Ruby Payne-Scott

Biographical information

Ruby Payne-Scott was born in New South Wales on May 28, 1912. She obtained her bachelor's and master's in physics from the University of Sydney. Payne was the third woman to graduate with a physics degree from the institution. Due to limited opportunities and jobs for women in the physics field, Payne-Scott became a teacher and worked at Amalgamated Wireless. In 1944, she married William Hall. The couple was very progressive and feminist. Although it was expected that she would quit her job once married, she kept her marriage a secret to continue her research [1]. While hiding her marriage, she discovered several types of solar flares and solar bursts through radio waves[2] and assisted in the invention of the swept-lobe interferometer, which helped scientists scan the sky for single wave formations [3]. However, in 1950 it was discovered that she was married and she was forced to resign [4]. Ruby Payne-Scott died of dementia complications in 1981 at 68 years old.