News RIP Pioneering Astronomer Vera Rubin: 88

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Vera Rubin, a pioneering astronomer known for her work on dark matter, has passed away at the age of 88. Many in the scientific community believe she, alongside Deborah Jin, was a deserving candidate for the Nobel Prize in Physics, highlighting a long-standing issue of underrepresentation of women in this prestigious award. While her contributions to confirming the existence of dark matter are widely recognized, some discussions question whether her work merits a Nobel, given that it built upon earlier findings by Fritz Zwicky. The conversation reflects on the broader theme that significant scientific achievements often go unrecognized by awards, prompting a reevaluation of how we value contributions to science beyond accolades.
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Dark matter scientist and advocate of women in the sciences. RIP
 
Thought I was going to have to post this, but you beat me by 14 minutes.
 
Thanks ZapperZ. One thought when I read your post, though I agree that Vera Rubin was a great scientist, is that perhaps the lesson one should learn is that there is plenty of great work not recognized by prizes, so should one really regret that Rubin did not receive a Nobel?

While we're on the subject - could one argue that Rubin did not deserve a Nobel, since she merely confirmed Zwicky's conclusions?
 
https://www.aip.org/remembering-vera-rubin (has links to Physics Today articles by Vera Rubin - free until 1/27/2017)

Vera Rubin in "The Astronomers"... start at 8m40s


Vera Rubin in "The Ring of Truth"... start at 37m30s
 
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The 1994 Karl G. Jansky Lecture : What's the Matter in the Universe
Vera C. Rubin
02000000000036.jpe

http://library.nrao.edu/jansky3.shtml [navigate to her lecture to view the stream in your browser.]

The video links to http://library.nrao.edu/public/misc/videos/02000000000036.flv
 

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