Margaret Burbidge

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Margaret Burbidge

rotation curves

Eleanor Margaret Burbidge,

discrimination against women
in astronomy.

Burbidge held several leadership and administrative posts, including

University of California San Diego
(UCSD). From 1979 to 1988 she was the first director of the Center for Astronomy and Space Sciences at UCSD, where she worked from 1962 until her retirement.

Research career

Burbidge studied at

Carnegie Observatories in 1945 because the job required observing at Mount Wilson Observatory, which was reserved for men only at that time.[3][4] Shortly after the war, she taught astronomy at ULO to undergraduate students from across the University of London system, including Arthur C. Clarke who was then an undergraduate at King's College London.[1]

In 1951 she took a position at the

first author of the paper, which was written while she was pregnant.[1][10][11] The paper demonstrated that most heavier chemical elements were formed in stellar evolution.[12] The theory they developed remains the fundamental basis for stellar nucleosynthesis. Fowler was later awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics (shared with Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar) for his work on nucleosynthesis, and expressed surprise that Burbidge was not included.[1]

When Fowler moved back to the U.S., he advised the Burbidges to come with him to California, suggesting Margaret (the observer) should re-apply for the fellowship at

photographic dark room while Margaret operated the telescope.[1] When the observatory's management found out, they eventually agreed that she could observe there, but only if she and her husband stayed in a separate self-catered cottage on the grounds, rather than the catered dormitory which had been designed for men only.[2]

She joined the

steady state theory of cosmology, but her own work on quasars helped to support the alternative Big Bang theory.[5]

In 1972 Burbidge became director of the

Royal Greenwich Observatory (RGO), on secondment from UCSD.[11][14] For 300 years the post had always been held by the Astronomer Royal, but when Burbidge was appointed to the RGO directorship the posts were split, with radio astronomer Martin Ryle appointed as Astronomer Royal. Burbidge sometimes attributed this to sexism,[4] and at other times to politics intended to reduce the clout of the RGO director.[15] Burbidge left the RGO in 1974, fifteen months after joining, due to controversy over moving the Isaac Newton Telescope from RGO headquarters at Herstmonceux Castle to Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in the Canary Islands.[15]

Burbidge campaigned in opposition to

US Constitution.[1] In 1984 the AAS awarded her its highest honor, regardless of gender, the Henry Norris Russell Lectureship.[17]

From 1979 to 1988, she served as the first director of the UCSD's Center for Astrophysics and Space Science.[11][5] In 1981 she was elected President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), serving her one-year term from February 1982 to February 1983.[16]

At UCSD she helped develop the

professor emerita at UCSD she continued to be active in research until the early 21st century. Burbidge authored over 370 research papers.[18]

Personal life

Eleanor Margaret Peachey was born in

industrial chemistry laboratory.[19] Margaret first became interested in astronomy aged 3 or 4, after seeing the stars on a ferry trip across the English Channel.[1] By age 12, she was reading astronomy textbooks by James Jeans, a distant relative of her mother.[1]

On 2 April 1948, Margaret Peachey married

theoretical astrophysics.[1] The two collaborated on much of their subsequent research. The couple had a daughter, Sarah, who was born in late 1956. In 1977, Margaret became a United States citizen.[2] Geoffrey Burbidge died in 2010.[21] Margaret Burbidge died on 5 April 2020, in San Francisco at age 100 after a fall.[2]

Honors

Awards

Named after her

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Skuse, Ben (6 April 2020). "Celebrating astronomer Margaret Burbidge, 1919–2020". Sky & Telescope (obituary). Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Fox, Margalit (6 April 2020). "E. Margaret Burbidge, astronomer who blazed trails on Earth, dies at 100". The New York Times (obituary). Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  3. .
  4. ^ a b c Horgan, Denys (February 2001). "UCSD astronomer recognized for ending widespread ban on women using telescopes". UCSD Times. Vol. 15, no. 4. Archived from the original on 14 April 2005. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  5. ^
    PMID 32467381
    .
  6. .
  7. .
  8. .
  9. .
  10. ^ .
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Tenn, Joseph. "Eleanor Margaret Peachey Burbidge". The Bruce Medalists. Sonoma State University. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  12. .
  13. .
  14. ^ Ridpath, Ian (1972). "The astronomer who came back". New Scientist. Vol. 55. pp. 572–574.
  15. ^ a b "E. Margaret Burbidge". Oral Histories. American Institute of Physics. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2020. I was not made Astronomer Royal. This gave one less leverage in any political battle.
  16. ^ .
  17. ^ a b "Henry Norris Russell Lectureship". American Astronomical Society. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  18. ^ a b "Margaret Burbidge: 2003 trailblazer". Women’s Museum of California. Archived from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  19. ^ .
  20. ^ a b "Burbidge, Margaret (1919—)". Women in World History: A biographical encyclopedia. Encyclopedia.com. 7 May 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  21. ^ Faulkner, John (18 February 2010). "Geoffrey Burbidge". The Guardian (obituary).
  22. ^ "1780–2010: Chapter B" (PDF). Book of Members. American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  23. ^ "E. Margaret Burbidge". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  24. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  25. ^ "E. Margaret Burbidge". The President's National Medal of Science. Recipient Details. National Science Foundation. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  26. ^ "Albert Einstein World Award of Science 1988". Archived from the original on 7 June 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  27. ^ "American Astronomical Society Announces First Class of AAS Fellows". American Astronomical Society. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  28. ^ "Prizes & Awards". Far West section. American Physical Society. Retrieved 6 March 2023.

Further reading

External links