William Alfred Fowler studied the nuclear reactions responsible for producing chemical elements in the universe, combining experiments with calculations in nuclear physics and astrophysics. His 1983 Nobel lecture explains this research as a search for the origin of the chemical elements. Measuring the reaction rates of nuclear reactions makes a laboratory result useful for models of stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis; a proposed reaction network needs both viable pathways and rates under the relevant stellar conditions.[ref]
Experimental and Theoretical Nuclear Astrophysics; the Quest for the Origin of the Elements by William Alfred Fowler. 1983 authored Nobel lecture, title and nuclear-astrophysics program; printed pp. 172–229
Portrait of William Alfred Fowler
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William Alfred Fowler (1911–1991) was an American physicist known for his work in nuclear physics and astronomy. He made significant contributions to our understanding of nuclear reactions and the processes involved in the synthesis of elements within stars. Fowler was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1983, along with William A. Fowler and George W. Beadle, for his research on the nucleosynthesis of atomic nuclei and the processes that govern the production of elements in the universe.