I believe, humankind never really recovered from the two devastating wars in the first half of the twentieth century. Only that could have explained our obsession with the third one. The next war, they said (from futuristic fiction writers to serious pedants), would be fought over water (not improbable it seemed). But majority talked about biological warfare, fought with terrible bio-weapons. Suddenly, it seems, we are bang in the middle of that third war - fighting against an invisible enemy. It appears to have been precipitated by human intervention (intentional or otherwise) - causing certain virus to jump across species.
In the midst of this pandemic, which has already claimed an unbelievable number of precious lives, there have also been other departures. Stalwarts, who played important roles in shaping the world of physics in the years following the WWII, completed their innings here, leaving us fighting the third war.
After Freeman Dyson (15 December 1923 – 28 February 2020) and Phil Anderson (13 December 1923 – 29 March 2020), today we lost the grand dame of modern Astrophysics - Eleanor Margaret Burbidge (12 August 1919 - 6 April 2020). She was born in the year Eddington observationally verified Einstein's theory of Relativity for the first time, and lived on to witness the detection of gravitational waves (a direct consequence of that theory).
People familiar with Margaret Burbidge's life would readily agree that her long innings in Astrophysics significantly influenced two arenas - first, our understanding of nuclear astrophysics and second, the practice of science in terms of gender equity.
During the war years she studied Astronomy at University College (London) and met Geoffrey Burbidge, with whom she would later embark on a lifelong personal and scientific journey. She received her PhD in 1943 and they moved to USA afterwards. However, realising the potential of Burbidges’ research expertise, William Fowler invited Geoffrey and (a pregnant) Margaret to Cambridge to work on Fred Holye's theory of 'Stellar Nucleosynthesis' (creation of chemical elements in stars) in the mid-fifties.
The result of that collaboration was a 108-page paper titled 'The Synthesis of the Elements in Stars' (Reviews of Modern Physics, 1957). This pathbreaking paper (now known as B2FH for Burbidge, Burbidge, Fowler, Hoyle) explained how various chemical elements are produced at different stages of stellar life cycle, and laid the foundation for the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. The paper did receive the recognition it deserved when Fowler was awarded the 1983 Nobel, thought it was not clear why his co-workers were left out.
For Margaret, though, such unfair treatment was not new. She was turned down a Carnegie Fellowship, at the Mount Wilson observatory, in 1945. Because only men were allowed to use the observatory. Many years later, she recounted this story to us (a bunch of wide-eyed Astrophysics aspirants at IUCAA). Apparently, when she pressed the issue the authorities informed her that the observatory premises (located on top of a hill) did not have a rest-room facility for women! Ten years later (when, in 1955, Geoffrey Burbidge received the Canegie fellowship), she gained access to the observatory posing as her husband's assistant, concealing her pregnancy while climbing up and down the hill!
In 1968, Burbidges joined the University of California at San Diego (UCSB). But both of them could not be hired in the same department (IIT-K indeed copied the rules from overseas) and initially Margaret was hired in the chemistry department. Mercifully, the rules changed after a while and she could move back to Physics.
Then, in 1972, she became the director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory. Since, the establishment of the observatory three-centuries ago, this was the first time when the director was not chosen to be the Astronomer Royal (the post went to Martin Ryle instead).
Finally though, Margaret decided to speak up. In 1972, she turned down the prestigious `Annie Jump Cannon Award' of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) because it was earmarked only for women. She said - "It is high time that discrimination in favour of, as well as against, women in professional life be removed". This sparked a conversation about gender bias and eventually led to the formation of the AAS Committee on the Status of Women.
In the midst of this pandemic, which has already claimed an unbelievable number of precious lives, there have also been other departures. Stalwarts, who played important roles in shaping the world of physics in the years following the WWII, completed their innings here, leaving us fighting the third war.
After Freeman Dyson (15 December 1923 – 28 February 2020) and Phil Anderson (13 December 1923 – 29 March 2020), today we lost the grand dame of modern Astrophysics - Eleanor Margaret Burbidge (12 August 1919 - 6 April 2020). She was born in the year Eddington observationally verified Einstein's theory of Relativity for the first time, and lived on to witness the detection of gravitational waves (a direct consequence of that theory).
People familiar with Margaret Burbidge's life would readily agree that her long innings in Astrophysics significantly influenced two arenas - first, our understanding of nuclear astrophysics and second, the practice of science in terms of gender equity.
During the war years she studied Astronomy at University College (London) and met Geoffrey Burbidge, with whom she would later embark on a lifelong personal and scientific journey. She received her PhD in 1943 and they moved to USA afterwards. However, realising the potential of Burbidges’ research expertise, William Fowler invited Geoffrey and (a pregnant) Margaret to Cambridge to work on Fred Holye's theory of 'Stellar Nucleosynthesis' (creation of chemical elements in stars) in the mid-fifties.
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Geoffrey Burbidge, Margaret Burbidge, William Fowler |
For Margaret, though, such unfair treatment was not new. She was turned down a Carnegie Fellowship, at the Mount Wilson observatory, in 1945. Because only men were allowed to use the observatory. Many years later, she recounted this story to us (a bunch of wide-eyed Astrophysics aspirants at IUCAA). Apparently, when she pressed the issue the authorities informed her that the observatory premises (located on top of a hill) did not have a rest-room facility for women! Ten years later (when, in 1955, Geoffrey Burbidge received the Canegie fellowship), she gained access to the observatory posing as her husband's assistant, concealing her pregnancy while climbing up and down the hill!
In 1968, Burbidges joined the University of California at San Diego (UCSB). But both of them could not be hired in the same department (IIT-K indeed copied the rules from overseas) and initially Margaret was hired in the chemistry department. Mercifully, the rules changed after a while and she could move back to Physics.
Then, in 1972, she became the director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory. Since, the establishment of the observatory three-centuries ago, this was the first time when the director was not chosen to be the Astronomer Royal (the post went to Martin Ryle instead).
Finally though, Margaret decided to speak up. In 1972, she turned down the prestigious `Annie Jump Cannon Award' of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) because it was earmarked only for women. She said - "It is high time that discrimination in favour of, as well as against, women in professional life be removed". This sparked a conversation about gender bias and eventually led to the formation of the AAS Committee on the Status of Women.
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Margaret Burbidge with Jayant Narlikar at IUCAA (Courtesy : Somak Raychaudhury) |
