A New Window on the Universe -- The Post War Explosion in Radio Astronomy: The US Falls Behind -- A New Era in Radio Astronomy -- Growing Pains -- Is Anyone Out There? -- The Bar Is Open -- The Very Large Array -- VLBI and the Very Long Baseline Array -- The Largest Feasible Steerable Telescope -- Exploring the Millimeter Sky -- NRAO and Radio Astronomy in the 21st Century -- Appendix A -- Appendix B -- Index.

Open Access

This open access book on the history of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory covers the scientific discoveries and technical innovations of late 20th century radio astronomy with particular attention to the people and institutions involved. The authors have made extensive use of the NRAO Archives, which contain an unparalleled collection of documents pertaining to the history of radio astronomy, including the institutional records of NRAO as well as the personal papers of many of the pioneers of U.S. radio astronomy. Technical details and extensive citations to original sources are given in notes for the more technical readers, but are not required for an understanding of the body of the book. This book is intended for an audience ranging from interested lay readers to professional researchers studying the scientific, technical, political, and cultural development of a new science, and how it changed the course of 20th century astronomy.