1941– · Astrophysics, Gravitational waves, Radio astronomy
American astrophysicist who, together with Russell Hulse, discovered the first binary pulsar, providing indirect confirmation of gravitational waves. This discovery laid the foundation for gravitational-wave astronomy.
Biography
He studied at Haverford College and Harvard. He worked at the University of Massachusetts and Princeton. Nobel Prize in Physics in 1993 (jointly with Hulse). He works on pulsar timing and tests of general relativity.
Key discoveries
Discovery of the binary pulsar PSR B1913+16.
Observation of the orbital period decrease due to gravitational wave emission.
Development of pulsar timing methods.
Precise tests of general relativity.
💡 Taylor and Hulse used an old computer with 64 KB of memory to analyze the data and discover the pulsar that changed physics.
"He likened observing a pulsar to reading a book on gravity written by nature itself."