Allan Chapman
Early Life
Allan was born in Swinton, Lancashire in the north of England. As a child, he was always interested in tinkering and making things. He made his own telescope when he was 11 and used it to look at the Moon. He was from a working-class family and career options were limited. When he left school without qualifications, he was expected to start work in a local factory. Instead, Allan decided to get a job in a local library.
Year born: 1946
Research Areas: History of Science, History of Astronomy, Broadcasting
Karl Schwarzschild
Year born: 1873
Research Areas: Relativity, Black Holes, Quantum Theory, Stars, Comets
"Mathematics, physics, chemistry, astronomy, march in one front."
Stephen Hawking
Early Life
Stephen was born in 1942 in Oxford, UK during World War II. He decided that he wanted to study mathematics at university, but his father wanted him to choose medicine instead. He was accepted into University College Oxford but because they did not offer a degree in mathematics, Stephen chose to study physics. After three years (and, in his words, "not very much work"), he graduated with a first-class honours degree in natural sciences. From there, he went on to study cosmology at Cambridge University.
Year born: 1942
Research Areas: Cosmology, Theoretical Physics
"All my life, I have been fascinated by the big questions that face us, and have tried to find scientific answers to them."
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Early Life
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (known as Chandra) grew up in Lorhre, British India (now Pakistan). Chandra came from an academic family. His uncle was a physicist and Nobel Laureate and his mother loved learning. She encouraged young Chandra to be curious. His mother and father taught him at home until he was 12. Chandra got a BSc in physics in 1930 from Presidency College, Madras. He then won a scholarship to study for a postgraduate degree at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, UK. He received a PhD in 1933.
Year born: 1910
Research Areas: Stellar Evolution, Black Holes
"My motive has not been to solve a single problem, but to acquire a perspective of an entire area"
Katherine Johnson
Early Life
Katherine Johnson grew up in West Virginia, USA. Her mother was a teacher and her father a farmer and handyman. Katherine was curious about numbers from an early age and took every course in maths she could at West Virginia State College. She graduated with the highest honours in 1937 and took a job teaching at a Black public school in Virginia. In 1939, Katherine became the first Black woman to study for a postgraduate qualification at West Virginia University. She then took a break from studying and teaching to have children.
Year born: 1918
Research Areas: Rocket Flightpaths, Trajectories, Orbital Mechanics
"I loved going to work every single day"
Stargazing
Of course unlike a hundred years ago, not all astronomers look through telescopes. Now they can programme complex computers to model what they see. The programmes are told to follow the laws of physics, and then the simulations are forwards and backwards in time to get a fuller understanding of what is happening.
In astrophysics, you need to combine the computer simulations, and the observations from telescopes, to be sure about a theory.
Perhaps the most obvious career relating to space and astronomy is ‘star-gazing’. Looking into the Universe and trying to figure out what is going on.
Computers
Interferometers use a network of antennas, over a wide area, to create a virtual much larger single telescope. It would be impossible to build such instruments without powerful computers. Signals from different antennas must be added together with atomic-clock precision. Software must separate real signals from background noise and then produce a result that is useful for astronomers.
Influencing
Science leaders can influence industries, governments, and the public. Some scientists represent science and scientists worldwide. They work for professional organisations like the International Astronomical Union. Professional organisations support the interests of their members and promote their work.
Science is an important part of our society, economy, and culture.
Many people love science because they want to improve the lives of others and make a difference.
Numbers
Astrophysicists apply their knowledge of maths to solve problems about the Universe. They collect information using telescopes, and use maths and statistics to interpret the information. Astrophysicists also use mathematical models and formulas to understand the physics of the Universe. We would not have been able to discover black holes or know that the Universe is expanding without maths.
Astronomers use numbers all the time (especially really big ones!). Astronomy grew out of solving problems about time and distance.
Nature
Earth science is the study of what our planet is made of, how it has changed over time and how its systems interact, including the oceans and its magnetic field. Geochemists can apply their skills and knowledge to study the chemistry of meteorites and other samples of space rock (cosmochemistry) as well as using telescopes to study the chemistry of material in space (astrochemistry). Atmospheric science is the scientific and mathematical study of the Earth's atmosphere, climate, and weather.