An astronomical bridge between the West and China
TAO KIANG, who has died aged 80, was professor of astronomy at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, based at Dunsink Observatory.
He was regarded as one of the most percipient thinkers in the field of celestial mechanics, and for 26 years pursued his own even course in a manner that was always highly original and sometimes almost quirky.
Former colleague Dr Ian
Elliot described him as an “astronomical bridge between China and the West”, whose hard work finally bore fruit in 1982 with the admission of China to membership of the International Astronomical Union. Fellow astronomer Zhou You Yuan paid tribute to Tao’s “important role in leading Chinese astronomy on to the world academic stage”.
Born Jiang Tao in Yangzhou, China, in 1929, he was one of five children of Jiang Zhen Guang, an artist and calligrapher, and his wife, Wang Xin Ru, a teacher.
Tao grew up in turbulent times: the country was at war with Japan, and was split internally between adherents of the old imperialist order and supporters of the communists. Tao, as the eldest son, was sent with an uncle to Europe to escape the conflict at the age of 15. It was 20 years before he could return to China.
After a short stay in newly liberated Paris, Tao moved to London, where he became an assistant at the Mill Hill observatory of University College London. He decided to study astronomy at the college, and in due course was appointed lecturer and awarded a PhD. His doctoral thesis was highly creative, and in it he introduced a method of describing the statistics of galaxy distribution that was recovered in the 1990s by researchers using data on galaxies that had become available through new sky surveys and computer analysis. He also traced asteroids on the 1948 Palomar sky survey and described the statistical properties of detection with acumen.
Tao met his first wife, Chen Xiao Ying, in London and they had a daughter, Rosalind, but the marriage was short-lived.
Throughout his life, Tao was possessed of a lively curiosity and his interest in philosophical and spiritual matters led him in 1957 to attend a theosophy conference. There he met Trudi Kaczmarek; they married a year later. They lived in London for the next eight years and had a son, Ingmar, and two daughters, Sophie and Tanya.
As his career progressed, Tao also pursued a wide range of interests, taking up the recorder, piano and Polish and Scottish dancing, as well as completing studies in English literature.
In 1964, he was finally able to return to his homeland, a trip that brought joy to him and his family.
He moved to Ireland in 1966, where his research at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies focused on cosmology and relativity. In 1975, his youngest daughter, Jessica, was born.
Tao became a linchpin of the Chinese community in Dublin and his visits to China became more frequent as the years went by. In 1975, he co-founded the Irish- Chinese Cultural Society, which is dedicated to strengthening ties between the two countries. It was to this society that he gave a well-received talk on “emergent China” the night before he died.
Following his retirement in 1993, Tao maintained a busy schedule, continuing his work as translator of Chinese Astronomy and Astrophysics, the publication he had helped establish, editing papers and mentoring students.
Widely published, he regularly contributed to scientific journals, including Nature.
Tao was a member of the Preamble wine club, a member of the Probus discussion group, and a tenor with the Bray Choral Society. In his final years, he also became an active member of the Humanist Association of Ireland.
His wife Trudi, son Ingmar and daughters Sophie, Tanya, Jessica and Rosalind survive him.
Tao Kiang (Jiang Tao):born February 6th, 1929; died March 26th, 2009