Discoveries
In 1928, he studied Albrecht Unsöld's hypothesis, and discovered that three quarters of the Sun is made of Hydrogen, and about one quarter is Helium, with 1% being other elements. Previous to this many people thought the Sun consisted mostly of Iron. After this, people realised most stars consist of Hydrogen.
Read more about this topic: William McCrea (astronomer)
Famous quotes containing the word discoveries:
“However many discoveries we may have made in the land of self-love, there remain uncharted territories.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
“Decisive inventions and discoveries always are initiated by an intellectual or moral stimulus as their actual motivating force, but, usually, the final impetus to human action is given by material impulses ... merchants stood as a driving force behind the heroes of the age of discovery; this first heroic impulse to conquer the world emanated from very mortal forces—in the beginning, there was spice.”
—Stefan Zweig (18811942)
“One of the most horrible, yet most important, discoveries of our age has been that, if you really wish to destroy a person and turn him into an automaton, the surest method is not physical torture, in the strict sense, but simply to keep him awake, i.e., in an existential relation to life without intermission.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)