Proof that worshipping goddesses like that of learning
-Sarswati - is far superior to the mad male monotheism of God has a
penis brigade. Morons come back to paganism and nature worship.

Proof that worshipping goddesses like that of learning
-Sarswati - is far superior to the mad male monotheism of God has a
penis brigade. Morons come back to paganism and nature worship.

Proof that worshipping goddesses like that of learning
-Sarswati - is far superior to the mad male monotheism of God has a
penis brigade. Morons come back to paganism and nature worship.

Battle for the black hole
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1448141,00.html
Arthur I Miller recounts a historic clash between an Indian student
and the world's top astrophysicist
Chandra's mathematics showed that a white dwarf much heavier than the
sun could not exist, but would undergo an eternal collapse into a tiny
point of infinite density, until it slipped though a crevice in space
and time, from which nothing could escape, not even light. It was the
first irrefutable mathematical proof that black holes - as they were
later dubbed - had to exist.

Chandra made his discovery while on his way to study in the greatest
scientific powerhouse of the day, Trinity College, Cambridge. He
assumed the community there would welcome him and his discovery with
open arms.
Thursday March 31, 2005
The Guardian

In the 1930s the rarefied world of science was ripped apart by a
controversy that was to have devastating consequences for the
development of astrophysics. It began when an Indian student called
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (Chandra) decided to work out what would
happen if Einstein's special theory of relativity was applied to the
processes that went on inside stars. This step was important because
particles inside stars travel at speeds close to that of light, a
situation where Einstein's theory must be used.
Pencil in hand, 19-year-old Chandra did some calculations. At the
time, scientists assumed that when a star burned up the last of its
fuel, it would turn into a ball of cinders and go cold - become a
white dwarf star. Chandra's mathematics showed that a white dwarf much
heavier than the sun could not exist, but would undergo an eternal
collapse into a tiny point of infinite density, until it slipped
though a crevice in space and time, from which nothing could escape,
not even light. It was the first irrefutable mathematical proof that
black holes - as they were later dubbed - had to exist.

Chandra made his discovery while on his way to study in the greatest
scientific powerhouse of the day, Trinity College, Cambridge. He
assumed the community there would welcome him and his discovery with
open arms. He had grown up in a free-thinking Brahmin household in
Madras and had been recognised as a prodigy from an early age. He had
already completed his undergraduate degree and had published several
scientific papers. The daily reminders that India was under the yoke
of the British Empire rankled him and science seemed a way to show
that he was at least equal to the colonial masters. His uncle, CV
Raman, had been the first Indian to win the Nobel prize in physics.
Chandra hoped that he might win one too.

At Cambridge his hopes were dashed. Scientists there ignored his
discovery. Cast down by the dank fens and dreary weather, utterly
unlike the welcoming warmth of south India, he gave way to depression.
But he pressed on and in 1933, completed his doctorate. He also won a
fellowship to continue his work at Cambridge. Buoyed by these
successes, he returned to his research on the fate of the stars. To
his surprise the great Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington, doyen of the
astrophysical world, took to visiting him frequently to see how he was
getting on.

Eddington was at the peak of his fame as a scientist, philosopher and
populiser of the science. He had made Einstein's general theory of
relativity known to the English-speaking public and in 1919 took part
in an adventurous expedition to Principe, off the west coast of
Africa, to measure the deflection of starlight by the sun. It was the
first verification of this extraordinary theory, which extended
special relativity to include gravity, the force that shapes the
cosmos. It made Eddington a household name and Einstein into an icon
of the 20th century. Eddington had also, virtually singlehanded,
established the field of astrophysics.

By 1930 Eddington was involved in formulating a hugely ambitious
theory that would combine quantum theory (which applies to the world
of atoms) and general relativity (which describes the cosmos). It was
to be a theory of everything, panoramic in its sweep. Eddington saw it
as the culmination of his life's work - his "fundamental theory".

Chandra was elated with the great Eddington's apparent approval and
particularly with his suggestion that he should announce his results
at a meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society in London. He prepared
his paper, but the day before the meeting, Chandra learned that
Eddington was to deliver the following lecture, on the very same
topic. He was puzzled, but thought no more about it.

On January 11 1935, all the leading figures in astrophysics were at
the Society. Chandra delivered his paper, showing a graph that made it
transparently clear that a star of above a certain mass would
inevitably dwindle to nothing and beyond. Triumphantly he sat down,
assuming that Eddington would support his conclusions. But to his
horror Eddington, a supercilious man, instead used the full force of
his famed oratorical skills to demolish the young man. Had Eddington
befriended Chandra in order to destroy him?

Chandra's theory was mere mathematical game-playing, Eddington argued,
with no basis in reality. How could something as huge as a star
possibly disappear? Eddington's arguments were unfounded and highly
dubious; but the weight of his reputation was such that no one dared
disagree with him. Chandra was not even given the opportunity to
reply.

The controversy rumbled on for years in papers and at scientific
gatherings. When the two crossed swords in the summer of 1935, in
Paris, again Chandra was no match for Eddington. Four years later,
again in Paris, they had their final squaring off. With chutzpah
Eddington claimed that there was no experimental test that could
decide between Chandra's theory and one that was more to Eddington's
liking, in which white dwarfs never completely collapsed. The famous
astronomer Gerard Kuiper, an expert on white dwarfs, immediately
pointed out that he had just presented evidence that supported
Chandra's theory.

At the end of the meeting, Eddington and Chandra had a brief moment
alone. "I am sorry if I hurt you," Eddington said to Chandra. Chandra
asked whether he had changed his mind. "No," Eddington retorted. "What
are you sorry about then?" Chandra replied and brusquely walked away.

Although they exchanged some cordial letters, issues concerning the
fate of the stars were never again discussed. Chandra never unravelled
the real reasons for Eddington's hostility. Once, when they met at
Trinity, Chandra demanded to know whether if his theory was right it
would demolish Eddington's fundamental theory. Eddington acknowledged
that it would. The real reasons may have been more complex still.

Eddington died in November 1944 in a nursing home of a cancerous
stomach tumour, amid the privations of wartime. It was a pitiful end.
His sister, Winifred, wrote to inform a colleague of his death,
beginning: "My hands are so cold so do excuse the writing - we have to
save fuel."

The confrontation with Eddington had a long-lasting effect both on
Chandra and his discovery. For decades, no one bothered to follow up
the implications of his suggestion. Chandra himself, despairing that
his work would ever be taken seriously, turned to entirely different
fields. He also left Cambridge, where his life and career had, he
felt, been blighted by racism, and took a post at the University of
Chicago, where he was to stay for the rest of his life.

There he carried out vital work first in radiative transfer (the study
of how radiation moves through matter), then in hydrodynamic and
hydromagnetic stabilities (the study of flow). Meanwhile, scientists
working to develop the hydrogen bomb began to realise that such a bomb
actually mirrored an exploding star. The same force that blew apart a
supernova could be used on Earth to create an apocalyptic explosion.
The breakthrough came in 1966 at the Livermore National Laboratory in
California when scientists began combining the computer codes for
astrophysics and hydrogen bombs. The scientific world finally
acknowledged that a star really could collapse and fall into a black
hole.

In 1972, the intense source of x-rays in the constellation Cygnus,
called Cygnus X-1, 20,000 trillion miles away, was the first black
hole to be identified. Many more have now been sighted. Thus - 40
years after his initial discovery - Chandra was finally vindicated and
Eddington proven wrong. Chandra was awarded the Nobel prize in 1983
for his work on white dwarfs. But the emotional toll continued to
torment him until his death in 1995.

· Arthur I Miller is the author of Empire of the Stars: Friendship,
obsession and betrayal in the quest for black holes, published by
Little, Brown. To buy for £17.09 inc free UK p&p call Guardian book
service on 0870 836 0875 or go to guardian.co.uk/bookshop

· What did you think of this article? Mail your responses to
life@guardian.co.uk and include your name and address.

Proof that worshipping goddesses like that of learning
-Sarswati - is far superior to the mad male monotheism of God has a
penis brigade.