Sir Francis Graham-Smith (born 25 April 1923) is a British

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

. He was the thirteenth

Astronomer Royal Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the junior is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834. The post ...

from 1982 to 1990 and was knighted in 1986.

Biography

Education

He was educated at

Rossall School Rossall School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was fou ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

, England, and attended

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the old ...

from 1941.

Career

In the late 1940s he worked at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

on the Long Michelson Interferometer. In 1964 he was appointed Professor of Radio Astronomy the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The university owns and operates majo ...

and in 1981 director of the Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories, part of the University of Manchester at

Jodrell Bank Jodrell Bank Observatory () in Cheshire, England, hosts a number of radio telescopes as part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. The observatory was established in 1945 by Bernard Lovell, a radio astro ...

. He was also Director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory from 1975 to 1981. He appeared in Episode 13 of Series 4 of Treasure Hunt when the show visited Jodrell Bank, giving presenter Anneka Rice a piggy back to allow her to reach a clue.

Bibliography

* ''Optics'' (1971) * ''Pathways to the Universe'' (1988) * ''Pulsar Astronomy'' (1990) * ''An Introduction to Radio Astronomy'' (1997) * ''Unseen Cosmos'' (2013) * ''Eyes on the Sky'' (2016)

Personal life

Graham-Smith is an avid bee-keeper and kept up this hobby well into his 90s, looking after the hives at Jodrell Bank. He also inspired the creation of the

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourt ...

Amateur Beekeeping Society. He lived with his wife Elizabeth in the Old School House in

Henbury, Cheshire Henbury is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census, the entire civil parish had a population of 594.Martin Ryle Sir Martin Ryle (27 September 1918 – 14 October 1984) was an English radio astronomer who developed revolutionary radio telescope systems (see e.g. aperture synthesis) and used them for accurate location and imaging of weak radio sourc ...

in 1945-6 in Cambridge in the early days of radio astronomy.

Honours

He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemati ...

in 1970 and was awarded their

Royal Medal The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal and The King's Medal (depending on the gender of the monarch at the time of the award), is a silver-gilt medal, of which three are awarded each year by the Royal Society, two for "the most important ...

in 1987. He was president of the

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NG ...

from 1975 to 1977. He was the thirteenth

from 1982 to 1990. He won the Richard Glazebrook Medal and Prize in 1991.

Patronage

Sir Francis Graham-Smith is a Distinguished Supporter of

Humanists UK Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious b ...

is the President o
Macclesfield Astronomical Society
and is a patron of Mansfield and Sutton Astronomical Society.

Lectures

In 1965 he was invited to co-deliver the Royal Institution Christmas Lecture on ''Exploration of the Universe''.

References

External links

Scienceworld biography

Online catalogue of F. Graham Smith's working papers as director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory (held at Cambridge University Library)
1923 births Place of birth missing (living people) People educated at Rossall School Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge Astronomers Royal 20th-century British astronomers British humanists Fellows of Downing College, Cambridge Knights Bachelor Living people Royal Medal winners Fellows of the Royal Society Presidents of the Royal Astronomical Society {{UK-astronomer-stub