John Paul Wild
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John Paul Wild (17 May 192310 May 2008) was a
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
-born
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
n scientist. Following service in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
as a radar officer in the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
, he became a radio astronomer in Australia for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the fore-runner of the
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...
(CSIRO). In the 1950s and 1960s he made discoveries based on radio observations of the Sun. In the late 1960s and early 1970s his team built and operated the world's first solar radio-spectrographs and subsequently the Culgoora radio-heliograph, near
Narrabri, New South Wales Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Highway and the Newell Highway. ...
. The
Paul Wild Observatory The Paul Wild Observatory, also known as the Narrabri Observatory and Culgoora Observatory, is an astronomical research facility located about 24 km west of Narrabri, New South Wales, Australia. It is the home of the Australia Telescope Compa ...
at Culgoora is named after him. In 1972 Paul Wild invented Interscan, a standard
microwave landing system The microwave landing system (MLS) is an all-weather, precision radio guidance system intended to be installed at large airports to assist aircraft in landing, including 'blind landings'. MLS enables an approaching aircraft to determine when it ...
. From 1978 to 1985 he was chairman of CSIRO, during which time he expanded the organisation's scope and directed its restructuring. He retired from CSIRO to lead (from 1986) the Very Fast Train Joint Venture, a private sector project that sought to build a high-speed railway between Australia's two most populous cities. Lack of support from government brought it to an end in 1991. In his later years he worked on gravitational theory.


Early life

John Paul Wild was born in
Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
, England on 17 May 1923, the fourth son of wealthy
cutlery Cutlery (also referred to as silverware, flatware, or tableware) includes any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in Western culture. A person who makes or sells cutlery is called a cutler. While most cutlers ...
manufacturer, Alwyn Wild, and his wife Bessie. But in that year, Alwyn's business collapsed and he went to the United States of America to sell his patents and technology for cutlery manufacture. In the event, he never returned. Bessie moved with her boys to
Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...
, near
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. About this Wild said "We went from riches to rags and the family was absolutely struggling"Quotes in this article from Paul Wild's interviews are from four sources, namely: * two books containing a chapter on him – i.e., Moyal 1994 and Bhathal 1996, listed in full in the select bibliography above and using these short forms in the citations under "References" below (other than the first, full citation); and * transcripts of the two original interviews on which the book chapters were based – i.e., Wild, interview, 1992 and Wild, interview, 1995 – also listed in full in the select bibliography above and using these short forms in the citations under "References" below (other than the first, full citation). The books provide accounts that are necessarily condensed. For serious study of the fields encompassed by Paul Wild's career and their political and historical contexts, the interview transcripts are a more detailed, and in places more candid, source. and "... right on the breadline, very, very poor." It was to be five or six years before a divorce settlement allowed the family to "live a reasonable middle-class life, reasonably well off". His childhood was a happy one, with his "imperialistic grandfather" having a strong influence in his upbringing. At age six he was hospitalised for six months after being hit by a lorry when alighting from a tram, cracking his skull. Then at age seven he attended a Sussex boarding school,
Ardingly College Ardingly College () is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school in the English Public school (UK), public school tradition located near Ardingly, West Sussex, England. The school ...
, the youngest boy in the school and very homesick. But after successfully "plotting to get out" with his elder brother for four terms he spent the rest of his schooling at Croydon: first at The Limes (Old Palace of John Whitgift School) – at that time a preparatory school – then at the associated senior independent school,
Whitgift School Whitgift School is an independent day school with limited boarding in South Croydon, London. Along with Trinity School of John Whitgift and Old Palace School it is owned by the Whitgift Foundation, a charitable trust. The school was prev ...
. The driving intellectual curiosity that was to distinguish Paul Wild was evident from an early age. He said, " y mothershowed great appreciation if ever I was successful in anything but she didn't push me." He was interested in building things with model house kits,
Meccano Meccano is a brand of construction set created in 1898 by Frank Hornby in Liverpool, England. The system consists of reusable metal strips, plates, angle girders, wheels, axles and gears, and plastic parts that are connected using nuts and ...
and cardboard; an early gift of a Hornby train from his mother started him on his lifelong love of trains. Then he "read about the great man
Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel ( ; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history", "one of the 19th-century engi ...
and all his works, which were not only railways but the extraordinary ships that he built at the time. Well, I suppose he was the first source of inspiration to me." He became an avid player and follower of
cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
while at school and into adulthood: in his later life he was known as "a walking encyclopaedia of cricket knowledge", eventually owning all but one edition of ''
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...
''. Wild developed a strong love of mathematics from a very early age. After matriculating he spent three years in the mathematical
sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...
, most of the time on mathematics, with a little physics and world affairs. In free periods he and his friends would play
bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
, under the chestnut trees in summertime. In an interview in 1992 he said: "We had three specialist mathematics teachers covering analysis, calculus and modern geometry, and I think I owe a lot to them." Whitgift School is near what was then Croydon Aerodrome. In the summer of 1940, real excitement was added to the lives of the bridge-playing mathematics students: the
Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...
was going on overhead. "There was no sense of danger, it was all marvellous fun. Croydon Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane">Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...
base] was right in the thick of it, and we used to watch the air battles going on."


Physics by accident

World War II determined Paul Wild's specialisation and intruded to foreshorten his entire university life to only five terms. In 1942, Wild went to the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
(
Peterhouse Peterhouse is the oldest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate stud ...
) to further his mathematics. However, after a year of mathematics he knew that he would only be able to stay on if he did something relevant to the national war effort. Thus he went straight into "physics with radio": Part 2 Physics. He said
the great majority of people in Part 2 Physics had already done two years of it before, so it was a real challenge. But I enjoyed it very much, and I was very inspired by the sort of grandeur of the approach, the wonders of quantum mechanics and relativity …. It was hard work, it was six days a week. That's how I became a physicist.
After the second year, having concluded five terms in all, he had a choice of joining one of the three armed services or going into radar research or industry. On his "free" day each week he had been trained in the Home Guard, but his great interest in ships and the sea led him to join the Royal Navy. A wartime Bachelor of Arts degree was conferred a year later. A few years afterwards he paid five pounds to become a Master of Arts. Then ten years after that, he sent his research papers to the University of Cambridge and following a two-year deliberation the degree of Doctor of Science was conferred.


Wartime naval service

Paul Wild became one of the young
radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
officers who ensured the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
used its new technology to maximum effect. In July 1943, commissioned as a Probationary Temporary Acting Sub-lieutenant (Special Branch,
Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original ...
), he started an intensive, six-month radar officer training course at the Royal Navy base, Portsmouth. His seagoing appointment for the following two and a half years, with 60 subordinates and 24 radar sets, was the battleship , which eventually became flagship of the
British Pacific Fleet The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was a Royal Navy formation that saw action against Japan during the Second World War. It was formed from aircraft carriers, other surface warships, submarines and supply vessels of the RN and British Commonwealth ...
. The ship took part in the
Okinawa campaign The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa Island, Okinawa by United States Army and United States Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War, Impe ...
, followed by the assault on the Japanese mainland. In both campaigns the fleet was frequently attacked by Japanese suicide bombers, but because they tended to concentrate on aircraft carriers, his ship was not hit. The battleship entered
Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan spanning the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture, on the southern coast of the island of Honshu. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. Th ...
just after the
surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...
and he was present when the peace treaty was signed. The Royal Navy was innovative in the way it incorporated information from the ship's new
radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
into its gunnery, with a direct line of communication from the radar officer to the bridge. Wild described the thrill of seeing range-finding projectiles on his
cathode ray oscilloscope An oscilloscope (formerly known as an oscillograph, informally scope or O-scope) is a type of electronic test instrument that graphically displays varying voltages of one or more signals as a function of time. Their main purpose is capturing ...
in the darkened radar room, appearing as spikes straddling the target, then the third shot hitting the target in the middle. Despite the Royal Navy's innovation in its use of radar, an underlying aversion to new technology persisted among some senior naval officers. He recalled a remark by his admiral at the end of hostilities: "Now we can get back, young Wild, to being a proper navy – without your radar".Nicolson, A. John (VFT Technical Manager) 2012. Pers. comm. J.P. Wild remarks 1986. On returning to England, Wild taught radar to permanent naval officers until early 1947. During one of his wartime breaks in Australia he had become engaged to a young Sydney woman, Elaine Hull, whose family had offered hospitality; and on leaving the Royal Navy he immediately sailed for
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
. He had asked his fiancée to go to England to be married, but she told him he would have to settle in Australia. As his future brother-in-law later observed, "Australia has my sister to thank for giving this country one of its greatest scientists".


"Humble" start in Australia

From London, Wild had obtained an assistant research officer job with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research at the Radiophysics Laboratory near Sydney. He described the position as "a humble one": to maintain and develop test equipment. But within a year he had, as he put it, "wheedled his way" into the new science of radio astronomy, and he described 1948–50 as
a tremendously exciting time.... The only two really powerful groups in radio astronomy were the Australian one and Cambridge; and... we all thought we had the edge over the Cambridge group. ustralian wartime radio expert
Joe Pawsey Joseph Lade Pawsey (14 May 1908 – 30 November 1962) was an Australian scientist, radiophysicist and radio astronomer. Education Pawsey was born in Ararat, Victoria to a family of farmers. At the age of 14 he was awarded a government schol ...
was the sort of father of radio astronomy in Australia. He was a wonderfully inspiring leader, very self-effacing and taking no credit for himself, and he was a delight to work under. And he did something which I appreciated greatly: he left me alone to do my own research but I could come to him at any time and get his advice.
This advice, Wild acknowledged, "was often very perceptive, very good". Pawsey's approach became a template that Wild would follow. In the 15 years from 1949, the solar group that Wild had joined and which he soon came to lead achieved an international reputation in solar radiophysics. Their instruments revealed for the first time the presence of charged particles and shock waves travelling through the solar corona, and their potential effects on "space weather". The group's innovative design of observation equipment and ground-breaking investigations into the nature of solar radio bursts and the disturbances that gave rise to them cleared the way to classifying most types of bursts by their spectral appearance and presenting models to interpret their characteristics.


Solar burst discoveries

The new breed of electronic astronomers that Paul Wild joined were applying their wartime skills to radiophysics research, the Radiophysics Laboratory having achieved a number of successes since it was established, early in the war, to bring radar to Australia. In 1948, groups at the laboratory were studying several fields in addition to solar. Wild's work arose from the phenomenon of embryonic radar technology sometimes being jammed by mysterious interference, later discovered, in England, to be radio noise coming from the Sun. When Wild joined the solar group there were two teams from which to choose. He chose to work for Lindsay McCready in building a radiospectrograph, at the suggestion of Pawsey. As he later said, "I knew if I joined McCready I would be able to do my own thing … That's why I became a solar man". The spectrograph – the first ever built – looked at the spectrum of bursts of radiations from the Sun over a wide spectral range for frequencies from 40 to 70
megahertz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base ...
. It produced some spectacular results, demonstrating the great complexity of burst and storm phenomena. At Penrith, 50 kilometres west of Sydney in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, a fairly primitive wooden aerial was pulled around with ropes, and every twenty minutes it was changed so that it pointed towards the Sun. The data were analysed after four months of observations. In the first paper, published in 1950, he wrote: "We have identified three distinct spectral types of burst and … we shall call them Type I, Type II and Type III." Wild's team now needed a site for a new, better engineered and more powerful radiospectrograph and a large swept-frequency interferometer with which to observe the radio source. In September 1950, he and three colleagues borrowed a decrepit ex-military ambulance and with a spectrum analyser assessed potential sites on the outskirts of Sydney and down the New South Wales south coast that would be least affected by interference from radio transmissions. They chose a grazing property outside Dapto, 15 kilometres south of
Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...
, shielded by a 1500-foot mountain. Here the Radiophysics Solar Group went from strength to strength, to the extent that Wild later said "there was no question that we were the world champions". Professor
Marcel Minnaert Marcel Gilles Jozef Minnaert (12 February 1893 – 26 October 1970) was a Belgian-Dutch astronomer. He was born in Bruges and died in Utrecht. He is notable for his contributions to astronomy and physics and for a popular book on meteorologic ...
, the eminent Belgian astronomer, wrote in 1963:
The history of solar radio-spectroscopy is mainly the history of Australian work on this subject. ... At each meeting of the
International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...
, highly competent specialists such as Wild nd Smerd and Christianson, headed by Pawsey… were able to announce spectacular progress.
This work was done in primitive buildings and facilities. The equipment hut comprised a minute workshop at one end, an office in the middle and another minute room at the other end, used as a kitchen and after-work gathering place while dinner was prepared: after returning from the pub, conversation would be animated as one of them hammered veal then cooked wiener schnitzel in an atmosphere "thick with fug". Staff members, who spent several days per week there, slept and ate in an adjacent single-roomed weatherboard hut with a table down the middle and camp stretchers around the sides. But among these achievers, morale and excitement was very high and their social life was lively. Colleagues from the days at Dapto, describing Wild – as many did – as "colleague, mentor and good friend" said " He could light up a room with his wit, intelligence and charm. He loved a party and a few beers." The bursts were distinguished by the way the frequency drifted with time. The team deduced that the type II bursts were associated with shock waves coming out through the solar atmosphere at 1000 km/s and were associated, 30 hours later, with
aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...
in the Earth's night sky. They had discovered the answer to a century-old riddle: what was the agency that conveyed the disturbance from the solar flare to the Earth? Type II bursts continue to be closely monitored by spectrographs on the ground and in satellites for "space weather" reporting, since their disruption of the geomagnetic field and ionosphere can cause blackouts to radio communication and the systems of navigational and other satellites. Wild's team associated type III bursts with streams of electrons being ejected at a third the speed of light and taking less than half an hour to reach the Earth. There remained a few sceptics about this interpretation until, a decade or so later, American physicists using satellite data regularly detected bursts of electrons 25 minutes or so after solar flares. This was just one component, but to Wild and his colleagues a very exciting one, of a much wider world-leading research program. The mechanisms proved to be correct and their naming of the phenomena became the international standard. Wild likened this research to the study of taxonomy that preceded Darwin's ''Origin of species''. His analysis of the anatomy of the solar flares and his development of the physical interpretation culminated in a unified model that integrated the apparently complex radio flare phenomena in the solar chromosphere, solar corona, and in the interplanetary space. In the course of this solar work, Wild became interested in the radio spectrum of hydrogen and wrote up an internal report related to the potential for spectral lines in the solar bursts. When Ewen and
Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version of Shakespeare's ...
in the US first observed the 1420 MHz transition in 1951, he went back to his report, generalised it to include the interstellar medium, and six months later published the first detailed theoretical paper on the hydrogen lines – a classic in the field.


World lead in solar research

Wild's team then built and from 1967 operated a three-kilometre diameter radio-heliograph at Culgoora, near
Narrabri Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire Local government in Australia, local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Hi ...
in northern New South Wales. It was to become a ground-breaking instrument producing real-time images of solar activity across a range of altitudes from the Sun's surface. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the team led the world in solar research, attracting prominent solar physicists from around the world. Until then, all results from the solar radio-spectrographs had been inferred from studying the Sun by looking at its spectrum with only very limited angular resolution. Wild wanted to
actually see what these phenomena looked like on the Sun, actually get a moving picture of them. The frequency range that we were interested in was around about the metre wavelengths. To get the resolution roughly equivalent to that of the human eye at these long wavelengths required an aperture some three kilometres in diameter. So I devised a method of synthesising a three kilometre aperture with 96 antennas in a ring.
With Pawsey's help, £630,000 was raised from the
Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...
to build the Culgoora radio-heliograph. Years later he was to admit "When I think back I wonder how I had the nerve to do it." The heliograph stayed in operation for 17 years from 1967, providing a huge amount of data and insight into the way the solar corona works and the relationship between solar and terrestrial phenomena. Wild published more than 70 papers in this field. The heliograph also played a leading supporting role in both the
Skylab Skylab was the United States' first space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three trios of astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Skylab was constructe ...
missions of 1973–74 and the solar maximum mission of 1980–81, providing real-time observations of coronal activity. It was de-commissioned in 1984 to make way for the Australia Telescope and transferred to the Ionospheric Prediction Service, where it is still used today for space weather monitoring of solar activity. Now there are at least 20 ground-based radio-spectrographs operating around the world. Although Wild wrote most of the papers, he was characteristically generous in giving credit to others, saying "I did put other people's names on them because they'd made important contributions". One, for example, was technical assistant Bill Rowe. During a period when the solar cycle was at a minimum and nothing was happening, Rowe drove down to Dapto for an 11 am appointment. Wild remarked:
Out of sheer conscientiousness he arrived at 8 am, switched on the gear and recorded the most magnificent outburst, which led to the discovery of first and second harmonics. Well, you couldn't write a paper without putting his name on it.
As he had with John Murray at Dapto, Wild always acknowledged chief electronics engineer Kevin Sheridan as the key figure in the facility's development: "Kevin and I became like Gilbert and Sullivan; we were both dependent on each other a great deal." The Culgoora site later became the home for the
Paul Wild Observatory The Paul Wild Observatory, also known as the Narrabri Observatory and Culgoora Observatory, is an astronomical research facility located about 24 km west of Narrabri, New South Wales, Australia. It is the home of the Australia Telescope Compa ...
, opened in 1988 and now a site for several major astronomical facilities. Wild was always keen to pass on his enthusiasm for science. With
George Gamow George Gamow (sometimes Gammoff; born Georgiy Antonovich Gamov; ; 4 March 1904 – 19 August 1968) was a Soviet and American polymath, theoretical physicist and cosmologist. He was an early advocate and developer of Georges Lemaître's Big Ba ...
and instigator
Harry Messel Harry Messel, , (3 March 1922 – 8 July 2015) was a Canadian-born Australian physicist and educator. Life and work Messel was born in Canada to Ukrainian parents. He was born in Levine Siding in Manitoba, and brought up in Rivers, Manitoba. H ...
, he was a member of the inaugural trio who, from 1962, brought high-level science teaching to senior secondary students throughout Australia. Titled ''Summer School of Science'', the sessions were televised live at the University of Sydney and re-broadcast in three-hour programs early every Sunday morning – a fore-runner of the programs of today's
Professor Harry Messel International Science School The Professor Harry Messel International Science School (ISS) is a fee-free residential educational event for selected secondary students held for two weeks in July every two years and based at the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia which ha ...
.


Researcher and administrator

In 1971, Paul Wild took over from E.G. 'Taffy' Bowen as chief of CSIRO's Division of Radiophysics. For someone who joined a particular research team so that he could "do his own thing", it may be surprising that he agreed to be appointed to this role. He explained his motivation:
Well all my life, scientific life, people have given me lots of resources and lots of opportunities and I think it's a matter of duty; when the finger is pointed to you it's your duty to pay back some of those wonderful things that have been given. That's how I became an administrator. utwhen I was Chief of Division I was not merely an administrator, because I also led a research group on the Interscan landing system.
That Interscan was an applied research group was no accident. In fact he had perceived a problem inherent in the Division of Radiophysics being solely involved in pure research – a situation that had never applied in CSIRO. He felt it was very important to "demonstrate to everyone that one could turn this technology into something useful."


Interscan

In looking for applied research opportunities, Wild discovered that the Australian Department of Civil Aviation had been considering a call by the
International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...
for member states to propose a new system to replace the longstanding Instrument Landing System. He very quickly formed the concept of a
microwave landing system The microwave landing system (MLS) is an all-weather, precision radio guidance system intended to be installed at large airports to assist aircraft in landing, including 'blind landings'. MLS enables an approaching aircraft to determine when it ...
and applied his energies to the project with great enthusiasm. The concept was simple: a radar fan beam scans back and forth horizontally while another scans up and down, giving the aircraft's position within a few inches. Interscan proved to have many advantages over other precision landing systems. It allows a wide selection of channels to avoid interference with other nearby airports; has excellent performance in all weather; and gives freedom to locate antennae anywhere at an airport. Some installations became operational in the 1990s and more were set up subsequently in Europe. NASA has operated a similar system to land
Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...
s. However, Interscan has not become widely deployed worldwide, largely because the US
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...
has developed the
Wide Area Augmentation System The Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) is an air navigation aid developed by the Federal Aviation Administration to augment the Global Positioning System (GPS), with the goal of improving its accuracy, integrity, and availability. Essentia ...
(WAAS), which augments the satellite-based
Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide ge ...
(GPS). Although WAAS is cheaper and conforms to ILS Category I, its accuracy is under 1.0 metre laterally and under 1.5 metres vertically, which is a particular concern at locations that frequently suffer from low visibility. In 1978, Interscan was accepted as the new global standard in microwave landing systems – but only after many international political hurdles had been overcome. The project involved long, delicate negotiations with the International Civil Aviation Organization and pragmatic alliances with other nations. It was during the ICAO negotiations, and as chief of his CSIRO division, that Wild was revealed as a highly talented diplomat and political strategist. Dennis Cooper, a key participant in the ICAO negotiations, described Wild as "an excellent mentor, happy to listen to the ideas of young colleagues, able to grasp complex ideas and explain them simply".


National science leadership

In 1978, Wild became chairman of CSIRO, a position he held until 1985, and for part of that tenure was also its chief executive. He took on the role after the first Independent Inquiry into CSIRO (the Birch Report of 1977) pointed the organisation towards "filling a gap in national research with strategic mission-oriented work." He led the organisation through the restructure to modernise it and bring it closer to the industries and community that it serves. This role, especially, invoked a sense of duty that had its roots during and before Wild's naval service. When asked in 1992 whether his appointment as Chairman rested "to an extent on the fact that you had put the division, and Australia, on the international map and you had this capacity for applying very fundamental work?", he responded, "Yes, I think it certainly must have done. I don't know that I ''really'' wanted the job, but it was a duty to take the job when they offered it to you." Wild recognised that CSIRO needed to adapt and provide scientific and technological leadership in a changing world, reflecting his maxim that "without excellence and originality, research achieves nothing." During this period of great change he secured funding for major national research facilities, including the oceanographic research vessel, RV ''Franklin''; the Australian Animal Health Laboratory and the Australia Telescope; and he established a new Division of Information Technology. But many things did not involve smooth sailing: for example, as he put it, "I had terrible trouble over the Animal Health Laboratory when he Barry Jones">Barry Jones (Australian politician)">Barry Joneswanted to close it all down, just when it was nearly finished being built." Further, CSIRO for the first time had to react to public criticism about its policies. Wild said "Before that time … I suppose CSIRO was a sacred cow, beyond criticism; and I think we had to get used to criticism and get used to defending." He explained his particular ethos and style of management of CSIRO in this way:
Well, I suppose I always wanted to extrapolate from my own experience, small-scale experience, and some personal opinions. I had a strong desire always to see pure and applied research undertaken side by side in the same laboratory.... And I was still very much aware that the recognition that many – most, I should say – of the really important and fundamental discoveries in science which subsequently led to a massive technological development have come through curiosity-led research, and often through serendipity, which is terribly important. I think the Birch report was very helpful, and I agreed with his report that the whole core of the policy-making in the science that we were going to carry out was a matter of defining the right proportion of, shall we say, pure research, strategic mission-oriented, and technical research – and getting that proportion right.... I felt that fundamental research in the end was going to reap the real benefits in the long run ... discovering something like electricity ... was absolutely fundamental research and had an enormous impact on the world. On the other hand, there was the awareness that you're in charge of an organisation that's spending a million dollars of taxpayers' money every day, and that's a very sobering thought, so you had to keep the reins on as well.
Indeed, there were many frustrations in being CSIRO's chairman at that time, of which he nominated as the worst "the frustration of finding it so difficult to bring in new young blood because of the descending budget in real terms." The diplomacy and political strategy that Wild had first used to major advantage in negotiations with the International Civil Aviation Organization, combined with his intellectual rigour and a deeply ingrained focus on doing what was right, served CSIRO and Australia well until he retired from CSIRO, aged 62, in 1985.


''Very Fast Train Joint Venture''


Inspiration, conceptualization and initial studies (1983-1987)

In October 1983, Wild made a trip from Canberra to a CSIRO meeting in Sydney using the XPT, which was introduced the year prior. He would remark that:
"despite the train's much publicized but very brief dash at 160 km/h, the journey, over all, had the leisurely features of a branch-line train. ..In the end, the journey took 4 hours and 37 minutes – 20 minutes longer than scheduled, at an average speed of 70.6 km/h. I was absolutely appalled by the whole thing. After I flew home that night, I looked up an old reference book. I learned that if the train had completed the run in an even four hours – a schedule that was soon to be introduced – it would have traveled at the same average speed of 81.6 km/h as the London to Bristol Express in 1851."
In April 1984, he and several CSIRO senior staff members, and a senior engineering manager from
BHP BHP Group Limited, founded as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is an Australian multinational mining and metals corporation. BHP was established in August 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. As of 2024, BHP was the world ...
, met to discuss a concept paper. On the day before Good Friday, they agreed on the components and who would write them. They all had commitments and agreed it would take six weeks to put a draft together. However, such was their private enthusiasm that each of them worked right through the four-day break, virtually finishing their drafts. In July 1984 the completed work was published as ''A Proposal for a Fast Railway between Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne''. It turned the high-speed train from a broad concept to a tangible proposal, remarkably predicting the main issues that would be involved in the development of an Australian high-speed railway. From Sydney to Canberra much of the route was similar to that of the Hume Highway. From the national capital it proceeded south – paralleling the coast, generally about 70 kilometres inland – via Cooma and Bombala to Orbost; then west to Melbourne, very close to the coast. This route was chosen because it would provide better access for people in the coastal south-east of New South Wales and eastern Victoria, who were very poorly served by transport links. Further, it would encourage decentralisation more than a wholly inland route would, because about 80 per cent of Australians choose to live within 50 kilometres of the coast. Despite VFT curves being 20 times broader than on the existing Sydney–Melbourne railway, the proposed route was able to go around mountains rather than going through them. The direction of valleys was favourable for the most part, minimising the cost of tunnelling and substantial earthworks. Wild's science minister, Barry Jones, enclosed a copy in a letter to the Prime Minister, observing that the concept would be very valuable in assisting decentralisation. The proposal would be sent to the federal Minister for Transport, Peter Morris, with comments reflecting his officials' opinion: it was not worth considering. Although Sydney–Melbourne was later identified as the fourth-busiest air route in the world (busier than any in North America, or any in Europe apart from Madrid to Barcelona) and the bureau had no firm data on transport markets in south-eastern Australia, its officials judged passenger fares would need to be set at a rate that would not be commercially viable. The bureau would not accept the French experience that the laws of physics (in which momentum is proportional to the square of the velocity) allowed much steeper gradients (hence much fewer cut-and-fill earthworks) than on low-speed railways. The difference in the estimation of earthworks was $2 billion – a significant proportion of the total cost of the project. On 12 September 1984, during Parliament, Morris would describe the proposal as grandiose, likening it to another proposal to build a canal through the centre of Australia. He said that he would not "recommend to the Government that resources should be allocated to even do a study on it", and that "if, as has been suggested by its proponents ..the private sector is interested in it, I would say to Dr Wild that he should take the proposal back to the private sector ..and let them put it forward and fund it." After meeting with Morris later in September, Wild opined that "in many areas Australia needed desperately to dig itself out of the stagnation of 19th century thought." He believed the reaction highlighted Australia's general malaise; he deplored the emphasis on the short term and the preference for patching up decaying and unprofitable systems, ignoring imaginative plans for the future. He called for a much larger, objective investigation by independent experts, including those from overseas countries which already had fast trains. In doing so he emphasised that he was not seeking government funding for the scheme – merely support for a $500,000 study that would last 12 months. He would later reflect that he had got into some trouble "saying that this knock-back was characteristic of the malaise which the country is suffering, which got into a headline." However, there was to be a good outcome: soon afterwards
Peter Abeles Sir Peter Emil Herbert Abeles, AC (25 April 192425 June 1999) was an Australian transportation magnate. A refugee from Hungary, he became a businessman in Australia, and was knighted in 1972. Career Abeles was born in Vienna, in Austria, but ...
, head of transport giant
TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...
, telephoned him and said, "I think I can help you with a commercial solution to your problem." After that, Wild said, "Bit by bit, with his support, I got a joint venture together. And that's when we did the main part of the work." Wild retired from CSIRO in October 1985, but CSIRO continued to support pre-feasibility studies until October 1988. By September 1986 he had brought together an unincorporated joint venture of TNT,
Elders IXL Elders Limited, formerly known as Elder, Stirling & Co., Elder Smith and Co. and Elder Smith & Co. Ltd, is an Australian agribusiness that provides agricultural goods and services to primary producers in Australia. History Early history (1839 ...
and
Kumagai Gumi is a Japanese construction company founded in Fukui, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. The company still has registered headquarters in Fukui, but the actual head office is located in Shinjuku, Tokyo. History Santaro Kumagai, the company's founder, be ...
. In August 1987, after delay caused by uncertainties surrounding a potential takeover of their company, the
BHP BHP Group Limited, founded as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is an Australian multinational mining and metals corporation. BHP was established in August 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. As of 2024, BHP was the world ...
joined as the fourth, and subsequently foremost, partner. Wild became chairman of the Very Fast Train Joint Venture.


Further studies (1987-1988)

In June 1987 the joint venture's pre-feasibility study was completed. It postulated that the project was technically feasible and financially viable. It envisaged a purpose-built high-speed line from Sydney to Canberra via
Bowral Bowral () is the largest town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia. It is south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. It is the main business and entertainment precinct of the Wingecarribee Shire and the Southern Highl ...
and
Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, approximately south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters patent by Queen Victor ...
, and either a coastal route from Canberra to Melbourne via
Cooma Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south of the national capital, Canberra, via the Monaro Highway. It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway, connecting Bega, New South Wales, Bega with the Riverina. ...
,
East Gippsland East Gippsland is the eastern region of Gippsland, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia covering (14%) of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It has a population of 80,114. Australian Bureau of Statistics2006 Census Community Profile Series: Ea ...
and the
Latrobe Valley The Latrobe Valley is an inland geographical district and urban area of the Gippsland region in the state of Victoria, Australia. The traditional owners are the Brayakaulung of the Gunai nation. The district lies east of Melbourne and nestle ...
– or an inland route via
Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...
, Albury-Wodonga,
Wangaratta Wangaratta ( ) is a city in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, from Melbourne along the Hume Highway. The city had a population of 29,808 per the 2021 Australian Census. The city is located at the confluence, junction of the Ovens River, ...
and
Seymour Seymour may refer to: Places Australia *Seymour, Victoria, a township ** Seymour railway station * Electoral district of Seymour, a former electoral district in Victoria * Rural City of Seymour, a former local government area in Victoria * Se ...
. Later, routes to
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
and
Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
were conceptualised. In July–August 1988 a $1 million passenger market analysis was completed and a feasibility study was started, for which the joint venture partners budgeted $19 million. In December, a VFT Concept Report was released, identifying the key issues for a high-speed rail system, to be built and operated by private enterprise, with trains operating between Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne at speeds up to . The report sought positive responses from the New South Wales, Victorian and federal governments and the Australian Capital Territory administration in facilitating access to land for survey and route investigation; ensuring cooperation by government agencies; and forms of support, including enactment of legislation to facilitate land acquisition. The VFT project attracted widespread public and media interest. The latter was not always favorable, picking up on government scepticism about the project. Some public commentators spoke from a pre-ordained position. Although Wild had no doubts about the complexity of such an undertaking in an age of public consultation, he warned that the project would "end in a shambles if every professor and greenie had their say". Overall public support for the project was very strong. A survey of Gippsland residents found it had 70% support. A Morgan research poll found 65% support for the project throughout Victoria and New South Wales. Another poll showed support throughout metropolitan and country areas of Victoria and New South Wales at 80%.


Issues and eventual scrapping (1990-1991)

In July 1990 the VFT joint venture announced comparative studies of market demand and capital costs on the coastal and the inland routes. In October 1990, Wild announced that the inland route was the preferred choice for the VFT. The decision not to proceed with the original route to the east of the Snowy Mountains and through Gippsland was a difficult one for the VFT Joint Venture and for Wild personally. The decision was based purely on the capital costs and predicted financial performance of the two routes: there was no interest from any government in the developmental benefits which the coastal route would have brought to the south-eastern area of Australia. The decision earned the scorn of the original corporate supporter of the proposal, Sir Peter Abeles, a visionary who from the start had been attracted to the VFT's national development potential. Aware of the growth that fast trains overseas had generated along entire routes, he could not see the point of going inland, where few people wanted to live. His response to the decision was "You've lost the plot". The project faced other problems. Internally, the views of the members of the joint venture were not always in alignment. As many people in business in Australia know, a joint venture is a less robust form of business enterprise than a company. Certainly there were many strains within the VFT Joint Venture, and they increased as the feasibility study progressed. Wild, referring in 1995 to when the project expanded under the joint venture said, "We then got in some professional management and I think things started to slide from then on". His role as chairman of the joint venture was not easy. Externally, there was the continuing issue of dealing with four governments, i.e. the federal government; the state governments of New South Wales and Victoria; and following the recent granting of self-government to the national capital, the Australian Capital Territory government. They had differing agendas and a tendency to look for problems associated with the project rather than the opportunities it offered. This attitude led to the eventual insurmountable hurdle which the project faced, when the issue arose of the tax treatment which would be necessary for the project to proceed. The VFT team worked hard in 1990 and 1991 to devise an acceptable approach. Despite the economic benefits which had been identified in a third-party analysis the federal government was not prepared to move in the area of tax. Wild retained a sense of bitterness about the federal government's short-sightedness that thwarted the project. He said:
The thing that lost the project in the end was that we were asking for some very reasonable taxation arrangements which would apply in the early days of very heavy spending – in the long run we would be paying more taxes but we just wanted to ease the taxes during that early time – and that was knocked back by the government, in fact by the treasurer ... Paul Keating, and I would say that he is the man responsible for stopping heproject."
In August 1991 the federal government gave its final, negative answer and the joint venture ceased work on the project. Ironically, the federal government soon introduced infrastructure bonds to assist major projects facing the same financial hurdles as the VFT. However, Australian governments have continued to struggle to find acceptable mechanisms for public–private partnerships undertaking infrastructure projects. Wild also concluded there were internal factors that in hindsight could be seen to have hampered the project: he believed the chosen corporate structure of a joint venture lacked the governance strengths and focus of a company; too many project delays had occurred; and it would have been better to buy TGVs "off the shelf" than to proceed, as they had, with a train that was to be designed and built in Australia.


Latter years

In 1991 Wild's wife of 43 years, Elaine, died. Soon after the VFT project ended, he went for a holiday in the US and took with him the address of an old colleague in radiophysics – only to find that he had recently died. A few months later he proposed to his colleague's widow, Margaret Lyndon, and they had 12 happy years together before she died. During this time they alternated between Ann Arbor and Canberra. When in the US Paul Wild spent hours with Margaret's son, Tom Haddock, also a research scientist, discussing general relativity, the origin of inertia, the clever way the Soviet scientists Landau and Lifshitz developed their arguments on field theory, and then-current experiments such as the Gravity Probe B satellite to detect the general relativistic Lense-Thirring frame-dragging effect from the Earth's spin. The origin of inertia was a special interest Wild had, which they discussed at great length. Haddock reflected, "Physics went well beyond being Paul's profession; it was his hobby as well." The two also worked together on a paper in gravitational theory, 'Evaluation of the Cosmic Density Parameter, Omega', concerning the component of omega due to mass. The purely theoretically derived result was based solely on an equation of general relativity, given by Einstein, relating inertial and gravitational mass – independent of the values of the gravitational constant and the Hubble constant. The paper reflected the strong, creative interest Wild had in gravitation, relativity and cosmology right to the end. That is not surprising. In a 1995 interview Wild nominated his most significant achievement to be the building of the Culgoora radio-heliograph and providing the world with a unique eye to view and record moving pictures of rapidly changing solar activity. He observed:
most scientific discoveries, had they not been made by the originator, would have been made by somebody else within a year or so or even less. To my mind the most significant discoveries or projects are those which would have eluded other researchers for decades or more. … The ulgoora radio-heliographrevealed a whole range of previously unknown phenomena at a wavelength millions of times longer than the wavelength of all other moving pictures ever taken of the sun. Today, nearly three decades later, the instrument has not been duplicated and the results remain unique. In saying this I do not want to give the impression that I did it all by myself. I owe much to CSIRO and the Ford Foundation for providing the resources and to a wonderful bunch of colleagues who built it and made it all work.
Paul Wild was a knowledgeable classical music lover, enjoying Beethoven in particular; an expert at ''The Times'' crossword puzzles, chess and bridge; a railway enthusiast; a social cricketer and a "walking encyclopaedia of cricket knowledge". Although in his consummate professionalism he had an inherent dignity, not far from the surface there was always an innate sense of fun. His interviewer for the National Library of Australia oral history project, Ann Moyal, referred to "his story, with its humorous shafts". Wild's humour also came through in the occasional light-hearted impersonation. It was evident from early days, such as in the Pacific, when the officers of HMS ''King George V'' entertained some American admirals and their staffs. It was, he related,
a very considerable gathering of gold braid. The British ships, of course, were very popular because they were wet and the Americans' were dry, and so they were all having a marvellous time when the captain grabbed hold of me. I had one talent in those days, in the amusement line, and that was to give a convincing imitation of the Führer and of
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
. And the captain grabbed me and said he wanted me to address them as
Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
. And so somebody got a burnt cork and produced the moustache and a comb on the hair, and there they were assembled before me, all this mass of gold braid. And I gave them several minutes of harangue in mock-German, and eventually I finished and a great roar went up with a mass of hands going up at forty-five degrees baying " Sieg, heil!, Sieg, heil!" over and over again, and it's the mass of gold braid on these arms that lives in my memory.
Wild engendered intense loyalties among the people he knew. His formative naval service gave him a strong sense of teamwork and obligation to others, and to seeking the fairest way ahead. His CSIRO successor spoke of "his generosity in sharing ideas", that he was "extremely approachable", with "the magical ability to reduce the most complex of concepts to simple terms understood by all"; and when these concepts "were realised in practice he never failed to acknowledge the role is colleaguesplayed in developing them." Paul Wild died of natural causes in Canberra on 10 May 2008.


Honours

Paul Wild received the following honours for his research and science leadership: *
Edgeworth David Medal The Edgeworth David Medal is awarded annually by the Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Societ ...
,
Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. It is the oldest learned society in the Southern Hemisphere. The Society traces its ...
(1957) *Member,
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
(1961) *Member,
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
(1962) *
Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...
,
Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...
(1964) *Inaugural Arctowski Medal,
United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
(1969) *Balthasar van der Pol Gold Medal,
International Union of Radio Science The International Union of Radio Science (abbreviated ''URSI'', after its French name, ) is one of 26 international scientific unions affiliated to the International Council for Science (ICSU). History and objectives URSI was officially cr ...
(1969) *
Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
(1970) *Inaugural
Herschel Medal The Herschel Medal is awarded by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) for "investigations of outstanding merit in observational astrophysics". It is awarded for a single piece of work so that younger scientists can be candidates for the award. It i ...
,
Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charitable organisation, charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, planetary science, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its ...
(1974) *
Matthew Flinders Medal and Lecture The Matthew Flinders Medal and Lecture of the Australian Academy of Science is awarded biennially to recognise exceptional research by Australian scientists in the physical sciences. Nominations can only be made by Academy Fellows. Recipients Sour ...
,
Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...
(1974) *
Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal The Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal is awarded at most every two years by the Australian Academy of Science to a mathematician or physicist for his or her outstanding research accomplishments.
,
Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...
(1975) *Fellow,
Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) is an independent learned academy that helps Australians understand and use technology to solve complex problems. History The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences was foun ...
1977 *Commander of the
Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(CBE) (1978) *Royal Archive winner,
The Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...
(1980) *
George Ellery Hale Prize The George Ellery Hale Prize, or Hale Prize, is awarded annually by the Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society for outstanding contributions over an extended period of time to the field of solar astronomy. The prize is named in ...
for Solar Astronomy,
American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...
(1980) *
ANZAAS Medal The Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) is an organisation that was founded in 1888 as the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science to promote science. It was modelled on the British ...
,
Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science The Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) is an organisation that was founded in 1888 as the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science to promote science. It was modelled on the British ...
(1984) *Companion of the
Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...
(AC) (1986) *Hartnett Medal,
Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...
London (1988) *
Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...
(2001)


Memorial

At Culgoora, New South Wales (25 kilometres from Narrabri), in the grounds of the Paul Wild Observatory – home to the Australia Telescope Compact Array – is a sundial, mounted on a pedestal, "In memory of Paul Wild, founder of this observatory".


Select bibliography

* * * * * *


See also

*
Wild's Triplet Wild's Triplet, also known as Arp 248, is a group of three small, interacting spiral galaxies. The galaxies (PGC 36723, PGC 36733, PGC 36742) are visible in the constellation Virgo. Two of the galaxies have a connecting stellar stream, probably ...


Notes


References


Further reading

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * See also the extensive bibliography on pp. 278–290 of Stewart (2009), above, concerning the work of the CSIRO Division of Radiophysics at Penrith and Dapto; includes 25 publications authored or co-authored by Paul Wild. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wild, John Paul 1923 births 2008 deaths Royal Navy officers Military personnel from Sheffield People educated at Ardingly College People educated at Whitgift School Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge 20th-century Australian astronomers People from Croydon British emigrants to Australia Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Royal Medal winners Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of Australia Fellows of the Royal Society CSIRO people Royal Navy officers of World War II Members of the American Philosophical Society