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Covers her career in astronomy. Focuses on college education at Goucher, 1945-1948, and Harvard Graduate School from 1955; influence of Bart Bok and Cecilia Payne Gaposchkin. Positions at Naval Research Laboratory, Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratory; funding, satellite tracking, telescope for Cerro Tololo, Berkeley, 1965; Hat Creek. Discussions on radio astronomy in 1950s and 1970s; very large array telescopes; women in astronomy and search for alternatives. Also prominently mentioned are: William W. Campbell, Harold Ewen, Thomas Gold, Helen Dodson Prince; Harvard Radio Observatory, United States Air Force, Cambridge Research Laboratory of United States Air Force, and University of California at Berkeley.

This is a biographical history starting with Dr. Burnell's early life in Northern Ireland; schooling in England; growth of interests; decision to study astronomy and specialize in radio astronomy.  The discussion continues with gender issues in her training, marriage and career, and the critical period during her graduate training where she worked with Tony Hewish in the construction of the 4.5 acre radio array and the work done with it takes special attention.  Their discovery of pulsars is discussed in detail including her exclusion from the inner circle deliberating over the matter.  Beyond her Cambridge years, the interview covers her many subsequent positions, taken in consequence of moves her husband was making in his career, the growth of public and popular recognition of her role in the discovery of pulsars.  She discusses her subsequent research in gamma ray astronomy and her roles and responsibilities at Southhampton, the Mullard Space Science Centre, at Manchester and at the Open University.