Air Date: August 31, 2009

Destry Saul

The Accidental and Amateur Birth of Radio Astronomy

The study of radio waves from space is built upon the work of two unlikely men: Karl Jansky, an engineer working for Bell Labs, and Grote Reber, an amateur ham radio enthusiast. I will tell the story of how this entire branch of astronomy was born in a field in New Jersey and came of age in a back yard in Wheaton, Illinois.

Destry Saul is currently a graduate student at Columbia University. He attended UC Berkeley where he earned a B.A. in Astrophysics, Physics, and Theater Performance Studies. His research interests include radio observations of nearby galaxies, masers, and transient astronomy. Outside of astronomy, Destry enjoys cycling, playing the mandolin, and knitting. His website is: ​http://astro.columbia.edu/~destry