Physics, the young Chandrasekar’s interest
in the subject came naturally to him.
In
1930, at the age of 19, he completed his degree
in Physics from Presidency College, Chennai
and flew to England for post graduation studies
at the Cambridge University. He was noted
for his work in Stellar Evolution, and in
the early 1930’s he was the first to
theorize that a collapsing massive star would
become an object so dense that not even light
would escape it. Now called "Black hole".
He demonstrated that there is an upper limit
(known as Chandrasekar Limit) to the mass
of a White Dwarf Star.
His theory challenged the common scientific
notion of the 1930’s that all stars,
after burning up their fuel, becomes to faint,
a planet sized remnants known as white dwarfs.
Eventually today, the extremely dense neutron
starts and black holes implied by Chandrasekar’s
early work are a central part of the field
of Astrophysics.
Initially his theory was rejected by peers
and professional journals in England. The
distinguished astronomer Sir Arthur Eddington
publicly ridiculed his suggestion that stars
could collapse into such objects (Black holes).
Being disappointed and reluctant to engage
in public debate, Chandrasekar moved to America
and 1937 joined the faculty as an Assistant
Professor of Astrophysics at the University
of Chicago and remained there till his death.
At Chicago, he immersed himself in a personalized
style of research and teaching i.e., tackling
first on field of Astrophysics and then another
in grater depth. He wrote books describing
the result of his investigations. More than
100,000 copies of his highly technical books
have been sold. He also served as an editor
of the Astrophysical Journal, - the field’s
leading journal for nearly 20 years. He presided
over a thousand colloquia; and supervised
Ph.D research for more than 50 students.
Chandrasekhar was a creative, prolific genius
whose ability to combine mathematical precision
with physical insight changed humanity view
of Stellar Physics. 1968 in addition to his
work on star degeneration, he has contributed
significantly to many disparate branches of
physics which includes rotational figures
of equilibrium, Stellar interiors, radiative
transfer of energy through the atmospheres
of starts, hydro magnetic stability and many
others. He won the Nobel Prize in 1983 and
received 20 honorary degrees; was elected
to 21 learned societies and received numerous
awards. In addition to the Nobel Prize; including
the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society
of London. The National Medal of Science,
the Rumford Medical of the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences; and the Henry Draper
Medal of the National Academy of Sciences.
Nasa’s premier x-ray observatory was
named the Chandra X-ray observatory in his
honour. Himself and his wife became American
citizens in 1953. The genius passed away on
August 21, 1995 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
