ee MAY +5 1978

; Bell Laboratories

600 Mountain Avenue
Murray Hili, New Jersey 07974
Phone (201) 582-3000

May 11, 1978

Professor Joshua Lederberg
Department of Genetics
School of Medicine

Stanford University
Stanford, California 94305

Dear Professor Lederberg:

I was glad to get your communication about Karl Jansky,
and I think I can give you an authoritative answer to your
question.

it is clear to me, from our records which include transcripts
of interviews and letters from his co-workers (A. M. Skellet,
Ralph Bown, G. C. Southworth, H. T. Friis, A: C. Beck,

J. C. Schelling, A. B. Crawford) and Karl's brother, C. M.
Jansky, that the views as expressed by Harald T. Friis in

the attached paper from Science, August 20, 1965 are correct.
Friis was the Director of Radic Research at Bell Laboratories
and was quite close to Jansky throughout the latter's career.

Cu Soy

The answer to the question “Why was the*work dropped?" is not
that "he was told to turn his attention elsewhere." He had
found the source of the observed noise and published several
papers on his discovery (see Friis' article). He had satis-
fied himself and had reached the limits of what he could do,
he was ready to continue his static and noise studies of which
the galactic noise had been only a part. You will see that he
did carry on a 1934 experiment at a wavelength of 4 meters but
the results were negative; however, he did confirm his earlier
results by experiments in 1935. In 1938 he dropped the study.

Friis says that Karl was free to continue the work on galactic
noise if he had wanted to. However, there was no indication
of interest from the astronomers at the time so there was no
impetus to look into new technology to advance the art of
antennas and sensitive receivers to meet the needs of radio
astronomy. It was natural, then, that Jansky should continue
his general studies in noise and interference, expanding his
investigations on the angle of arrival of transatlantic radio
waves and other aspects of radio propagation.
Professor Joshua Lederberg - 2

As to the extent of recognition of Jansky's work, there is
reference in Friis' paper to a New York Times front-page
story shortly after the 1933 announcements. I am enclosing
a@ copy. Friis says, "Karl was now a famous man."

You are correct about the absence of honors and awards in
the early years. However, he was a Fellow of the Institute
of Radio Engineers. As you may know, the Laboratory of the
National Radio Astronomy Observatory in West Virginia is
named the "Karl Guthe Jansky Labcratory" (built in 1959).

I hope the above information will help. The source is very
reliable and first-hand. I think the Edge-Mulkay statement
is based on something in a book by John Pfeiffer, The
Changing Universe. I trust Harald Friis and his other
co-workers who were there and in daily contact with the man.

 

Let me know if you need anything more.

Yours truly,

Md F
M. D. Fagen vk
Consultant

Att: Copy of
"Karl Jansky: His Career

at Bell Telephone Laboratories"
"New Radio Waves Traced to

Centre of the Milky Way"
"Search for Life ..."