Heritage scientist timeline – Beatrice Hill Tinsley
Beatrice Hill was born in England in 1941, when the term ‘Big Bang’ for the origin of the universe had not yet been thought up. Cosmologists were only just realising the enormous scale and structure of the universe and that it was expanding.
Beatrice Hill Tinsley, cosmologist
Beatrice Hill Tinsley (1941–1981) was a cosmologist whose research added to the acceptance of the Big Bang theory.
In 1946, 5-year-old Beatrice and her family moved from England to New Zealand. They first lived in Christchurch, before settling in New Plymouth.
I used to read the encyclopedia as a kid and wish I could understand and contribute to cosmology.
Beatrice Hill Tinsley
At New Plymouth Girls’ High School, Beatrice decided on astrophysics as a career, and at Canterbury University, found she was one of very few women studying maths and physics at the time.
In 1961, she married Brian Tinsley, a fellow physics student, and moved to the United States in 1963 when he was appointed to a university job in Dallas, Texas. The couple adopted two children from New Zealand – Alan in 1966 and Theresa in 1968.
New technology in America was enabling the collection of more and more data from space, but computers were far less powerful than today. Beatrice got her PhD in 1967 – two years before the first moon landing. (She would publish later work under her married name Tinsley, but preferred to be known as Hill Tinsley.)
Beatrice became an influential figure in the ‘new’ cosmology, partly because of her models that made sense of the huge amount of data being collected. Her research added to the wide acceptance of the Big Bang theory. However, as a woman and in a junior staff position, she found resistance to her ideas from many senior scientists and struggled to have her work accepted in a male-dominated field.
In 1974, her divorce from Brian enabled her to pursue her own career, and she moved to Yale University in 1975, becoming the first female professor of astronomy in 1978. Beatrice would publish over 100 papers during her lifetime and become a respected teacher and mentor of students.
Tragically, Beatrice was diagnosed with a melanoma in 1978. Despite surgery and chemotherapy, the cancer spread, and Beatrice died in 1981, aged 40.
But her legacy lives on. Asteroid 3087, a minor planet, was discovered at Mt John Observatory, New Zealand, in 1981 and named in honour of Beatrice. The American Astronomical Society named an award in her honour in 1986, and in 2009, the University of Canterbury formed the Beatrice Tinsley Institute for New Zealand Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Do you think Beatrice would have found things different today?
How easy is it for women, including mothers, to have science careers?
What are the opportunities for studying astronomy in New Zealand?
Even if you have brilliant ideas, why do they need to be tested and reviewed by other scientists?
The timeline below lets you see aspects of Beatrice's life and work, and how her findings changed scientific thinking. A full timeline transcript is here.
Beatrice Hill Tinsley – cosmologist
- Changing scientific ideas
- Advances in science and technology
- Biography
The universe is eternal and unchanging
Public domain NASA
Until the early 1900s it is thought that the universe had no beginning, will stay the same for ever and is uniform everywhere. All stars are the same and unchanging. Everything in the night sky is inside the Milky Way.
The universe has a structure
In the early 1900s it is discovered that electromagnetic radiation from stars shows that they are not all the same. The Milky Way is shown to have a spiral shape – there is structure in the universe.
The universe measured
Public domain
Henrietta Leavitt uses variable stars to measure distances.
Stars change
Ejnar Hertzsprung and Henry Norris Russell create a diagram relating star brightness to colour. They think stars have a life cycle.
The universe is unchanging
Public domain
Albert Einstein develops general theory of relativity. He uses it to support the idea of an unchanging universe (he later admitted he was wrong).
Not everything is in the Milky Way
The Huntington Library, San Marino, California
Edwin Hubble shows that galaxies are too far away to be in the Milky Way.
The universe is expanding
Alexander Friedmann uses Einstein’s general theory of relativity to predict that the universe is expanding.
The universe is not eternal but is changing
By now there is evidence that stars are not all the same, and they change over time. There is structure to the universe, with galaxies outside our own.
The universe had an origin
Public domain
Georges Lemaitre pioneers the idea that the universe was made by an explosion of matter.
The universe is not eternal, it had an origin
With new evidence that the universe is expanding, scientists begin to think that the universe had an explosive origin. This later becomes known as the Big Bang theory.
Galaxies are moving away from us
The Huntington Library, San Marino, California
Edwin Hubble shows that the most distant galaxies are moving away fastest.
Beatrice Hill born in England
Publishes later work under married name Tinsley, but prefers to be known as Hill Tinsley.
First radio map of universe
Grote Reber maps many sources of radio waves in the universe, having built the first radio telescope in 1937.
Moves to New Zealand
5-year-old Beatrice and her family move from England to New Zealand. They first live in Christchurch, before settling in New Plymouth.
The universe is eternal but changing
The ‘steady-state theory’ suggests that, as the universe expands, new matter is continuously created to fill in the gaps.
Term ‘Big Bang’ first used
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University
Fred Hoyle coins the term ‘Big Bang’, though he disagrees with the theory.
A steady-state universe?
Public domain
Hermannn Bondi, Thomas Gold and Fred Hoyle suggest new matter is continuously created to fill in the gaps as the universe expands.
New Plymouth Girls’ High School
Beatrice attends New Plymouth Girls’ High School from 1953 to 1957. Although keen on music, Beatrice decides on astrophysics as a career, but remains a musician all her life.
The universe is changing
Martin Ryle uses radio astronomy to show there is an uneven distribution of galaxies and that there were more galaxies in the past.
Canterbury University
Beatrice is one of very few women studying maths and physics at the time. She gets MSc in physics in 1963.
Marries Brian Tinsley
Brian is an astrophysicist and a fellow student.
Moves to America
Brian gets a university job in Dallas, Texas. Beatrice wants her own career as scientist but, like many women at the time, finds it hard to be accepted.
Big Bang theory generally accepted
New evidence convinces most cosmologists that there had been a ‘Big Bang’. This is the end of the steady-state theory.
In this video Dr David Krofcheck talks about the Big Bang theory.
Remnants of Big Bang
Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson discover the remnants of a Big Bang, called microwave background radiation. It had been predicted in 1948.
Adopts first child
Baby Alan adopted from New Zealand.
Beatrice Hill Tinsley’s PhD thesis published
The thesis Evolution of galaxies and its significance for cosmology is a major advance, using data in computer models – an amazing effort, considering the computer technology available at this time.
Awarded PhD
Theodora Lee-Smith
Beatrice continues to struggle to have her work accepted in a male-dominated field.
Adopts second child
Baby Teresa adopted from Dallas, Texas.
A universe from nothing
Rob Robbins
Edward Tyron suggests that the universe could have been created from absolutely nothing.
Expanding universe
With Richard Gott, James Gunn and David Schramm, Beatrice Hill Tinsley publishes an important cosmology paper. It provides data and arguments to support an expanding universe.
Divorces Brian
The couple’s divorce enables Beatrice to pursue her own career.
Moves to Yale University
The start of a huge impact on cosmology, with Beatrice publishing over 100 papers during her lifetime and also becoming a teacher and mentor of students.
Made Professor at Yale
Beatrice becomes the first female professor of astronomy at Yale. She is diagnosed with a melanoma the same year.
Inflationary universe
Alan Guth develops a model for the birth of the universe – called ‘inflationary universe’ – including an expansion much faster than that predicted in the Big Bang theory.
Beatrice publishes important review
The paper “Evolution of the stars and gas in galaxies” becomes an important basis for cosmology for many years.
Beatrice dies of cancer, aged 40
Despite surgery and chemotherapy, the cancer spreads, and Beatrice dies in 1981, aged 40.
Asteroid Beatrice Tinsley
Asteroid 3087, a minor planet, is discovered at Mt John Observatory, New Zealand, and named in honour of Beatrice Tinsley.
Tinsley Prize
The American Astronomical Society names an award in her honour.
Largest structure in the universe
Brent Tully
Brent Tully announces largest known super-cluster of galaxies – the largest structure in the universe.
Wrinkles in space
The Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite detects variations in cosmic microwave background radiation of the early universe. Dense areas are ‘seeds’ for formation of galaxies.
Big Bang part of science culture
13,099 entries are received in an international competition to rename the ‘Big Bang’. Judges decide to keep the original name.
Universe in a nutshell
Public domain
Stephen Hawking publishes The universe in a nutshell – a book that brings modern cosmology to the public eye.
Oldest galaxy
NASA space telescopes use gravitational lensing to detect a galaxy 13 billion light years away. This is the oldest galaxy known, formed just 750 million years after the Big Bang.
Beatrice Tinsley Institute
University of Canterbury forms the Beatrice Tinsley Institute for New Zealand Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Annual lecture series
The Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand start an annual series of astronomical lectures named after Beatrice.
Beatrice Hill Tinsley – cosmologist
This timeline lets you see aspects of Beatrice's life and work, and how these fit into a wider science picture of cosmology. A full transcript is underneath.
Useful link
Listen to this 20-part series from RNZ, based on the Beatrice’s letters to her family.
