Gravitational waves pioneer Ronald Drever dies

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39212305

Gravitational waves pioneer Ronald Drever dies

By Jonathan Amos
BBC Science Correspondent

8 March 2017

From the section Science & Environment

Ronald Drever, one of the architects behind the first detection of gravitational waves, has died aged 85. The Scottish physicist passed away peacefully in Edinburgh on Tuesday, following a short but rapid deterioration in his health. Prof Drever is credited with doing some of the key early experimental work. The sensing in 2015 of ripples in the fabric of space-time generated by merging black holes is seen as one of the major breakthroughs of our time.

His family announced the death with a short statement late on Wednesday: "We are extremely proud of Ronald and his scientific achievements; he was unique and unconventional but very caring with a strong sense of humour. He will be sadly missed by us all."
Ronald Drever's role in the detection of gravitational waves was recognised in a stream of awards last year, including the Gruber, Breakthrough and Kavli prizes. These honours were shared with co-workers and American citizens Rai Weiss and Kip Thorne.

The trio drove the establishment in the US of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO). This institution, which has two labs in Washington State and Louisiana, has now made two separate detections of gravitational waves.
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