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The SCUBA revolution
Ian Robson (JAC)
It is not often that one can say with sincerity that an instrument
has caused a revolution is a branch of astronomy, but in this case it
is quite clear that SCUBA has, in the two fields of potential early
planetary systems, and the history of star formation at high redshifts.
Furthermore, one of the main reasons for building SCUBA, understanding
the earliest phases of star formation, is now well under way with a range
of programmes that will almost certainly lead to the third revolution.
SCUBA is clearly setting the standard for all submillimetre astronomy, and
being a British instrument we should be immensely proud. Most of all, it
has been so successful due to the high ability of the user community. This
talk will give a brief overview of SCUBA and show why it has made such a
tremendous impact on science and will serve as a technical backdrop for a
number of science papers at this meeting.
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