Happy Birthday Harold !September 25, 2007

From : Libby and Miller GossNan Dieter Conklinand Barry Turner

Nan

• Nan has a recording . • Her autobiography was published in June

2006 by NRAO: “Two Path’s To Heaven’s Gate”.

• Obtain from NRAO or even Amazon

Barry• Dear Harold,• Very best wishes to you on this notable

occasion. I am truly sorry that I will not be there in person to join you with the festivities.

• My student days at Berkeley were both challenging and exciting. They have served me well by preparing me for my lifetime study in molecular astronomy. This celebration of your career is an opportune moment for me to thank you for the guidance which you provided to me at this critical stage in my career.

• With best regards, Barry

• These were exciting times to be associated with Harold and the Hat Creek efforts. The discovery of OH masers in this epoch and the beginnings of molecular astronomy. We all owe a lot to Harold and Cecile.

• The famous dinner parties in their Kensington home were a delight.

• We met famous Australians there !

Harold at IAU 20 in March 1963“The Galaxy and the Magellanic

Cloud• In the CSIRO Div of Radiophysics Archive I found many

photos of this event in March 2007• “Non-circular motions in the Galaxy as exhibited by very

young stars” – A= 15 km/s/kpc ! Bok writes: “In a thorough investigation of the whole question [expansion of HI near the sun], Weaver points out that there are localized and rather peculiar radial motions, but they are distributed in a … clumpy way over the galactic plane.”

• “On the comparison of spiral structure as delineated by gas and by stars.”

• Imagine my excitement when I found :

At the Bolton House in Parkes

Taffy Bowen was proud of his 210 foot dish and it’s surface

Two NL astronomers admire the master equatorial display

Arrival in Parkes- Can you find Harold ?

The conference Photo in Canberra

The famous visit of Ginzburg and Iosif Shklovsky to Berkeley

• Described by Shklovsky in the book “Five Billion Vodka Bottles to the Moon”

• These two visited US in January and Feb. 1967. They were in Berkeley starting around 4 Feb. There was a Saturday am meeting in Campbell Hall with talks.

• Then a fantastic lunch party at the Weaver house.

• Shklovsky writes:– “In San Francisco, the fairytale city of my childhood

dreams, my guide was Harold Weaver, who, just a year earlier, with Nan Dieter discovered the cosmic masers “working “ on the radioline of interstellar hydroxyl (OH) at a wavelength of 18 cm, a phenomenon I had once calculated and predicted. I reveled in the view of the bridges across the bay, especially the beautiful Golden Gate; I was astonished by the funny cable cars and enchanted by the fish market. Then Weaver said anxiously , “Please don’t forget that you’re due at Professor Teller’s at six this evening.”

– Dear God, I had totally forgotten- too much had been happening. Weaver reassured me by saying that he would set me down promptly on Teller’s doorstep. “And you’re coming with me , of course?” I asked, ill at ease. “No way! Teller’s too much of a big shot for me. I don’t know him at all.”

• Harold – so many astronomers have been influenced by you. I have known you only 44 years- many here have known you much longer. Those who were in your lectures and if, lucky like I was to have you as a Phd advisor, owe you a tremendous debt. You played a significant role in my life as teacher, advisor, and colleague.