Quote:
Originally Posted by Chippy
Chandresakar was a classic example - Eddington strongly rejected his work (on white dwarf limits), and the rest of the scientific community followed suit. It pretty much forced him out of the field for about 40 years from memory. He remained in physics - but not astrophysics.
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You mean the Chandrasekhar who won the Nobel prize for physics for work on the structure and evolution of stars?
He was never "forced out". You are absolutely correct that the Chandrasekhar limit was not accepted within the wider astronomical community for decades, largely because of Eddington's objections. However in this matter Chandrasekhar had some big supporters including Bohr and Pauli helping to argue his case. He worked his entire career in the field of astronomy at the University of Chicago and a quick search of the Astronomical Abstract database, lists close to 200 books/papers authored by him.
So I don't think he's a particularly good example. I also suspect that it would be harder for another Eddington-like character to hold so much sway over the astronomical community these days. Science has moved on a long way from the "boys club" culture of the British Royal Society.