The figure of Thà© Pik Sin, Indonesia's First Doctor of Astronomy
Maybe for the layman the name Thé Pik Sin is very foreign to the ear. However, for the astronomer Indonesia this figure is a legend. He led the Bosscha Observatory for almost a decade starting in 1959.
The story of Thé Pik Sin, who is familiarly called Pak Thé by Indonesian astronomers, begins in Yogyakarta, where he was born. His parents were traders in spices and later in tobacco and batik.
After graduating from elementary school at Hollandsch-Chineesche School met den Bijbel, Thé continued his education at HBS (Hogere Burger School) which is equivalent to junior high and high school.
Although his school uses Dutch as an introduction, when communicating with his friends, Thé always uses Javanese. While with his parents, he uses Malay.
After graduating from HBS in 1949, Thé chose the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) to study Electrical Engineering. At that time, ITB was still part of the University of Indonesia (UI) based in Jakarta.
“I want to be a trader of electronic equipment,” said Thé to an astronomer from Indonesia, Tri Laksmana Astraatmadja who now works at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), Baltimore, United States.
Tri then wrote this story for the south sky and allowed detikedu to quote it.
It’s just that, after finishing college at the first level, Thé decided to move to FIPIA [Fakultas Ilmu Pasti dan Ilmu Alam] and choose Astronomy as the main field of study and Physics and Mathematics as a supporting field of study.
Thé claimed to be interested in astronomy because the international nature of the study of astronomy allowed him to carry out research abroad. Thé was one of the first batch of astronomy students at ITB and graduated in 1958. Read More...
