The Papers of Sir Martin Ryle

Martin Ryle was born 27 September 1918. In 1947 he married Ella Rowena Palmer and they had one son and two daughters. He began working at the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE), 1939-45, where radar was being developed and then took up an ICI Fellowship at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, 1945-48. His positions at Cambridge University included University Lecturer in Physics (1948-58), Reader (1958-59), Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge (1949), Professor of Radio Astronomy (1959-82), then Emeritus. He was Director at the Mullard Radio-Astronomy Observatory, Cambridge, 1957-82 and was Astronomer Royal, 1972-82. He received a number of honours and awards including being knighted in 1966 and being awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics (jointly with Professor Anthony Hewish) in 1974. Sir Martin Ryle died 14 October 1984.

The scientific papers and correspondence relate to Ryle's work both as an individual and his international interests. The material includes: papers on Ryle's wartime work for the Telecommunications Research Establishment; material from the Radio Astronomy Group at the Cavendish Laboratory, particularly on the development of Cambridge Radio Observatories; research notes and papers; papers relating to Ryle's anti-nuclear activism and interest in alternative forms of energy; publications and lectures; correspondence; charts, photographs, press cuttings and other published papers.

The papers were deposited in nine accessions between 1986 and 2002. All of the deposits were made by Lady Ryle except for the last which was made by Professor J. E. Baldwin.

This collection is owned by Churchill College.

The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge. Churchill Archives Centre is open from Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm. A prior appointment and two forms of identification are required.

Researchers wishing to publish excerpts from the papers must obtain prior permission from the copyright holders and should seek advice from Archives Centre staff.

Please cite as Churchill Archives Centre, The Papers of Sir Martin Ryle, RYLE

A copy of this finding aid is available for consultation at Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge, the National Register of Archives, London, and on the Janus website at http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk. A further detailed catalogue to the whole collection is available at Churchill Archives Centre.

This collection (fonds) level description was prepared in April 2004 by Louise King at Churchill Archives Centre. Information was obtained from Ryle's entry in "Who Was Who" (A&C Black). The entire archive was then arranged and catalogued by the National Cataloguing Unit for the Archives of Contemporary Scientists in 2009.