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Revolution in Science: The 1919 Eclipse Test of General Relativity

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On the Path of Albert Einstein

Part of the book series: Studies in the Natural Sciences ((SNS))

Abstract

“REVOLUTION IN SCIENCE/NEW THEORY OF THE UNIVERSE/NEWTONIAN IDEAS OVERTHROWN.”1 These were headlines in the Times of London on Friday, Nov. 7, 1919. Here the Times reported the extraordinary joint meeting of the Royal Society of London and the Royal Astronomical Society on the afternoon of the previous day where results obtained from the total solar eclipse of the twenty-ninth of May, 1919, were announced. The principal aim of the British observations of this eclipse was to test rival laws concerning the path of light passing near the sun. The Times reported that “The greatest possible interest had been aroused in scientific circles by the hope that rival theories of a fundamental physical problem would be put to the test, and there was a very large attendance of astronomers and physicists.” According to the Times report, the Astronomer Royal, Frank Watson Dyson, “convinced the meeting that the results were definite and conclusive” and it was “generally accepted” that Einstein’s relativity theory of gravitation had been confirmed and the Newtonian theory had been overthrown.

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Notes

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA

    Donald Franklin Moyer

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  1. Donald Franklin Moyer
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Theoretical Studies, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, USA

    Arnold Perlmutter  & Linda F. Scott  & 

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© 1979 Plenum Press, New York

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Moyer, D.F. (1979). Revolution in Science: The 1919 Eclipse Test of General Relativity. In: Perlmutter, A., Scott, L.F. (eds) On the Path of Albert Einstein. Studies in the Natural Sciences. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-3596-2_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-3596-2_4

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