Introduction: The Life of Ruby Violet Payne-Scott – 28 May 1912 (Grafton NSW, Australia) to 25 May 1981 (Sydney, Australia) -- Ruby Payne-Scott: the Early Years: 1912–1938, Ancestors, Childhood, Secondary School and Sydney University -- Woodlands School, AWA, New Career Opportunities for Women in World War II -- Personnel File from CSIR/CSIRO -- War Time Research by Payne-Scott at RPL -- Payne-Scott – The First Woman Radio Astronomer and the Transition to Peacetime – 1944–1945 -- Payne-Scott at Dover Heights 1945–1947: Discovery of Type I, II and III Solar Bursts and the Introduction of Fourier Synthesis in Astronomy -- Hornsby 1948: Type III Bursts Revealed; Conflicts with Bolton -- Payne-Scott at Potts Hill, 1949–1951: Movies of the Outward Motions of Solar Outbursts with the Swept-Lobe Interferometer -- Payne-Scott and URSI, 1952: Her Last Experience as a Radio Astronomer -- Reminiscences and Anecdotes of Ruby Payne-Scott as Told by Friends and Colleagues -- A Remarkable Family: Bill and Ruby Hall -- Payne-Scott, Communist Party of Australia, Commonwealth Investigation Service and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation -- Danebank School 1963–1974; the Ruby Payne-Scott Lectures -- The End of Payne-Scott’s Life: A Retrospective -- Epilogue: Why Did We Write This Book?.

This is the biography of Ruby Payne-Scott (1912 to 1981). As the first female radio astronomer (and one of the first people in the world to consider radio astronomy), she made classic contributions to solar radio physics. She also played a major role in the design of the Australian government's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research radars, which were in turn of vital importance in the Southwest Pacific Theatre in World War II and were used by Australian, US and New Zealand personnel. From a sociological perspective, her career also offers many examples of the perils of being a female academic in the first half of the 20th century. Written in an engaging style and complemented by many historical photographs this book gives a fascinating insight into the beginning of radio astronomy and the role of a pioneering woman in astronomy.