Happy birthday, Margaret Burbidge
“You can’t give telescope time for this junk science!
Who does she think she is?” blustered a young upstart upon hearing that an elderly astronomer wanted half a night with one of the brand-new Keck telescopes to observe objects that might disprove the Big Bang theory.
Observatory Director Joe Miller was quick to put the youngster in his place: “You just look up Margaret Burbidge, the Margaret Burbidge, and you’ll know who she is,” he said. “If Margaret Burbidge wants half a night to draw up pictures of Mars, I’ll give it to her — whether we think it’s crazy or not, we’re going to show respect to one of the greatest astronomers of the 20th century.”
Though the night turned out to be cloudy and she wouldn’t have found evidence to support an alternative to the Big Bang anyway, this mid-1990s episode — when Burbidge was already in her 70s — is but one of many in a career spanning more than 60 years that highlight a determination to push the frontiers of human knowledge.
Born Eleanor Margaret Peachey in Davenport, UK, to chemist parents, Burbidge caught the astronomy bug early. “She became interested
