American Scientist

To the Editors:

Tony Rothman’s article about the founding and development of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), “Outpost on the Edge” (Perspective, January–February), brought back memories of several visits I made to Green Bank, West Virginia, in 1977–1980 to discuss the development of a geodetic very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) network to monitor polar motion, variations in universal time, and tectonic plate movements. I was working at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and was trying to get a project going: POLARIS (POLar motion Analysis by Radio Interferometric Surveying), a collaboration with NASA and the U.S. Naval Observatory. On one of my visits I happened upon John Findlay. Rothman’s description of him as a “crusty Englishman who spoke with an Oxbridge accent and smoothed down his hair with shoe polish” caused an instant flashback to my first—and only—encounter with Findlay.

I went to the lounge after dinner. He came in, carrying a mixed drink, and sat down in an overstuffed chair across a coffee table from me. Findlay said hello and asked why I was at Green Bank. After listening to my brief description of project POLARIS, he harrumphed as only the English can and proceeded to tell me that he saw no need for such a special purpose VLBI network, as everything we proposed to do could be done better with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). When I responded that the baselines would not be long enough to get the Earth orientation parameters as accurately as we were seeking, and that we also wanted stations on several different tectonic plates, he harrumphed again and told me that the array would eventually include satellite stations, most likely in Hawaii, Alaska, and the Caribbean Islands, and perhaps other locations. He went on to say that he had never heard of me and had no idea why a geodesist thought that he could run an astronomical observing program. As an afterthought, he asked from where I had come. Because he had mentioned Hawaii as a possible site for a VLBI station, I assumed that he knew John T. Jefferies, director of the Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, and told him that I had worked for him, building a lunar laser ranging station on Haleakala before accepting a position at NOAA.

Findlay feigned trying to place the name John Jefferies and then said that he did not know him. I replied that he would certainly get to know Jefferies if NRAO was going to build a radio telescope in Hawaii, as the governor and state legislators looked to him for everything astronomical. That set him off on a rant about minor university professors and local politicians in remote states that were little more than remote colonies, who thought that they were important. He concluded by informing me that the VLBA was a national project, that all decisions would be made by the appropriate National Science Foundation and NRAO officials, who would neither need nor seek the opinions and help of Jefferies or local politicians, including the governor. With that said, he picked up his drink and left.

I saw him a couple more times during other visits to Green Bank, but he never deigned to speak to me again. I am pleased to learn that he made significant contributions to radio astronomy during his time at NRAO—unfortunately, I only experienced his “crusty Englishman” side.

Bill Carter
University of Houston
Houston, TX