Albert Einstein World Award of Science 1988
Field of Research: Astrophysics
Date: 19 November 1988
Place of Ceremony: Palacio de Bellas Artes
Host Institution: National Polytechnic Institute
Host Country: México City, México
In 1988 the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City and the National Polytechnic Institute acted as host to the World Cultural Council, Dr. Margaret Burbidge, was selected as the recipient of the Albert Einstein World Award of Science in recognition to her fundamental contributions to several areas of astrophysics, namely: the stellar composition of stars, spectroscopy of normal galaxies, properties, rotations, and masses of stars and the physical properties, energy sources and radiation mechanisms of quasars. Prof. Burbidge is widely acknowledged for her work on the theory of quasars.
Dr. Margaret Burbidge was born in England, and at present Professor of Astronomy in the Department of Physics of the University of California, San Diego in the United States of America.
She has held many administrative positions, including that of director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory and first director of the Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences at UCSD. In 1957 she, Geoffrey R. Burbidge, William A. Fowler and Fred Hoyle showed how all of the elements except the very lightest are produced by nuclear reactions in stellar interiors. She has also studied spectra of galaxies, determining their rotations, masses, and chemical composition, and she has achieved particular renown for spectroscopic studies of quasars. She has played a major role in developing instrumentation for the Hubble Space Telescope.
