| Authorised form of name | Burbidge; Eleanor Margaret (1919 - 2020); astronomer |
| Other forms of surname | née Peachey |
| Dates | 1919 - 2020 |
| Nationality | British |
| American |
| Place of birth | Davenport, Stockport, Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom |
| Date of birth | 12 August 1919 |
| Place of death | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Date of death | 05 April 2020 |
| Occupation | Astronomer |
| Research field | Astrophysics |
| Observational Astronomy |
| Astronomy |
| Activity | Education:
Heysham School, Hampstead, London; Francis Holland Church of England School, Regent’s Park, London; University College, London (undergraduate 1936); PhD (1943)
Career: Assistant director at University of London Observatory (1948–50); acting director (1950–51); worked at University of Chicago's Yerkes Observatory, Wisconsin (1951-1953); tenured professor at the University of California at San Diego (1962); took significant action against the gender discrimination in astronomy she was subjected to over the years (1971); involved in a serious car crash which resulted in a cracked hip (20 October 1973); director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory (1973–1975); became an American citizen (1977); first director of the Center for Astronomy and Space Sciences at University of California, San Diego, USA (1979-1988); died from a fall.
Medals/Awards:
Helen B. Warner Prize for Astronomy 1959, awarded jointly with Geoffrey Burbidge
Catherine Wolfe Bruce medal of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 1982
Henry Norris Russell Lectureship 1984
Albert Einstein World Award of Science 1988
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society 2005
Memberships:
American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1969
American Astronomical Society (President 1976-1978)
National Academy of Sciences 1978
American Philosophical Society 1980 |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 19/03/1964 |
| Age at election | 44 |
| Proposer | Thomas George Cowling |
| Fred Hoyle |
| Martin Ryle |
| Robert Hanbury Brown |
| Relationships | Parents: Stanley John Peachey (1877–1936), chemistry lecturer at Manchester School of Technology and Marjorie, née Stott (1892–1979), Stanley's former chemistry student.
Siblings: Audrey and Evelyn (half sister from father's previous marriage Hebe Magdalene, née Hines (1882–1907)).
Spouse: Geoffrey Ronald Burbidge (FRS 1968)
Children: Sarah Burbdge (b 1956) |
| PublishedWorks | RCN 58624
RCN 16871 |
| OtherInfo | Made distinguished contribtions, in collaboration with her husband, to both observations and theoretical development of the theory of origin of the chemical elements (stellar nucleosynthesis). Their famous and comprehensive B2FH paper of 1957 described the numerous nuclear processes that led to the synthesis of the heavy elements in stars, with element abundance values supported by decisive observational evidence.
Her work had profound cosmological implications, particularly in the evidence it provided of the formation of new galaxies.
worked on galaxy rotation curves and quasars, discovering the most distant astronomical object then known.
Heavily involved in detailed planning of the Faint Object Camera, an instrument for the Hubble Space Telescope launched in 1990.
Outspoken on discrimination faced by women in science, describing her experience as ‘find[ing] a way around’ the misogynistic barriers in a culture dominated by males (‘Watcher of the Skies’, 8). |
| Royal Society Obituary or Memoir | Click to view (may be contained within a meeting notice, presidential address or list of death notices) |
| Related images | Discover a selection of related images in our picture library |
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| Source | References:
Sir Bernard Lovell, 'The Royal Society, the Royal Greenwich Observatory and the Astronomer Royal' in NR 1994 vol 48 pp 283-297
DNB
Anneila I. Sargent and Malcolm S. Longair, Biographical Memoirs of the Royal Society, Eleanor Margaret Burbidge. 12 August 1919-5 April 2020, 25 August 2021 |
| Code | NA7119 |