St John's College News
Fred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionA History of Hoyle in 10 Objects 1: A Childhood Letter This letter was written by Fred Hoyle to his father when Fred was about 15 years old. Fred and his mother Mabel were visiting friends in Dartford. During their stay they visited Clarksons optical stores on High Holborn in central London, and bought a telescope. This letter describes the first time Fred used the telescope, including…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionA History of Hoyle in 10 Objects These 10 objects were discovered during the cataloguing of the Hoyle Papers from March 2008 to March 2011. They particularly caught the interest and imagination of the Hoyle Project Associate, and tell the story of Hoyle's life and work, illuminating both his achievements and personality. They were displayed in St John's College Old Library on Saturday 19th…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionContact Information For more information about the Hoyle Collection at St John's College Library please contact the Special Collections: Special Collections The Library St John's College Cambridge CB2 1TP England Telephone: 01223 339393 Email: Special Collections Hoyle's Youth | Hoyle in Cambridge | Steady…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionMore Information about Fred Hoyle Online Resources The Hoyle Project: find out more about Hoyle's papers, and Hoyle events at St John's College. Institute of Astronomy: the modern-day successor to Hoyle's Institute of Theoretical Astronomy. Hoyle.org.uk has information about Hoyle's life and work, and full lists of his publications. Autobiography The Small World of Fred Hoyle (London: Michael…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionExhibition Contents Exhibition HomeThematic exhibitionHoyle's YouthThe Hoyle FamilyChemical BalanceScholarship Examination PapersA Letter to his FatherHoyle's TelescopeHoyle in Cambridge'Student's Distinction'Fred and Geoff HoyleSteady-State UniverseHoyle, Bondi and GoldA New Model for the Expanding UniverseStellar NucleosynthesisHoyle's NotebookThe r-ProcessB-squared-F-HHoyle vs Ryle'A Professor…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionHonours and Medals Crafoord Prize In 1997 Fred Hoyle was awarded the Crafoord Prize in Astronomy and Mathematics for his “pioneering contributions to the study of nuclear processes in stars and stellar evolution”. The joint recipient of the award was Edwin E. Salpeter, J.G. White Professor Emeritus of Physical Sciences at Cornell University. Kalinga Prize | Sir Fred | Royal …read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionHonours and Medals Royal Medal The Royal Medals of the Royal Society, also known as the Queen's Medals, are awarded annually by the Sovereign on the recommendation of the Council of the Society. Three medals are awarded each year. One of the three for 1974 was awarded to Hoyle in recognition of his "distinguished contributions to theoretical physics and cosmology". The other two winners…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionHonours and Medals Sir Fred Hoyle’s Knighthood was announced in the New Year Honours list on 1 January 1972. This is the letter he received from the office of the Prime Minister, informing him of the Prime Minister’s intentions and asking if he would be willing to accept the Honour. Kalinga Prize | Sir Fred | Royal Medal | Crafoord Prize Hoyle's Youth | Hoyle…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionHonours and MedalsKalinga PrizeIn 1967 Hoyle received the UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science. He and Barbara travelled together to New Delhi, India, for the award ceremony. In his acceptance speech Hoyle talked of his impressions of India, about scientific and technological development, and about the importance of astronomy as a scientific discipline.Kalinga Prize | Sir…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionHonours and MedalsHoyle received numerous honours and awards throughout his career. He became Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy at the University of Cambridge in 1958, the year after he became a Fellow of the Royal Society. He was also the recipient of honorary degrees from the Universities of East Anglia, Leeds, Bradford and Newcastle upon Tyne.Kalinga Prize | Sir…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionHoyle the Polymath Hoyle at the Opera Hoyle became friends with the American composer and pianist Leo Smit (1921-1999) after they met in 1953. They worked together on a number of projects including an opera, The Alchemy of Love and an oratorio, Copernicus: Narrative and Credo. Smit sent Hoyle this musical birthday greeting for his fiftieth birthday in July 1965. Hoyle in the …read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionHoyle in the Hills Hoyle was a keen hill walker and mountain climber, who ‘bagged’ all of the Scottish Munros (mountains over 3,000 feet in height). He annotated his maps of Scotland to show the locations of the Munros, sometimes ticking off those that he had climbed. This example is from a one-inch-to-one-mile map of Loch Maree and Achnasheen (Ordnance Survey map of Scotland number 26).…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionHoyle the Polymath Hoyle was a man of many interests and many talents. He was a keen chess player, and took an interest in the workings of early chess-playing computers. He would apply his intellect to any issue that caught his attention, including the problem of smog in Los Angeles, and the question of the date of Earth’s next Ice Age. He was also a successful science-fiction author.…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionHoyle the Writer Opinions About Writing In 1975 Hoyle was invited to participate in an evening discussion event alongside science-fiction author Ray Bradbury. They took the stage together for “The promise of science fiction: prophetic or profane” on Wednesday 26 February 1975 at the California Institute of Technology. In his opening remarks, Hoyle gave vent to his opinions on science fiction…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionHoyle the Writer Whodunnit? During the 1990s Hoyle wrote a series of 36 short detective novels. The main character is Magnus Warboys, Carrington Professor of Catastrophe Theory at the University of Cambridge. Fluent in French and an Olympic-standard fencer, Warboys is a glamorous, dare-devil hero who investigates all manner of strange goings-on in the University and beyond. The stories…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionHoyle the Writer Into Deepest Space In 1962 the Mermaid Theatre in London staged a production of Hoyle's play for children, Rockets in Ursa Major. It was reworked by Fred and Geoffrey Hoyle and published as a novel by Heinemann in 1969. In 1974 it was followed by a somewhat darker sequel, Into Deepest Space. This draft of the opening of Into Deepest Space shows Fred Hoyle's manuscript…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionHoyle the Writer Fred Hoyle wrote nineteen works of science fiction, many in collaboration with his son, Geoffrey, including one volume of short stories, and four children’s ‘Ladybird’ books. Hoyle’s first science fiction novel The Black Cloud, was published in 1957. In the story the Earth is visited by the eponymous being, a sentient cloud of organic molecules from interstellar space. In an…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionHoyle on the Radio: Creating the 'Big Bang' Hoyle had a talent for making complex scientific concepts comprehensible to the lay man, and he gave a number of ‘popular’ talks about astronomy on the radio. The first two talks, on the subject of sunspots, were broadcast on the BBC in 1948. The following year he was invited to give a talk on the theory of continuous creation. The theory of a…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionInstitute of Theoretical Astronomy Final Resignation Hoyle's resignation letter, sent to the Vice-Chancellor of the University and Master of Trinity Hall, Professor William Alexander Deer, and copied to seven others concerned with the Institute: February 14 1972 The Vice-Chancellor Trinity Hall Cambridge, ENGLAND Dear Vice Chancellor: Following the recent appointment to the Chair of…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionInstitute of Theoretical Astronomy Final Resignation In August 1972 funding for the Institute from the Nuffield Foundation and the SRC was due to run out. In 1971 the University proposed merging IoTA with the observatories to form a new Institute of Astronomy. Hoyle felt that he was the natural choice for director of the new Institute. But confusion arose, and Hoyle believed that the…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionInstitute of Theoretical AstronomyThe New BuildingHoyle in and around the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy building, c. 1968. [Photo by Sam Shaw, copyright Sam Shaw, Inc., licensed by Shaw Family Archives, Ltd.] This building is now an integral part of the Institute of Astronomy, and has been extended both outwards and upwards. A statue of Hoyle was unveiled outside it in 1992, and…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionInstitute of Theoretical Astronomy Opening Speech The Institute of Theoretical Astronomy was officially opened on 7 November 1967. This is the speech that Hoyle made on that occasion. I would like to introduce the question of the aims and purpose of this Institute with a wider reference to Astronomy as a whole. The physical sciences began with Astronomy and much of our present day civilisation…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionInstitute of Theoretical Astronomy Opening Speech The Institute of Theoretical Astronomy was officially opened on 7 November 1967. This is the opening of the speech that Hoyle made on that occasion. Threatened Resignation | Sketch of the IoTA building | Opening Speech | The New Building | Final Resignation Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 Transcription…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionInstitute of Theoretical Astronomy Sketch Plan of the IoTA Building Hoyle’s sketched plan for the design of the IoTA building, c. 1965. Hoyle took great care over many of the details of the building, including specifying that it should have a wide, carpeted corridor in which staff could pace up and down to think without disturbing others. Construction began in August 1966, and IoTA was…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionInstitute of Theoretical Astronomy Threatened Resignation Hoyle asks that his resignation (threatened and suspended in October 1964) be “considered operative” from 1 January 1966 because he has learnt that the University has accepted regulations for the governance of IoTA with which he strongly disagrees. Draft of a letter sent by Hoyle to the Vice-Chancellor of the University on 24 January…read more