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Number crunching :
Some sad news I need to pass on...
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Author | Message |
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Richard Haselgrove Send message Joined: 4 Jul 99 Posts: 14649 Credit: 200,643,578 RAC: 874 |
It may seem strange to do this in NC rather than the Cafe, but I think it's appropriate. Let me try to explain. My mother, Jenifer Haselgrove, passed away last week at the age of 84. She died peacefully in her sleep at the residential facility which had become her true home-from-home over the seven years she lived there - which is as good a way as any to pass on. She never crunched SETI for herself - though her computer has done so since I took over managing her affairs - but I think she belongs in NC because in some sense she is the mother of us all. As a young PhD student in 1951, she joined the Radio Astronomy group at the Cavendish Laboratory of the University of Cambridge and began work on "Ray Theory and a New Method for Ray Tracing in the Ionosphere" - tracking radio waves from space. In the same year she married my father (they met as undergraduates), who was already working in the Mathematical Laboratory of the same university - the home of EDSAC (later to be known as EDSAC 1 - but only after there was an EDSAC 2). EDSAC - officially commissioned on 6 May 1949, with the first program run being recorded in the log book - was arguably the first general purpose, fully automatic, stored program, digital computer in the world: earlier computers had used plugboards or switch panels for program input, or were lacking other essential characteristics of the computers we all use today. EDSAC is currently being re-created as a special project for the UK National Museum of Computing, adjacent to the Code and Cipher School at Bletchley Park. So, my mother was able to gain access to a computer in the sense that we know it today, and was quite possibly the first person to combine radio astronomy and computing. There will have been earlier work on ionospheric radio propagation - notably wartime research into radar - but if there was any 'computing' done, it will have been done by special-purpose dedicated hardware. As we have seen in recent discussions on these boards, ranging from Colossus to bitcoin ASICs, special-purpose hardware may sometimes be faster for their dedicated tasks, but the use of general-purpose machines is arguably more significant in the long term. Certainly, my mother and I were both surprised to discover, late in my mother's life, how widely the techniques my mother pioneered were still known, referred to, and used in what had become known as "The Haselgrove Equations". I can't begin to do the breadth of the subject justice here, but if you're interested, dip into these two (very dense and technical - except for the introduction) editions of the Radio Science Bulletin. http://www.ursi.org/files/RSBissues/RSB_325_2008_06.pdf http://www.ursi.org/files/RSBissues/RSB_327_2008_12.pdf |
kittyman Send message Joined: 9 Jul 00 Posts: 51468 Credit: 1,018,363,574 RAC: 1,004 |
My prayers and condolences on your loss, Richard. And that is a very nice tribute from you to your mother. "Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster |
OzzFan Send message Joined: 9 Apr 02 Posts: 15691 Credit: 84,761,841 RAC: 28 |
My thoughts are with you Richard. What an amazing woman your mother must have been. |
Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24875 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7 |
My condolences Richard. Thanks for the links, that was a fascinating report on your mother's achievements. |
rob smith Send message Joined: 7 Mar 03 Posts: 22158 Credit: 416,307,556 RAC: 380 |
Thank you for sharing some of your family history. The words "I'm sorry to hear of your loss", and similar phrases aren't empty words, but from me come from the heart. I've never met your mother, but am grateful she did meet your father as without that meeting and joining we wouldn't have you and your unique combination of skills. Thus I can honestly say "Richard's Mum, I miss you". Bob Smith Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society) Somewhere in the (un)known Universe? |
Bill Butler Send message Joined: 26 Aug 03 Posts: 101 Credit: 4,270,697 RAC: 0 |
Radio Science Bulletins from the International Union of Radio Science: http://www.ursi.org/files/RSBissues/RSB_325_2008_06.pdf Richard, thank you for telling us your story about your mother and these publications. The references seem quite relevant to the Number crunching forum. Included in the papers is discussion of wave group propagation through the plasma in the ionosphere. Similarly, Astropulse (AP) has to deal with wave propagation through the plasma of the Intestellar Medium (ISM). The ISM ruins these short pulses, dispersing the wave group in time. AP devotes a lot of processing time to de-dispersing the received wave, restoring the pulse. The physics of EM wave propagation through a plasma is the same. So, indeed, your post and references are quite relevant to SETI and crunching right here, right now! "It is often darkest just before it turns completely black." |
Lynn Send message Joined: 20 Nov 00 Posts: 14162 Credit: 79,603,650 RAC: 123 |
My thoughts and prayers are with you Richard. What an amazing woman your mother must have been. |
James Sotherden Send message Joined: 16 May 99 Posts: 10436 Credit: 110,373,059 RAC: 54 |
My condolances on the loss of your mother Richard. In these days we forget what was accomplished in the past. I was stationed at Shemya AFB in Alaska from 77 to 78 And the ony way could communicate with the main land was by Ionosphere radio. Even phone calls to my wife back in NY was by the same method. The lag time was terrible, But just talking to family was worth it. It was some time in mid 78 that we finally went to satelite communications. West of Shemya was Attu. The Navy or the Coast Guard had a Loran C station there. So I can thank your mom and her equation for not only me being able to call home but, Id say sailors can thank her for being able to know where they were. And thank you Richrad for sharing with us her history. [/quote] Old James |
Bill G Send message Joined: 1 Jun 01 Posts: 1282 Credit: 187,688,550 RAC: 182 |
May good thoughts be remembered of such a wonderful, amazing woman. What a wonderful and interesting mother you had Richard. May peace follow you and yours. SETI@home classic workunits 4,019 SETI@home classic CPU time 34,348 hours |
Mike Send message Joined: 17 Feb 01 Posts: 34253 Credit: 79,922,639 RAC: 80 |
I`m so sorry to hear about your mother Richard. My thoughts and prayers are with you. With each crime and every kindness we birth our future. |
Brent Norman Send message Joined: 1 Dec 99 Posts: 2786 Credit: 685,657,289 RAC: 835 |
My sincere thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family, and everyone she touched. Great achievements I must say. Now I await the paper on how Haselgrove Jr. was instrumental on the first detection of ET communication :) |
Donald L. Johnson Send message Joined: 5 Aug 02 Posts: 8240 Credit: 14,654,533 RAC: 20 |
Thank you, Richard, for sharing that bit of history. And thanks to your late Mum, for the ground-breaking work she did, laying the foundation for so much that we take for granted today. And for you and all the good things you have done, here and elsewhere. I pray God has taken her home to Himself, and she is reunited with your father. And may God's healing Grace flow over you and all your family in this time of sorrow and loss. Donald Infernal Optimist / Submariner, retired |
kittyman Send message Joined: 9 Jul 00 Posts: 51468 Credit: 1,018,363,574 RAC: 1,004 |
Although I posted before, may I just add this.... It's is no wonder, given his mother's history, that Richard has become who he has. And I for one, am thankful to both his mother and himself. God bless, Richard. And again, thank you very much for the history lesson. It's a wonderful thing when we remember just where we came from. Meow. "Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster |
TimeLord04 Send message Joined: 9 Mar 06 Posts: 21140 Credit: 33,933,039 RAC: 23 |
God bless you in these trying times, Richard. Your mom was a remarkable woman. R.I.P. TimeLord04 Have TARDIS, will travel... Come along K-9! Join Calm Chaos |
S@NL Etienne Dokkum Send message Joined: 11 Jun 99 Posts: 212 Credit: 43,822,095 RAC: 0 |
God bless her Richard, and my sincere condolences in these hard times for you and all family & friends. |
Claggy Send message Joined: 5 Jul 99 Posts: 4654 Credit: 47,537,079 RAC: 4 |
Rest in Peace Jennifer, I'm sorry for your loss Richard, Claggy |
[B^S] madmac Send message Joined: 9 Feb 04 Posts: 1175 Credit: 4,754,897 RAC: 0 |
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Highlander Send message Joined: 5 Oct 99 Posts: 167 Credit: 37,987,668 RAC: 16 |
Can't find the right words, but can feel your grief. Condolances from a radio amateur who know her work well. Within that, she lives on but still very sad about your loss. - Performance is not a simple linear function of the number of CPUs you throw at the problem. - |
cliff Send message Joined: 16 Dec 07 Posts: 625 Credit: 3,590,440 RAC: 0 |
Please accept my condolences Richard, your mother was certainly well qualified to merit the location of your post. Regards, Cliff, Been there, Done that, Still no damm T shirt! |
ivan Send message Joined: 5 Mar 01 Posts: 783 Credit: 348,560,338 RAC: 223 |
Condolences to you and your family, Richard. Everything else has been said, probably better than I could myself. |
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