Prior to the publication of the B2FH paper, George Gamow advocated a theory of the Universe in which almost all chemical elements, or equivalently atomic nuclei, were synthesized during the Big Bang.
Arthur Eddington had speculated that the conversion of hydrogen into helium by nuclear fusion could provide the energy required to power stars in 1920.
[2][3] Hans Bethe and Charles L. Critchfield had shown the mechanism for stellar fusion of helium by deriving the proton-proton chain (pp-chain) in 1938.
According to their view, fusion in stars would produce small amounts of helium, adding only slightly to its abundance from the Big Bang.
[8] However, it went beyond simply reviewing Hoyle's work, by incorporating observational measurements of elemental abundances published by the Burbidges, and Fowler's laboratory experiments on nuclear reactions.
Each element has a characteristic set of spectral lines, so stellar spectroscopy can be used to infer the atmospheric composition of individual stars.
By scrutinizing the table of nuclides, the authors identified different stellar environments that could produce the observed isotopic abundance patterns and the nuclear processes that must be responsible for them.
The authors invoke nuclear physics processes, now known as the p-process, r-process, and s-process, to account for the elements heavier than iron.
[1] Some have presumed that Fowler was the leader of the group because the writing and submission for publication were done at Caltech in 1956, but Geoffrey Burbidge has stated that this is a misconception.
The Nobel committee stated: "Together with a number of co-workers, [Fowler] developed, during the 1950s, a complete theory of the formation of the chemical elements in the universe.
Some have argued that Fred Hoyle deserved similar recognition for theoretical work on the topic, and contend that his unorthodox views concerning the Big Bang stopped him being awarded a share of the Nobel Prize.
[17] In 2007 a conference was held at Caltech in Pasadena, California to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of B2FH,[18] where Geoffrey Burbidge presented remarks on the writing of B2FH.