Radio Astronomy in the Netherlands: An Astronomers’ Matter

Abstract

Radio astronomy came into existence during the Second World War. In most countries, the initiative was taken by people working in the war industry, because the technologies of radar and radio telescopes were very similar. In the Netherlands, this was different. In 1941, the Leiden astronomer Jan Hendrik Oort read an article written by the American engineer Reber, who had been able to measure radio emissions from the Galaxy. Oort realised that radio waves could be vital for astronomy, as these are not hindered by earthly clouds and interstellar dust. In barely a decade, Dutch radio astronomy became a success story for several reasons. Firstly, science was seen as the key factor in the rebuilding of the country after the war, so it was the ideal moment for a new field to flourish. Secondly, the alliances that Oort and his colleagues concluded with companies such as Philips to provide them with the necessary engineering knowledge enabled them also to suggest their research had possible spin-offs, which was an additional argument to get their research funded by the government. Thirdly, as in both (radio) astronomy and Dutch science policy only a handful of people were involved, things could still be arranged very quickly and people were often both judge and jury. And fourthly, as the optical astronomers and the radio astronomers were the very same persons, radio astronomers were immediately taken seriously in the community of astronomers.