Nobel Laureate Subrahmanyam Chandrashekhar's 110th birth anniversary today, and a story that tells you exactly what kind of a man he was... 
In January 1935, twenty five year old Chandrashekhar first presented his revolutionary theory at the Royal Society outlining a size limit after which stars would collapse into black holes.
The most famous English astrophysicist of the time, Sir Arthur Eddington, some one whom Chandrashekhar actually regarded as a mentor, ripped into and completely ridiculed his theory.
For years, nobody would take Chandrashekhar's black hole theory seriously till other research papers echoed his views and the first black hole was identified in 1972.
Yet, speaking at Eddington's funeral in 1944, Chandrashekhar said "“I believe that anyone who has known Eddington will agree that he was a man of the highest integrity and character..."
What better example can you find of a man who refused to let darkness and despair get the better of him, and had the grace to actually speak well of a man who tried to destroy him.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
