Margaret Burbidge

Burbidge, Margaret (Eleanor Margaret Burbidge), 1925–, Anglo-American astronomer. She was the first woman appointed director (1972–73) of the Royal Greenwich Observatory and was named (1982) president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Burbidge; her husband, Geoffrey Burbidge; William Fowler; and Sir Fred Hoyle showed (1956) how heavier elements can be built up from lighter ones in the interiors of stars.