The precision array for probing the Epoch of Reionization (PAPER): A modern scientific adventure

I’ll meet you in your lab tomorrow, and we can get started!” These words, spoken by the late Don Backer, marked the humble beginnings of our scientific adventure. He was in Charlottesville, Virginia, to deliver the 2003 Karl G. Jansky Lecture. This is an annual event sponsored by Associated Universities Inc. (AUI) and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) that honors a distinguished scientist in the field of astronomy. His lecture, titled “Massive Black Holes, Gravity Waves, and Pulsars,” illustrated Don’s desire for being at the forefront of scientific research. Don and I both attended the AUI Board of Trustees Dinner, held in Charlottesville the day after the lecture, and we briefly spoke about getting together to discus how we might join forces to develop an experiment capable of detecting the hydrogen signature imprinted onto the fabric of the early universe by the first stars and galaxies. I couldn’t wait to get started, and eagerly anticipated our meeting. However, to understand why this meeting was so important for the project, I must momentarily digress to outline the perspectives that we each brought to the laboratory on that day.