Two intrepid astronomers embarked on a scientific quest to photograph a solar eclipse, and in turn launched Einstein into an international celebrity. » Subscribe to Seeker!
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» Check out Daniel Kennefick's book, "No Shadow of a Doubt: The 1919 Eclipse That Confirmed Einstein's Theory of Relativity"
Eclipses are grand celestial events, a chance to witness the mechanics of our solar system in action. An eclipse gives scientists a unique opportunity to study light as it passes near the Sun. Eclipses also play an important role in the timeline of scientific discovery.
Over one hundred years ago, during the same time as World War I, Albert Einstein, relatively unknown at the time, introduced a new theory that would completely shift our understanding of space, time, and motion.
Einstein’s theory of relativity predicted that the Sun’s gravitational field would bend the starlight’s path, making the stars appear slightly out of place in a photo, by 1.75 arc seconds to be exact.
If Isaac Newton and his law of universal gravitation was correct, it’d only be by half as much.
Learn more about the space quest and solar eclipse that proved Einstein’s theory of relativity, changed physics forever, and made Einstein famous in this episode of Focal Point.
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