Thomas Gold

Thomas Gold (May 22, 1920 – June 22, 2004) was an Austrian astrophysicist, a professor of astronomy at Cornell University, and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences. Gold was one of three young Cambridge scientists who advanced the scientific understanding of cosmology in the 1950s by proposing the controversial 'steady state' hypothesis of the universe. Gold had the unusual ability to cross academic and scientific boundaries, into biophysics, astrophysics, space engineering, or geophysics, to challenge longstanding dogma with his profound insights.

Life

Originally from Vienna, Austria, he was educated at Zuoz College in Switzerland and Trinity College, Cambridge. At the start of World War II, he endured internment as an enemy alien, when he met Hermann Bondi. Once released, he worked with Bondi and Fred Hoyle (near Dunsfold in Surrey) on radar, a partnership which would extend into astrophysics. Together, the three upset existing dogma with their unorthodox theories on the nature of the cosmos. He later worked at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, in Greenwich, England, and at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Related Topics:
Vienna, Austria - Zuoz College - Switzerland - Trinity College, Cambridge - World War II - Internment - Hermann Bondi - Fred Hoyle - Dunsfold - Surrey - Radar - Unorthodox - Cosmos - Royal Greenwich Observatory - Greenwich - England - Harvard University - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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He was married twice: to Merle Tuberg in 1947 and to Carvel Beyer in 1972. He had three daughters by his first wife and one by his second. He died at the age of 84.

Related Topics:
1947 - 1972

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