Forward Thinking: Jocelyn Bell Burnell

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 10 April 2024

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1967, Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered a previously unknown kind of star, the Pulsar. A Nobel prize followed, but not for Jocelyn; her male boss took the honour. Jocelyn has never been bitter about the award, but says that today things should have moved much further than they have. More women are working in space research, but is it enough?

In conversation with Nuala McGovern, she argues that different perspectives are essential for moving the science forward. One of these is a more global, inclusive vision to exploring the cosmos. India and China have prestigious space programmes, and the low-key space missions of Japan and South Africa collaborate with international partners from around the world. We discuss how global enthusiasm for space research can be used to propel change.

Jocelyn Bell Burnell is professor of astrophysics at the University of Oxford.

This is the second of a series of four programmes from the Oxford Literary Festival, presented by Nuala McGovern, produced by Julian Siddle.

Recorded in front of an audience at Worcester College Oxford.

Transcript

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0:00.0	from the BBC World Service.
0:01.6	This edition of the documentary podcast,
0:03.8	forward thinking is the second of four programs recorded in front of an audience
0:08.0	at the Oxford Literary Festival with the telegraph.
0:11.0	I'm Nula McGovern. We are in an auditorium with beautiful blue skies outside in the gorgeous Oxford sunshine.
0:25.0	Teaching in this city began as early as 1096,
0:30.0	making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world.
0:34.7	I have an audience that is here with me
0:37.0	that will be asking questions of my guest,
0:39.9	Dame Jocelyn Bell Bernell,
0:41.7	professor of astrophysics here at Oxford, but has so many academic
0:46.9	titles you have had an extraordinary career. Welcome.
0:51.6	Thank you. Why do we need more diversity in space? Diversity I think
0:58.8	helps creativity. If you don't have diversity you can get a group think that's quite productive but sometimes
1:07.7	has trouble changing track.
1:10.2	Whereas if you've got diversity you've got somebody that says, yeah, that's all true, but what about
1:15.5	Humpty Dumpty or whatever? And so you have created diversity in your career simply by staying the course.
1:26.0	I want to turn to the book The Sky is for Everyone and the chapter that you wrote. My blood boiled reading that chapter.
1:38.9	Tell us a little bit about your early life and particularly when you realized that
1:45.2	gender may be an issue. Gender became an issue at around about age 11. The 11 plus exam in Britain, actually called the
1:56.4	qualifying in Northern Ireland, was an exam that all kids sat and those who were the brightest ones went on to have a rather better
2:05.3	education, a broader education than the less bright who were given a more
	...

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