Bell Burnell was a graduate student when she looked through her telescope on a chilly English night in 1967 and discovered pulsars—making one of the most important astronomical finds of the 20th century.
Then, in 1974, a Nobel Prize was awarded for her work—but the prize went to her adviser Antony Hewish.
Now, decades later, Burnell finally is getting the recognition she deserves. Earlier this month, she was awarded a $3-million Breakthrough Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in science.
Her story, The New York Times concluded, “embodies the challenges faced by women in science. Burnell had to fight to take science classes after age 12.”
“The assumption was that the boys would do science and the girls would do cookery and needlework,” she explains.
During her junior year at the University of Glasgow, she was the only woman enrolled in honors physics.
When she arrived at Cambridge University for graduate school, Bell Burnell was certain someone had made a mistake admitting her. Like other women, she suffered from what we now call “the imposter syndrome.”
“Surely, they’re going to realize I’m not bright enough,” she recalls thinking. “But, until they throw me out, I’m going to work my very hardest.”
She worked her hardest, and she finally won a prize for it. She plans to use the prize money to create scholarships for women, underrepresented minorities and refugees who want to study physics.
“I don’t need a Porsche or Ferrari,” she told The New York Times. “I don’t have an affluent lifestyle.”
