Alia Sabur vs Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
Two science prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Alia Sabur | Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin | |
| Field | Science | Science |
| Sub-field | Mathematics | Physics |
| Born | 1989 | 1900 |
| Died | living / not documented | 1979 |
| Country of birth | United States | - |
| Star sign | Pisces | Taurus |
Who they are
Alia Sabur
On February 19, 2008, a nineteen-year-old American woman walked into a classroom at Konkuk University, in South Korea, and began the first lecture of her career as a tenure-track professor. Alia Sabur, of Northport, New York, was 18 years and 362 days old. The appointment broke the Guinness World Record for youngest university professor in history — a record that had previously been held since the seventeenth century. The previous holder had been Colin Maclaurin, the Scottish mathematician, appointed in 1717. Alia Sabur, in a single decision by a Korean university hiring committee, had displaced…
Full biography of Alia Sabur →
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
Discovered stars are made of hydrogen — the most fundamental fact in stellar astronomy, 1925 Harvard College Observatory · First woman professor at Harvard · Most brilliant PhD in astronomy Born May 10, 1900 · Wendover, England · Died December 7, 1979
Full biography of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin →
What they share
- Both are held here under Science.
Where they part
- 89 years separate their births (1989 and 1900).
- Their lifetimes never overlapped.
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Alia Sabur or Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin?
- Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin. Alia Sabur was born in 1989, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin in 1900.
- What field is each of them in?
- Alia Sabur is filed under Science (Mathematics). Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin is filed under Science (Physics).
- Were they contemporaries?
- No - their lifetimes do not overlap.