Published by the MIT News Office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.
Published by the MIT News Office at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Cambridge, Mass.
Alan H. Barrett Dies at 64; Radio Astronomy Pioneer A memorial service for Dr. Alan H. Barrett, professor emeritus of physics, will be held at MIT Thursday, July 18, at 1pm in McCormick Hall. Professor Barrett died of cancer Wednesday, July 3, in Denver, Colo. He was 64. Dr. Barrett was widely recognized for his scientific contributions to the field of radio astronomy and to the radiometric study of the interstellar medium. In addition he applied the methods of radio astronomy to the study of the Earth's atmosphere and to noninvasive measurements of the human body. In October 1963, Professor Barrett and his associates at MIT were the first to detect and measure the presence of hydroxyl, or OH radicals, in interstellar space. This identification of what is referred to as the 18-centimeter OH radical line in the radio spectrum is considered a major milestone in radio astronomy. This work opened the way for the development of the new field of research on molecules in space. The radio telescope used to make the observations was the 84-foot Millstone Hill "dish" operated by MIT's Lincoln Laboratory. Professor Barrett also was the codesigner of microwave detection equipment carried into space aboard the Mariner I and II vehicles and used to deduce the temperature of Venus by observing microwave emissions from that planet in 1960-1963. Dr. Barrett was born June 7, 1927, in Springfield, Mass. His father, the late Dr. Raymond L. Barrett, was a Springfield area physician for many years. The family lived in suburban Longmeadow. Dr. Barrett was graduated from the Technical High School in Springfield in 1944 and served in the US Navy during World War II. He received the BS degree in electrical engineering in 1950 from Purdue University and the MS and PhD degrees in physics in 1953 and 1956 from Columbia University, where he studied under Nobel laureate Charles H. Townes. At Columbia he pioneered in the measurement of the microwave spectra of diatomic molecules at high temperatures. From 1956-57, Dr. Barrett was a postdoctoral fellow at the US Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, where he concentrated on radio astronomy experiments and techniques. He served as a research associate and instructor in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Michigan from 1957 to 1961. While at Michigan, Dr. Barrett carried out an extensive theoretical study of the microwave radiation from the atmosphere of Venus. As a result of this study he was invited to participate as an experimenter in the series of Mariner Venus fly-by space probes. He was the first to recognize that the extremely high temperature of Venus could be understood if Venus had an extraordinarily thick atmosphere of carbon dioxide. Dr. Barrett joined the faculty at MIT in 1961 as an associate professor of electrical engineering. He was appointed professor of electrical engineering in 1965, becoming a professor of physics in 1967. He carried out his research in association with the Research Laboratory of Electronics. Following his work on the discovery of the OH radical, the first molecule to be discovered in space, he discovered that the polarization and radiation properties of the lines indicated the existence of naturally occurring masers on a cosmic scale. He participated in the first very-long-baseline interferometry measurements of the OH radiation which confirmed the maser hypothesis. For this work he shared the Rumford Prize of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1971. He continued his research on the molecular properties of the interstellar medium, and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1977-1978 to continue these studies abroad. His work on the use of radio astronomy techniques to study the Earth's atmosphere, looking down from high altitude balloons, prepared the way for the Nimbus series meteorological satellites. A symposium, "Interstellar Matter," was sponsored by MIT and the Haystack Observatory in his honor when he retired in 1987. He also was awarded a von Humboldt Fellowship that year. In 1990, he was the Jansky Lecturer of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. He was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and served as an advisor and consultant to NASA, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, and the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center. He was a member of the American Astronomical Society, the International Scientific Radio Union, and the International Astronomical Union. He leaves his wife, the former Virginia McCulloch, and two children, Richard and Bonnie, both of Denver, Colorado, and a brother, Raymond of Santa Barbara, California. The Barretts lived in Lexington for many years but retired to Center Harbor, N.H., and Key Colony Beach, Fla. Services were private. Remembrances may be made to the Alan H. Barrett Graduate Astrophysics Fellowship Fund, c/o Catherine Ormond, Rm 6-113, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139.