Scientist Robbed of 1974
Nobel Prize, Now Wins $3M Jocelyn Bell Burnell made
an important astrophysics discovery as a graduate student in 1967. Bell Burnell was responsible for the
radio pulsar, which could one day form
the basis of a "galactic positioning system." The discovery went on to
win a Nobel Prize in 1974 but
Bell Burnell didn't receive the prize. Instead, her supervisor at
the University of Cambridge, Antony Hewish, received the award. Hewish had built the necessary
radio telescope with Bell Burnell
but didn't discover the radio pulsar. Fast-forward 44 years later, and Bell Burnell is
now receiving the Breakthrough Prize for the
same discovery, as well as her leadership and
contributions to science all of these years. Edward Witten, Breakthrough Prize selection committee, via statement The Breakthrough Prize, with an award of $3M,
is the largest scientific award
in the world. Bell Burnell won't keep the money. Instead, she
plans to set up
a scholarship to support women and minorities interested in science. Jocelyn Bell Burnell, to BBC