TRIBUTES have been paid to a scientist from Bishopton who played a key role in the first detection of gravitational waves.

Professor Ronald Drever, 85, died last week following a short but rapid deterioration of health.

He is credited with doing some key early experimental work that paved the way for fellow scientists to gain a greater understanding of gravitational waves.

The sensing, in 2015, of ripples in the fabric of space-time generated by merging black holes is seen as one of the major breakthroughs of our time.

A spokesperson for Prof Drever’s family said: “Ronald dedicated his lifetime to researching gravitational wave detection and, despite the fact dementia featured in his latter years, he was still aware of the global recognition that he and his colleagues at Caltech University, in California, and also the University of Glasgow had achieved.

“We are extremely proud of Ronald and his scientific achievements. He was unique and unconventional but very caring, with a strong sense of humour. He will be sadly missed by us all.”

Prof Drever, who was born in Bishopton in 1931, excelled in mathematics and science, particularly physics, from a young age.

He graduated from the University of Glasgow with a BSc (Hons) degree in pure science, before completing a PhD thesis at the institution.

Prof Drever co-founded the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in the USA, which detected the first gravitational wave in September 2015.

Last year, his contributions were recognised in the form of awards, including The Gruber Cosmology Prize and American Ingenuity Award for Physical Sciences.

Gravitational waves describe the stretching and squeezing of space-time that occurs when massive objects accelerate.

The signal is extremely subtle, however, even when truly colossal phenomena such as black holes are involved.

Einstein thought the effect would simply be too small to be registered by any technology he could envisage but Prof Drever and his American colleagues pioneered the development of systems that would ultimately reach the required sensitivity.