In the Chandrasekhar–Eddington dispute of the early 20th century, English astronomer Arthur Eddington and the Indian astronomer Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar disagreed over the correct theory to describe the final stages of a star 's lifecycle. During the dispute, Chandrasekhar was at the beginning of his career and Eddington was a renowned physicist of the time. Chandrasekhar had proposed a limit, now known as Chandrasekhar limit, indicating a maximum limit for the mass of a white dwarf star. In a series of conferences and encounters Eddington advocated for an alternative theory, openly criticizing and mocking Chandrasekhar's models.