https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_Rubin
an American astronomer who pioneered work on galaxy rotation rates.[1][2] She uncovered the discrepancy between the predicted and observed angular motion of galaxies by studying galactic rotation curves. By identifying the galaxy rotation problem, her work provided evidence for the existence of dark matter.[3] These results were later confirmed over subsequent decades.
How Dark Matter Came to Matter (2017)
The history of the dark matter problem can be traced back to at least the 1930s, but it was not until the early 1970s that the issue of 'missing matter' was widely recognized as problematic. In the latter period, previously separate issues involving missing mass were brought together in a single anomaly. We argue that reference to a straightforward 'accumulation of evidence' alone is inadequate to comprehend this episode. Rather, the rise of cosmological research, the accompanying renewed interest in the theory of relativity and changes in the manpower division of astronomy in the 1960s are key to understanding how dark matter came to matter. At the same time, this story may also enlighten us on the methodological dimensions of past practices of physics and cosmology.
