Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
塞西莉亚·佩恩-加波施金
Discovered What Stars Are Made Of
“The reward of the young scientist is the emotional thrill of being the first person in the history of the world to see something or to understand something.”
“年轻科学家的回报，是成为世界历史上第一个看到或理解某事的人所带来的情感激动。”
— From her autobiography
Biography
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin's 1925 doctoral thesis was described by astronomer Otto Struve as 'the most brilliant PhD thesis ever written in astronomy.' She demonstrated that stars are composed primarily of hydrogen and helium, contradicting the prevailing belief that they had the same composition as Earth. Initially dissuaded from publishing this conclusion by Henry Norris Russell, her findings were later confirmed and are now fundamental to astrophysics.
塞西莉亚·佩恩-加波施金1925年的博士论文被天文学家奥托·斯特鲁维描述为'天文学史上写得最出色的博士论文'。她证明恒星主要由氢和氦组成，推翻了当时认为恒星与地球成分相同的主流观点。最初她被亨利·诺里斯·罗素劝阻不要发表这一结论，但她的发现后来得到证实，现在已成为天体物理学的基础。
Key Achievements
Discovered stars are primarily hydrogen and helium
发现恒星主要由氢和氦组成
Wrote what is called the most brilliant astronomy PhD thesis
撰写了被称为最出色的天文学博士论文
First woman to become a full professor at Harvard
哈佛大学第一位女性正教授
References & Citations
- Wikipedia: Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecilia_Payne-Gaposchkin
- Payne-Gaposchkin, C. An Autobiography and Other Recollections. Cambridge Univ Press, 1984.
