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Thomas Gold
Austrian astrophysicist (1920-2004) · United States · On the map · Scientists · Died at 84
Thomas Gold was an Austrian-born astrophysicist, who also held British and American citizenship. He was a professor of astronomy at Cornell University, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and a Fellow of the Royal Society (London).
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A typical day, 30 days to 6 November 2026
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The discovery of a pulsar with 0.033 second period in the Crab Nebula led to the acceptance of Gold's theory on pulsars.
Bootprint of Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin on the surface of the Moon. Aldrin photographed this bootprint on July 20, 1969, as part of investigations into the soil mechanics of the lunar surface.
Tube worms feeding at base of a black smoker hydrothermal vent
Sweden's Lake Siljan is a large lake created from an eroded impact crater, the Siljan Ring, that was formed by a meteorite impact about 370 million years ago. It was at this lake that Gold proposed as the most likely place to test the hypothesis on the origin of petroleum because it was one of the few places in the world where the granite basement rock was cracked sufficiently to allow oil to seep up from great depth.
Carl Sagan, hired by Gold after Sagan was denied tenure at Harvard University in 1968Awards
About this person
Gold was one of three young Cambridge scientists who in 1948 proposed the now mostly abandoned "steady state" hypothesis of the universe. Gold's work crossed boundaries of academic and scientific disciplines, into biophysics, astronomy, aerospace engineering, and geophysics.
