVES CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Pasadena, California Subject area Astronomy Abstract Interview in eight sessions (January–February 2014) with Steele Professor of Astronomy Richard Ellis, whose life has taken him from a small coastal town in Wales to the edge of the universe. He recounts that trajectory in this oral history, starting with his upbringing and education in Wales and his youthful enthusiasm for astronomy, which he pursued through studies at University College London (B.Sc. 1971) and Oxford University (D.Phil. 1974). Having the good fortune to begin his career at the dawn of the “golden era” of British astronomy, he describes his years on the faculty of the University of Durham, where he worked with physics department head and future UK Astronomer Royal A. Wolfendale to develop the “Durham group” into an internationally recognized astronomy program. He talks about his work at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, his galactic and extragalactic studies carried out at British observatories and elsewhere, most notably the Anglo-Australian Telescope, and his involvement in mapping the future of British astronomy. In 1993, he became the Plumian Professor at the University of Cambridge and director of Cambridge’s Institute of Astronomy, and in 1999 he joined the faculty of Caltech, where he served as director of Palomar Observatory/Caltech Optical http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Ellis_R Observatories (2000–05), carried out pioneering observations at the W. M. Keck Observatories and Hubble Space Telescope, and was centrally involved in still- ongoing efforts to build the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). Ellis details his years of research in observational cosmology, probing galactic evolution and distribution at ever-higher redshifts, and his work on gravitational lensing and dark matter, the cosmic “dark ages” and cosmic dawn, and the pursuit of the most distant objects in the universe. He recalls his role in the 1987 discovery of the first cosmologically distant supernova and subsequent involvement in the supernova cosmology project, an investigation that won the 2011 Nobel Prize in physics for three of its principal scientists. He talks about his collaborations and interactions with numerous colleagues and students, including D. Axon, R. Blandford, A. Boksenberg, G. Efstathiou, D. Lynden-Bell, J. Peebles, M. Rees, W. Sargent, D. Saxon, B. Tinsley, and T. Tombrello, and shares his perspectives on the science and sociology of the astrophysical communities in Great Britain and the United States. Recaps of his election to the UK Royal Society and his designation as a Commander of the British Empire (CBE)—the latter formalized at a Buckingham Palace reception with HRH Prince Charles—also form part of this oral history. Note: Occasional allusions in this manuscript to a Royal Society memoir or biography refer to an autobiography that Ellis was asked to prepare for the Royal Society at the time he was elected a Fellow in 1995. A copy of the bio is appended to this oral history. Administrative information Access The interview is unrestricted. Copyright Copyright has been assigned to the California Institute of Technology © 2015. All requests for permission to publish or quote from the transcript must be submitted in writing to the Head of Archives and Special Collections. Preferred citation Ellis, Richard. Interview by Heidi Aspaturian. Pasadena, California, January – February 2014. Oral History Project, California Institute of Technology Archives. Retrieved [supply date of retrieval] from the World Wide Web: http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Ellis_R Contact information Archives, California Institute of Technology Mail Code 015A-74 Pasadena, CA 91125 Phone: (626)395-2704 Fax: (626)395-4073 Email: [email protected] Graphics and content © 2015 California Institute of Technology. http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Ellis_R CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ARCHIVES ORAL HISTORY PROJECT INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD ELLIS BY HEIDI ASPATURIAN PASADENA, CALIFORNIA Copyright © 2015 by the California Institute of Technology http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Ellis_R Ellis–ii TABLE OF CONTENTS INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD ELLIS Session 1 1-37 Family background and history in Colwyn Bay, Wales, including seafaring father, “fire and brimstone” minister grandfather, and 16th century ancestor, William Salesbury, who first translated the Bible into Welsh. Bilingual childhood and education; refusal to be baptized despite strict Baptist upbringing; parents’ relationship and parental influences. Interest in astronomy sparked at age six by children’s book Into Outer Space; “devours” all available books on astronomy and builds telescope at age eleven. Reading preferences as a child and teenager; affinity for science, particularly physics. As sixties adolescent, forms rock band, Omega, with fellow scientifically inclined Sixth Formers, acquires Beatles haircut, and intermittently defies authority. Recalls 2014 meeting with Terry Jones of Monty Python Flying Circus and discovering that as kids they briefly lived in same neighborhood. Excels at school, hitchhikes around Britain, takes A level exams, applies to university, and decides to read astronomy at University College London (UCL). British astronomy in the late 1960s; “amazing” UCL environment; campus culture, social life, and politics; course work with professors C. W. Allen, D. McNally, and W. Somerville; academic challenges and successes in first year. Third-year research project into quasar absorption lines marks first exposure to extragalactic astronomy; reflections on UCL undergrad astronomy program in late 1960s. Session 2 38-66 Meets fellow university student and future wife Barbara in fall 1969. Conducts third-year research into solar limb darkening; awarded Faculty of Science Silver Medal for outstanding academic achievement. Applies for graduate school, enrolls at Oxford, and begins stellar nucleosynthesis thesis research with Professor D. Blackwell. Finds Oxford “a rather pompous” university. “Parochial” atmosphere within astronomy program. Difficulties with Blackwell as mentor and advisor. Flirts briefly with advertising career before accepting position at Durham University (1974) as first astronomer in physics department headed by A. Wolfendale; completes and misplaces PhD thesis. At Durham, with grad student D. Axon, measures polarization within Milky Way and produces first-ever 3D map of galaxy’s magnetic field. Observational studies and statistical work (D. Fong) on galaxy clustering and its relationship to large-scale structure lead to collaboration with Princeton theorists J. Peebles and B. Tinsley and puts Durham astronomy http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Ellis_R Ellis–iii program on the map. Makes first visit to newly opened Anglo-Australian Telescope (1977) and realizes AAT’s utility for empirical studies of cosmic evolution. Professional travels include first visit to Los Angeles (1979). Comments on revolutionary impact of new telescopes and instruments on British observational astronomy in 1980s. Commences spectroscopic studies of galaxy redshifts with grad students G. Efstathiou and T. Shanks; grasps significance of multi-fiber spectroscopy for studies of faint, blue galaxies, and begins these studies at AAT. Frustrated by promotion prospects at Durham; explores other job possibilities, but then accepts offer of first tenured astronomy position there. Physics department head Wolfendale subsequently named Astronomer Royal and is knighted in 1990s. Session 3 67-90 Impact of religious upbringing on outlook and personality; inherited Ellis “wanderlust.” British “astro-empire” era and creation of robust Durham astronomy program. Collaboration with Royal Greenwich Observatory (RGO) on new instruments for UK telescopes culminates in Auto-fib Redshift Survey of primeval galaxies and discovery of luminosity-dependent galaxy evolution. Comments on IRAS survey. Rising prominence of Durham astronomy group and saga of promotion, in 1985, to professor of astronomy. Takes two-year leave of absence from Durham (1983–1985) as RGO fellow, working with A. Boksenberg. Infrared studies at UKIRT. Serves on committees to propose ten-year plan for British astronomy and to explore options for building new 8-meter telescope and new AAT spectrograph; becomes national spokesman and roving international ambassador for project. Discovery of first cosmologically distant supernova (1987). T. Broadhurst discovery of periodic redshift distribution (1990) generates considerable publicity and controversy; ultimately shown to be harbinger of discovery of baryonic acoustic scale (2003). Reflections on emotional appeal of astronomy and excitement of making discoveries at telescopes. Session 4 91-106 Disparate funding structures between British university astronomy programs and royal observatories provoke calls for observatory closures. Reaction to announcement of first Keck Telescope. Infrared studies of galaxy clusters at redshift 1 with grad student A. Aragón- Salamanca. Develops interest in gravitational lensing; meets R. Blandford at first lensing conference in late 1980s; works with grad student I. Smail on phenomenon using Hubble (HST) data. Continues work on cosmic evolution and large-scale structure; investigates “weak” primeval galaxies using HST. http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Ellis_R Ellis–iv Rejects job offer from Steward Observatory in