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Chandrasekhar studied at Presidency College, University of Madras in India and then at Trinity College, Cambridge England. From 1933 to1937 he worked at Cambridge, then joined the staff at the University of Chicago where he was to remain for the rest of his life.
In 1930 Chandra, as he was always called, showed that a star of a mass greater than 1.4 times that of the Sun had to end its life by collapsing into an object of enormous density unlike any object known at that time. He said one is left speculating on other possibilities , namely objects such as black holes. For his work in this area he was awarded the Nobel prize for Physics in 1983. He described this work in The Mathematical Theory of Black Holes (1983).
His other books include Principles of Stellar Dynamics (1942), Hydrodynamic and Hydromagnetic Stability (1961), and Truth and Beauty: Aesthetics and Motivations in Science (1987). He was awarded the Royal Medal of the Royal Society in 1962:-
... in recognition of his distinguished researches in mathematical physics, particularly those related to the stability of convective motions in fluids with and without magnetic fields.The Royal Society also awarded him their Copley Medal in 1984:-
... in recognition of his distinguished work on theoretical physics, including stellar structure, theory of radiation, hydrodynamic stability and relativity.From 1952 until 1971 Chandrasekhar was editor of the Astrophysical Journal .
References (6 books/articles)
References elsewhere in this archive:
S Chandrasekhar was elected to the Royal Society of London in 1944. You can see a history of the Royal Society and a list of the members among the mathematicians in our archive.
He was awarded the Royal Medal of the Royal Society in 1962 and the Copley Medal in 1984. You can see a history of the Royal Medal and a list of the winners in our archive and a history of the Copley Medal and a list of the winners.
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