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Astrophysicist who discovered the first pulsar and was the first female president of the Institute of Physics
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• • Emine Saner • The Guardian , Tuesday 8 March 2011
Jocelyn Bell Burnell. Photograph: University of Bath The career of one of Britain's most respected physicists is a neat snapshot of the progress of women in science. The 67-year-old Bell Burnell was one of the few girls "allowed" to study science at school, and was the only woman to study physics at her college; she remembers "there was a tradition among the students that when a female walked into a lecture theatre all the guys stamped and whistled and called and banged the desk. And I faced that for every class I walked into for my last two years".
Later, as a PhD student at Cambridge University, Bell Burnell was part of the team that discovered the first pulsar, a spinning star made up of neutrons – in fact it was she who noticed the first one (and the second, third and fourth) because she was responsible for analysing the data. This led to her supervisor, Antony Hewish, and her colleague Martin Ryle, winning the Nobel prize in 1974, but not Bell Burnell.
She has always taken what many people in science believe to be a snub with good grace, although she said in one interview in 2006: "In those days, it was believed that science was done, driven by great men . . . And that these men had a fleet of minions under them who did their every bidding, and did not think. It also came at the stage where I had a small child and I was struggling with how to find proper childminding, combine a career, and before it was acceptable for women to work. And so I think at one level it said to me 'Well men win prizes and young women look after babies.'" Throughout her career, which included becoming first female president of the Institute of Physics, she has consistently promoted women in science.
As a PhD student, Bell Burnell noticed the first pulsar, a spinning star made up of neutrons, but it was her male superviser and a colleague who won the Nobel prize in 1974, but not Bell Burnell. Although she took the snub with grace, as the first female president of the Institute of Physics, she has consistently promoted women in science.