Russell A. Hulse – Photo gallery
Russell A. Hulse receiving his Nobel Prize from H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at the Stockholm Concert Hall on 10 December 1993.
Nobel Foundation. Photo: Lars Åström
All Nobel Laureates assembled at the Nobel Prize award ceremony in the Stockholm Concert Hall on 10 December 1993. From left: Physics Laureates Russell A. Hulse and Joseph H. Taylor Jr, Chemistry Laureates Kary B. Mullis and Michael Smith, Medicine Laureates Richard J. Roberts and Phillip A. Sharp, Literature Laureate Toni Morrison and Laureates in Economic Sciences Robert W. Fogel and Douglass C. North.
Photo from the Lars Åström archive
Russell A. Hulse showing his Nobel Prize medal after the Nobel Prize award ceremony in the Stockholm Concert Hall on 10 December 1993.
Nobel Foundation. Photo: Lars Åström
Russell A. Hulse delivering his Nobel Prize lecture 'The Discovery of the Binary Pulsar' at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on 8 December 1993.
Nobel Foundation. Photo: Lars Åström
All 1993 Nobel Prize laureates assembled at the Swedish Academy during Nobel Week, December 1993. From left, back row: Richard J. Roberts, Michael Smith, Phillip A. Sharp, Russell A. Hulse, Joseph H. Taylor Jr. and Douglass C. North. Front row: Kary B. Mullis, Toni Morrison and Robert W. Fogel.
Photo from the Lars Åström archive
1993 Nobel Prize laureates assembled: Kary B. Mullis, Russell A. Hulse, Joseph H. Taylor Jr., Douglass C. North, Robert W. Fogel and Michael Smith.
Nobel Foundation. Photo: Lars Åström
Group photo of the 1993 Nobel Laureates, assembled at the Nobel Foundation, December 1993. From left: Chemistry Laureate Kary B. Mullis, Medicine Laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Physics Laureate Russell A. Hulse, Medicine Laureate Michael Smith, Peace Prize Laureates Nelson Mandela and Frederik Willem de Klerk, Medicine Laureate Richard J. Roberts, Laureate in Economic Sciences Robert W. Fogel, Literature Laureate Toni Morrison, Physics Laureate Joseph H. Taylor Jr. and Laureate in Economic Sciences Douglass C. North.
© Nobel Foundation. Photo: Boo Jonsson
Joseph H. Taylor Jr. – Photo gallery
Joseph H. Taylor Jr. receiving his Nobel Prize from H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at the Stockholm Concert Hall on 10 December 1993.
Nobel Foundation. Photo: Lars Åström
All Nobel Laureates assembled at the Nobel Prize award ceremony in the Stockholm Concert Hall on 10 December 1993. From left: Physics Laureates Russell A. Hulse and Joseph H. Taylor Jr, Chemistry Laureates Kary B. Mullis and Michael Smith, Medicine Laureates Richard J. Roberts and Phillip A. Sharp, Literature Laureate Toni Morrison and Laureates in Economic Sciences Robert W. Fogel and Douglass C. North.
Photo from the Lars Åström archive
Joseph H. Taylor Jr. showing his Nobel Medal after the Nobel Prize award ceremony in the Stockholm Concert Hall on 10 December 1993.
Photo from the Lars Åström archive
Joseph H. Taylor Jr. showing his medal after the Nobel Prize award ceremony.
Nobel Foundation. Photo: Lars Åström
1993 Nobel Banquet. Seated fourth from right is medicine laureate Joseph H. Taylor Jr. and sixth from right is literature Toni Morrison.
Nobel Foundation. Photo: Lars Åström
Joseph H. Taylor Jr. delivering his Nobel Prize lecture 'Binary Pulsars and Relativistic Gravity' at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on 8 December 1993.
Nobel Foundation. Photo: Lars Åström
All 1993 Nobel Prize laureates assembled at the Swedish Academy during Nobel Week, December 1993. From left, back row: Richard J. Roberts, Michael Smith, Phillip A. Sharp, Russell A. Hulse, Joseph H. Taylor Jr. and Douglass C. North. Front row: Kary B. Mullis, Toni Morrison and Robert W. Fogel.
Photo from the Lars Åström archive
1993 Nobel Prize laureates assembled: Kary B. Mullis, Russell A. Hulse, Joseph H. Taylor Jr., Douglass C. North, Robert W. Fogel and Michael Smith.
Nobel Foundation. Photo: Lars Åström
Group photo of the 1993 Nobel Laureates, assembled at the Nobel Foundation, December 1993. From left: Chemistry Laureate Kary B. Mullis, Medicine Laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Physics Laureate Russell A. Hulse, Medicine Laureate Michael Smith, Peace Prize Laureates Nelson Mandela and Frederik Willem de Klerk, Medicine Laureate Richard J. Roberts, Laureate in Economic Sciences Robert W. Fogel, Literature Laureate Toni Morrison, Physics Laureate Joseph H. Taylor Jr. and Laureate in Economic Sciences Douglass C. North.
© Nobel Foundation. Photo: Boo Jonsson
The Nobel Prize in Physics 1993
Speed read: Catching gravity’s waves
For a second time, the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1993 was awarded to the discovery of a burnt-out star remnant known as a pulsar. Awarding the Prize to Russell Hulse and Joseph Taylor not only rewarded their discovery of two pulsars dancing around each other but also acknowledged their discovery of a space laboratory that could test one of Albert Einstein’s most important theories.
According to Einstein’s general theory of relativity of 1916, the Universe exists in three-dimensions plus time as a fourth dimension. This space-time, as it is commonly known, behaves much like a liquid, being distorted by the presence of massive bodies, such as stars, and forming ripples of gravitational radiation as these bodies move through the cosmos. Finding these predicted ripples in the fabric of space-time proved difficult as it required locating an object large enough and travelling fast enough through space to create gravitational waves that can reach Earth before fading away.
In the same year that Antony Hewish received the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physics for his role in the discovery of a pulsar – the collapsed and superdense corpse of a massive star, known as a neutron star, that is left behind when it dies in a supernova explosion – Joseph Taylor and his student Russell Hulse discovered a pair of pulsars that are close enough together to orbit around each other in space. Since this so-called ‘binary pulsar’ is moving fast and the two stars are close together, Einstein’s theory predicted that they should generate significant amounts of gravitational radiation, which in turn steals energy from the two pulsars, making them spiral slowly towards each other. After four years of meticulous observations Taylor showed that Einstein’s theory passed all tests: the two pulsars are not only spiralling towards each other, but they are doing so at almost exactly the rate predicted by the theory.
Hulse and Taylor’s observations, although indirect, provided the strongest proof yet for gravitational radiation. Their findings have provided the impetus to develop a series of gravity-wave detectors, which aim to catch gravitational radiation from astronomical phenomena like black holes or two merging neutron stars through more direct means, as their passing waves wash over Earth.
Joseph H. Taylor Jr. – Nobel Lecture
Nobel Lecture, December 8, 1993
Binary Pulsars and Relativistic Gravity
Read the Nobel Lecture
Pdf 284 kB
Joseph H. Taylor Jr. – Other resources
Links to other sites
On Joseph H. Taylor Jr. from Princeton university
On Joseph H. Taylor Jr. from American Institute of Physics
Joseph H. Taylor Jr. – Banquet speech
Joseph H. Taylor Jr.’s speech at the Nobel Banquet, December 10, 1993
Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Ladies and Gentlemen,
We have heard earlier today that scientific discoveries come at unpredictable times. Just as a person cannot say “I shall write poetry,” another cannot say “I shall make a scientific discovery.”
Russell Hulse and I did not set out in 1973 to detect gravitational waves, or even to conduct experiments into the fundamental nature of gravity. Instead, we set out to chart the celestial globe with a new type of star – aware only that we were sailing a route none had explored before, and that wondrous new lands might be revealed beyond the next horizon.
We were young, well-prepared, and receptive, but not yet wise. We were playing a detective game, gathering clues and solving logical puzzles as they presented themselves.
One special new island, at first only faintly visible in our telescope, later showed its bounty in full relativistic glory. When its treasures were gathered and brought home, some after many years of labor, they provided keys to long-locked gates and added new notes to the symphony of natural law.
In discovering this new island and gathering its exotic fruits, Russell Hulse and I, and other colleagues in later years, were enjoying the privilege of doing what we like best: satisfying our own curiosities, by asking and answering questions. We sought no other reward than the pleasure of an exciting journey. To be honored by being here tonight is beyond our wildest youthful dreams of nineteen years ago, and brings us joy that mere words cannot express.
Russell A. Hulse – Other resources
Links to other sites
‘Russell Hulse, the First Binary Pulsar, and Science Education’ from DOE R&D Accomplishments
Russell A. Hulse – Nobel Lecture
Nobel Lecture, December 8, 1993
The Discovery of the Binary Pulsar
Read the Nobel Lecture
Pdf 1.19 MB