Geoffrey Burbidge conducted extensive research into the structures and masses of galaxies, and quasi-stellar objects and other non-thermal sources of radiation. Trained in physics, he said that he was drawn into astronomy by marrying an astronomer, E. Margaret Burbidge. Burbidge and his wife, in collaboration with William A. Fowler and Fred Hoyle, showed that most of the higher elements can be synthesized only in supernovae. Geoffrey and Margaret Burbidge also argued for quasi-steady state cosmology, an alternative to the much more widely-accepted Big Bang theory.
[1] Scripps Memorial Hospital, La Jolla, CA.
Wife: E. Margaret Burbidge (astrophysicist, m. 2-Apr-1948, one daughter)
Daughter: Sarah Burbidge (b. 1956)
University: BS, University of Bristol (1946)
University: PhD Physics, University College London (1951)
Scholar: Harvard University
Scholar: Yerkes Observatory, University of Chicago
Teacher: Astronomy, Cambridge University
Scholar: Mt. Wilson Observatory
Scholar: Palomar Observatory, California Institute of Technology
Teacher: Astronomy, California Institute of Technology
Professor: University of California at San Diego (1962-)
Administrator: Director, Kitt Peak National Observatory (1978-84)
Royal Astronomical Society Gold Medal 2005 (with E. Margaret Burbidge)
Bruce Medal 1999
American Astronomical Society
Astronomical Society of the Pacific President (1974-76)
Royal Society
Naturalized US Citizen 1942
English Ancestry
Asteroid Namesake 11753 Geoffburbidge
Risk Factors: Obesity
Official Website:
http://casswww.ucsd.edu/personal/gburbidge.html
Author of books:
Quasi-Stellar Objects (1967, with E. Margaret Burbidge)
The Masses of Galaxies (1975, with E. Margaret Burbidge)
AKA Geoffrey Ronald Burbidge