Jocelyn Bell Burnell

An accomplished woman scientist


Courtesy of The Open University

Jocelyn Bell Burnell is an exceptional woman scientist who has overcome many obstacles. She is a great example for women who want to accomplish their goals despite society's views of what they can achieve. She was born Jocelyn Bell on July 15, 1943 in Belfast, Ireland. She is a British astronomer and physicist who was the first to discover pulsars. Pulsars are dense stars that release spurts of radio waves. This remarkable discovery provided clues to the evolution and death of stars and is still today considered an important milestone in the history of astronomy.

Jocelyn believes that her academic career began when she failed her 11+ exam, a test to determine who would pursue higher education, at eleven years old. Despite this setback she felt that she deserved a second chance to prove her ability to achieve. At thirteen, she attended Mount School, a boarding school in York, England. While there she became very interested in astronomy. In 1961 she enrolled at Glasgow University in Scotland to study astronomy and physics. By the end of her freshman year she was the only woman left in her physics class. Students viewed her as odd but her persistence kept her in the physics field. Despite the advice from people to quit physics, she earned a bachelor's degree of physics - with honors in 1965. 

Her path to discovery began when she attended Cambridge University in England for her Ph.D. Under the supervision of her advisor, Anthony Hewish, Jocelyn began work on a radio astronomy project. She was involved in the construction of a highly complicated radiotelescope. One of her main responsibilities was to monitor and interpret radio waves received from the telescope. She monotonously analyzed charts by hand not knowing that her persistence and insightfulness would lead to her significant discovery.

Jocelyn noticed bits of "scruff" that were first thought to be radio wave interferences. She and Hewish ruled out the possibility that the scruff came from orbiting satellites, French television signals, or radar. After referring back to papers from theoretical physics, they determined that the signals must have come from very dense, collapsed stars. These stars became known as pulsars. Anthony Hewish was awarded the Noble Prize in physics for the discovery of pulsars in 1974. A controversy arose because many people felt that Bell should have received or at least shared in the Nobel Prize.  However, even to this day, Jocelyn is not upset that she did not receive a Nobel Prize.  She believes that Hewish deserved the award because he did help her understand the pulsar discovery and did have more experience in the field than she did.  She is thankful for the experience Anthony Hewish gave her. 

Jocelyn received her Ph.D. in radioastronomy in 1968. She got married that same year and changed her name to Burnell. After leaving Cambridge, she gave up radioastronomy. In order to support her husband, Martin Burnell, she gave up the full-time career and took many part time jobs. During her career she gained experience in many other aspects of astronomy including x-ray astronomy, satellite based astronomy, and rocket-based astronomy. Very few astronomers have such a broad background. She has received many honors and awards for her contributions to the advancement of astronomy.

Burnell is currently a professor and chair of physics at the United Kingdom's Open University, a college devoted to giving people second chances to get a good education. She is deeply involved in teaching adults who like her, were told that they were failures. She is a part of the university's Astronomy Research group. Her academic interests include the Astrophysics of neutron stars, the teaching of and public understanding of physics and astronomy, and the management of science in the United Kingdom.  Burnell hopes that her presence at the university will encourage other women to pursue careers in physics.

Jocelyn loves to listen to choral music.  Her hobbies include swimming, gardening, sewing and knitting.  She is also an active member in the Religious Society of Friends.

Jocelyn Bell Burnell has led an intriguing and impressive life. She excelled in education in spite of a test telling her that she would not succeed. At a young age, she was presented with failure, but has surprised the world with her intelligence. She is a great role model for people to look up to. She has proven that people can achieve their dreams if they have confidence, persistence, and  belief in their capabilities.

Written by: Ebony Harmon