Radio astronomy and the rise of high-energy astrophysics two anniversaries.

This paper celebrates the 100th anniversary of the birth of Martin Ryle and the 50th anniversary of the discovery of pulsars by Jocelyn Bell and Antony Hewish. Ryle and Hewish received the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physics, the first in the area of astrophysics. Their interests strongly overlapped, one of the key papers on the practical implementation of the technique of aperture synthesis being co-authored by Ryle and Hewish. The discovery of pulsars and the roles played by Hewish and Bell are described. These key advances were at the heart of the dramatic rise of high-energy astrophysics in the 1960s and led to the realization that general relativity is central to the understanding of high-energy astrophysical phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]