Happy birthday to “the most brilliant PhD thesis ever written in astronomy”! Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin completed her thesis on January 1st, 1925*. She found that stars are composed mainly of hydrogen and helium, counter to the idea of the time, that the Sun and Earth were made of similar materials. - ThreadSky

rhiannonsilva.bsky.social • 56 days ago

Happy birthday to “the most brilliant PhD thesis ever written in astronomy”!

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin completed her thesis on January 1st, 1925*. She found that stars are composed mainly of hydrogen and helium, counter to the idea of the time, that the Sun and Earth were made of similar materials.

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rhiannonsilva.bsky.social•56 days ago

By comparing spectral data from stars with their temperatures, while applying Meghnad Saha's ionization equation, she confirmed that the sequence of spectral classes of stars corresponds to their temperatures.

rhiannonsilva.bsky.social•56 days ago

Her other, more surprising result was rejected at first but was confirmed 4 years later. When she submitted her thesis, she downplayed her result due to the doubts of others. She wrote "The enormous abundance derived for [hydrogen and helium] is almost certainly not real."

rhiannonsilva.bsky.social•56 days ago

Later, she regretted that decision, and in her autobiography she wrote “I was to blame for not having pressed my point. I had given in to Authority when I believed I was right…I note it here as a warning to the young. If you are sure of your facts, you should defend your position.”

rhiannonsilva.bsky.social•56 days ago

You can read more about Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin here, which is where I found the above quotes: https://physicsworld.com/a/cecilia-payne-gaposchkin-the-woman-who-found-hydrogen-in-the-stars/

rhiannonsilva.bsky.social•56 days ago

I hope this thread inspires anyone writing their PhD thesis this year to believe in themself!

rhiannonsilva.bsky.social•56 days ago

* I don't have a good source for the Jan 1st completion date. I found it several places on the internet but none gave a primary source.

sevenrasmussen.com•56 days ago

hell yeah

rhiannonsilva.bsky.social•56 days ago

Omg! I love it!

rittenhousewest.bsky.social•56 days ago

Same!!!

rednecklefty.bsky.social•56 days ago

@mcnees.bsky.social

italianwineguy.bsky.social•56 days ago

badass!

gergyl.bsky.social•56 days ago

Yet another for the list: 'Female physical scientists who should have won Nobels, but didn't'.
https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/phys...https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/physics/this-week-in-science-history-the-woman-who-found-hydrogen-in-the-stars-is-born/

gergyl.bsky.social•56 days ago

Attempted list; very incomplete:

Eunice Foote, global warming (but predeceased Nobels)
Cecilia Payne, stellar composition
Kathleen Lonsdale, benzene structure
Lise Meitner, nuclear fission
Rosalind Franklin, DNA structure
Joceyln Bell, pulsars
Margaret Burbidge, stellar nucleosynthesis

Add more.

flxible.bsky.social•56 days ago

So cool!

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