Astronomy
Astronomy is the oldest quantitative science and still the most humbling. These observers built calendars, dethroned the earth from the centre of things, measured the expansion of the universe and calibrated the navigation systems now in every pocket.
24 indexed lives · 1 Nobel laureates · 12 countries
Where to start
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
1910 – 1995Worked out at nineteen why some stars must collapse into black holes.
India·Astronomy · Physics · MathematicsNobelFull profile
Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi
780 – 850Gave the world algebra and, through his own name, the algorithm.
Uzbekistan·Mathematics · Astronomy · ComputingFull profile
Ibn Sina (Avicenna)
980 – 1037Wrote the medical textbook that trained Europe's doctors until 1650.
Uzbekistan·Medicine · Philosophy · AstronomyFull profile
Nobel recognition in Astronomy
- Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Nobel Prize in Physics, 1983