< Back to Volume 13, Number 2
Volume 13: Number 2: Article 9
Anomalies in the History of Relativity
Ian Mccausland, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Unversity of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3G4
In November 1919 it was announced to the world that observations of
a solar eclipse that occurred in May 1919 supported Albert Einstein's
general theory of relativity. That announcement was one of the most
influential events of 20th-century science, since Einstein's instant
rise to enormous fame arose directly from it. In spite of the confidence
with which the announcement was made, however, it was later realized
that the accuracy of the observations was insufficient to constitute
a reliable confirmation of the phenomenon that was predicted. Furthermore,
another of the formulas published in the general theory, for the variation
in the perihelion of the planet Mercury, had already been derived by
another scientist several years earlier using another method. In spite
of the fact that the experimental evidence for relativity seems to have
been very flimsy in 1919, Einstein's enormous fame has remained intact
and his theory has ever since been held to be one of the highest achievements
of human thought. The resulting deification of Einstein has had some
unfortunate effects: critics of his theory are often dismissed as cranks,
and the search for better theories has been inhibited. It is suggested
that the announcement of the eclipse observations in 1919 was not a
triumph of science as it is often portrayed, but rather an obstacle
to objective consideration of alternatives.
Keywords: Eddington, Einstein, general relativity, gravitation, light
deflection, solar eclipses
FULL TEXT:
Anomalies in the History of Relativity
To purchase back issues contact Allen Marketing & Management: 1-800-627-0629
