Discovery of the cosmic microwave background

The discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation presents an interesting and instructive example of the scientific process. The basic elements were in place 17 years before the discovery in 1965. A carefully worked out theory had predicted the radiation and its temperature, and an instrument capable of making the measurement was in common use. There was even a published astronomical observation whose result agreed well with the predicted temperature. We tell the story as we saw it unfold, not in chronological order.