Zoltán BAY
(1900-1992)
Zoltán BAY was a Hungarian physicist, a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and was one of the world’s leading scientists and inventors of the 20th century. He is credited with the Hungarian Moonradar experiment, the photoelectron multiplier, and the metric definition based on light speed.
Born into a Reformed pastoral family, he completed his grammar school studies at the Reformed College in Debrecen. He studied mathematics and physics at the Pázmány Péter University, then after graduating he was appointed a lecturer at the Institute of Theoretical Physics and in 1926 he obtained his doctorate with the highest honors. His dissertation was on the molecular theory of magneto-optics in transparent media, which connected him to a new development in physics, atomic physics.
He studied with a scholarship in Berlin for four years, after which he returned to the Tungsram Joint Bulb Laboratory and continued his career at the Budapest University of Technology. They had the material needed for the research and, in collaboration with a well-trained guard, applied for a number of patents as head of the laboratory:
High-voltage gas pipes,
Development of fluorescent tubes and tubes,
Electroluminescence patent,
Development of circuits for radio receivers,
Decimeter radio technology.
In 1938, Zoltán Bay organized the Department of Atomic Physics at the Technical University of Budapest with the support of Tungsram. At the same time he continued his research, which had notable results in: particle number counter (PNC) – which was based on the principle of electron multiplication
Creating the first radar connection with the Moon.
Between 1946 and 1948, he was elected as the head of the Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
The birth of radar astronomy
He had always been interested in astronomy, and it was a pleasant memory for him when he recalled seeing the Halley comet at the age of 10. During his university years, he built his own telescope, so he could observe Jupiter’s moons, the constellations, and other parts of space. After he learned about microwave radar technology, he believed that he could apply that technique to observing the moon, something that had never been reported in history. He developed a conceptual solution and, on February 6, 1946, could finally declare that the Moon had been detected by radar. Although researchers in the United States had announced similar results one month earlier, it does not reduce the merits of Bay Zoltan and his group, since they did their experiments in war times, under more difficult circumstances, with a narrower financial frame. The historiographers of radar astronomy consider and call Zoltán Bay a parent of the discipline.
Radar astronomy historians consider and call Zoltán Bay the father of this discipline.
The book “Life is Stronger” has been available in an e-book edition since 2016: http://mek.oszk.hu/15800/15845
In 1938, Zoltán Bay organized the Department of Atomic Physics at the Technical University of Budapest with the support of Tungsram. At the same time he continued his research, which had notable results in:
- particle number counter (PNC) – which was based on the principle of electron multiplication
- Creating the first radar connection with the Moon.
Between 1946 and 1948, he was elected as the head of the Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Bay had always been interested in astronomy. As a child, he was fascinated by Halley’s comet. During his university years, he built his own telescope, so he could observe Jupiter’s moons, the constellations, and other parts of space. After he learned about microwave radar technology, he believed that he could apply that technique to observing the moon, something that had never been reported in history. He developed a conceptual solution and, on February 6, 1946, could finally declare that the Moon had been detected by radar. Although researchers in the United States had announced similar results one month earlier, it does not reduce the merits of Bay Zoltan and his group, since they did their experiments in war times, under more difficult circumstances, with a narrower financial frame. The historiographers of radar astronomy consider and call Zoltán Bay a parent of the discipline.