LSAT 128, Section 4, RC Passage 3, Cecilia Payne

RC Passage 3 Explanation

Paragraph Summaries

1. Payne proposed that the sun is mainly hydrogen and helium, instead of iron like believed at the time. She faced a lot of resistance.
2. Scientists believed the sun was mostly iron based on spectroscopy and Earth’s composition, but this failed to explain the sun’s energy output.
3. She reexamined the data without the preconceptions other scientists had, and concluded the sun is 90% hydrogen. Scientists dismissed her findings.
4. Nuclear fusion later confirmed her theory, but no such model existed at the time to explain her theory.

Analysis

Scientific passages often intimidate students, but as with any passage, you just need a sound mental roadmap of what is discussed where. And a general understanding of the arguments. You don’t need to know exactly how things like spectroscopy work.