Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar

Nobel-winning physicist who revolutionized understanding of stellar evolution

Born in Lahore (then British India) in 1910, Chandrasekhar made his groundbreaking discovery at age 19 while sailing to England for graduate studies. His Chandrasekhar Limit (1.4 solar masses) explained why certain stars collapse into neutron stars or black holes - directly contradicting his mentor Arthur Eddington.

Despite public ridicule at a 1935 Royal Astronomical Society meeting where Eddington called his work 'absurd,' Chandrasekhar persisted. His calculations eventually formed the basis for understanding:

• White dwarf stars
• Supernova mechanisms
• Black hole formation

After moving to the University of Chicago in 1937, he spent decades developing radiative transfer theory and stellar dynamics. His 1983 Nobel Prize recognized work initially dismissed for 30 years, proving that scientific truth transcends temporary opposition.

Chandra's story exemplifies intellectual courage against establishment orthodoxy. The Chandra X-ray Observatory now bears his name, scanning the universe for the very phenomena he first mathematically predicted.