Talk:Eddington experiment/Archive 1

Archive 1

Pre-article notes

The best account on-wiki seems to be Tests of general relativity#Deflection of light by the Sun. The article mentioned there, Kepler problem in general relativity, turns out to be a general article about the mathematics of the general problem. I'm wondering what the best title for the experiment would be. Category:Physics experiments has articles closest to what I'm thinking of (though the Category:Experiments looks like it needs re-organising). I'm thinking either "experiment" or "expedition". We have Category:Scientific expeditions. The article could also focus on the eclipse, though that distracts from the expedition and experiments. Seeing as the article should cover the results and the impact and the later history, it should be "experiment". Maybe Eddington experiment and/or 1919 Solar Eclipse Expeditions? There are also (though less widespread) the names Dyson-Eddington experiment and Dyson-Eddington-Davidson experiment. People: Arthur Stanley Eddington, Frank Watson Dyson, Charles Rundle Davidson [1]. Paper: "F. W. Dyson, A. S. Eddington, and C. Davidson, Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. London. Series A 220 (1920) 291-333".

Mentions in other articles

List of articles that mention this experiment (search conducted 07/11/2009).

Some will need correction (some incorrectly refer to images from Sobral as being taken by Eddington, for example; and many need a more nuanced description; and some get basic facts wrong), some will have older stuff in their page histories, all can be linked to this article. Some also have sources that should be used in this article as well. Carcharoth (talk) 22:13, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Some sources

Primary

• A Determination of the Deflection of Light by the Sun's Gravitational Field, from Observations Made at the Total Eclipse of May 29, 1919, F. W. Dyson, A. S. Eddington, and C. Davidson, Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. London. Series A 220 (1920) 291-333 (JSTOR link)
• The Determination of Einstein's Light-Deflection in the Gravitational Field of the Sun, H. von Klüber, Vistas in Astronomy 3, 47-77 (1960)

Secondary

Books and book chapters

• Eddington and Einstein, John Stachel, pp. 225-250 in The Prism of Science (Dordrecht, 1986)
• The Golem At Large: What Everyone Should Know about Science, Harry Collins and Trevor Pinch (Cambridge University Press, second edition, 1998), includes the chapter 'Two experiments that 'proved' the theory of relativity'.
• Einstein's Jury: The Race to Test Relativity, Jeffrey Crelinsten (Princeton University Press, 2006)
• Tenacity and Stubbornness: Einstein on Theory and Experiment, David R. Topper, pp. 3-14 in Quirky Sides of Scientists - True Tales of Ingenuity and Error From Physics and Astronomy (Springer New York, 2007)
• Bending of Light in the 1919 Eclipse Experiments: Einstein and Eddington, Mansoor Niaz, chapter from Critical Appraisal of Physical Science as a Human Enterprise (Springer Netherlands, 2009)

Journal or conference articles

• Verifying the Theory of Relativity, S. Chandrasekhar, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (June 1975); reprinted in Notes and Records of the Royal Society 30, 249–60 (1976)
• Relativity and Eclipses: The British Eclipse Expeditions of 1919 and Their Predecessors, John Earman and Glymour Clark, Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences 11, 49-85 (1980) (journal home page is here - the name has changed several times - may be difficult to get hold of a copy of this article)
• Einstein's Attitude towards Experiments: Testing Relativity Theory, 1907-1927, Klaus Hentschel, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, Volume 23 (1992), pp. 593-624
• Erwin Finlay Freundlich and Testing Einstein's Theory of Relativity, Klaus Hentschel, Archive for History of Exact Sciences, Volume 47, Number 2, June 1994
• Anomalies in the History of Relativity, Ian McCausland, Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 271–290, 1999
• Einstein, Eddington and the 1919 Eclipse, P. Coles, Historical Development of Modern Cosmology, ASP Conference Proceedings Vol. 252, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 2001 (also available from arxiv.org)
• Constructing a 'Revolution in Science': The Campaign to Promote a Favourable Response for the 1919 Solar Eclipse Experiments, Ailstair Sponsel, British Journal for the History of Science 35, 439-67 (2002).
• An Expedition to Heal the Wounds of War: 1919 Eclipse and Eddington as Quaker Adventurer, Matthew Stanley, Isis, 2003, 94: 57-89. Winner of the Schuman Prize from the History of Science Society.
• The Einstein Mystique, Ian McCausland, Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 715–732, 2003
• Judging Einstein, J. Donald Fernie, American Scientist, September-October 2005 Volume 93, Number 5, pp 404-407 (also available here).
• Not Only Because of Theory: Dyson, Eddington and the Competing Myths of the 1919 Eclipse Expedition, Daniel Kennefick, Proceedings of the 7th Conference on the History of General Relativity, Tenerife, 2005
• Calculating the Limits of Poetic License: Fictional Narrative and the History of Mathematics, Leo Corry - Tel Aviv University (To Appear in Configurations 15.3 (2009), Official Journal of the Society for Arts, Literature and Science)
• Einstein in Portugal: Eddington's expedition to Principe and the reactions of Portuguese astronomers (1917–25), Elsa Mota, Paulo Crawford, Ana Simões, The British Journal for the History of Science (2009), 42:245-273 Cambridge University Press.
• Testing Relativity from the 1919 Eclipse—a Question of Bias, Daniel Kennefick, Physics Today 62, 3, 37-42 (2009).
• Trust in expert testimony: Eddington's 1919 eclipse expedition and the British response to general relativity, Ben Almassi, Studies In History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies In History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, Volume 40, Issue 1, January 2009, Pages 57-67

Websites

• 1922 Solar Eclipse in Australia, Tim Sherratt, 1995, hosted at the Bright Sparcs section of the Australian Science Archives Project
• Astrophysics and Mysticism: the life of Arthur Stanley Eddington, Ian H Hutchinson, Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, December 2002, presented as a talk at the "Faith of Great Scientists Seminar", MIT, January 2003
• Red Shift, Big Bang and the expanding of our universe - Astronomy in the 19th - 21st centuries, Cosmic Elk wesbite (science, history and the history of science), maintained by Heather Hobden

Biographies

• The Life of Arthur Stanley Eddington, A. V. Douglas (Edinburgh-New York, 1956)
• Eddington: The Most Distinguished Astrophysicist of His Time, S. Chandrasekhar (Cambridge, 1983)
• The Eddington Enigma, D. S. Evans (Princeton, 1998)
• Arthur Stanley Eddington, biography of Eddington at The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews, Scotland

Other

• Shadows of days gone by, Simon Singh, Times Higher Educational Supplement, 6 August 1999
• 1919 Eclipse and General Relativity, Simon Singh, Times Higher Educational Supplement, some time in 1999
• Paradigm Lost, Suman Seth, American Scientist, November-December 2006, Volume 94, Number 6 (book review of Einstein's Jury: The Race to Test Relativity)
• Arthur Eddington was Innocent!, Phillip Ball, Nature, 7 September 2007, doi:10.1038/news070903-20 (also online here)

Bibliographic

• Arthur Stanley Eddington Bibliography, a bibliographic appendix to the 'Arthur Stanley Eddington' entry in the biographies of the Bruce Medalists, hosted at the School of Science & Technology, Sonoma State University

Unsorted

• Ryckman, Thomas, The Reign of Relativity: Philosophy in Physics 1915-1925 (Oxford Univ. Press, 2005)
• Eddington, Arthur Stanley, The Reign of Relativity, 1915-37, Birbeck College, University of London, Haldane Lecture
• Eddington, Arthur Stanley, The Theory of Relativity and its Influence on Scientific Thought, Romanes Lecture, 1922 (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1922)
• McCrea, William H., Einstein: Relations with the Royal Astronomical Society, QJRAS 20, 251-260 (1979)
• Maddox, J, More Precise Solar-Limb Light-Bending, Nature, 377, 11, 1995
• Some other sources mentioned here (search for "Eddington")
• Several primary accounts of other eclipse expeditions, such as this one (The Deflection of Light in the Sun's Gravitational Field, R. J. Trumpler, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 44, No. 259, p.167, 1932)

Major update of above lists done in November 2009. Carcharoth (talk) 22:17, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Images

• Image:Einstein theory triumphs.png (used)
• Image:1919 eclipse negative.jpg (used)
• Image:1919 eclipse positive.jpg (used)
• Image:Eddington 2.jpeg (used - now deleted)
• Image:EinsteinEddingtonEhrenfestLorentzdeSitter.jpg (not used - now deleted)
• Image:Frank Watson Dyson.jpg (used)
• Eddington and Einstein (not uploaded yet)

Many other images that could be used are out there. Carcharoth (talk) 13:55, 7 November 2009 (UTC) (signed long after original section written, updated 13:55, 7 November 2009 (UTC))

More ideas

• Get a map showing the path of the eclipse (there in one in the Illustrated London News article, reprinted in Fernie 2005).
• Get more examples of the newspaper coverage and link to the reports and find pictures in them. Details of two are: (1) New York Times, 10 November 1919; and (2) Illustrated London News, 22 November 1919.
• Get typical pictures showing the type of equipment and observations, even if one of the 1919 expeditions is not possible.
• Try to get exact geographic co-ordinates of the observation areas, or the commemorative displays at least.
• Einstein and Eddington can be mentioned as part of the 'culture' legacy section.
• Eclipse museum in Sobral is here (Portuguese) and photo of monument is here.
• The film The House of Sand has a fascinating (if inaccurate) mention of the Sobral expedition.
• As part of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (an event sponsored by UNESCO and the International Astronomical Union), a special project ('Celebrating the 1919 Eclipse at Príncipe') was undertaken to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the expedition to Principe. Websites are here and here. A commemorative plaque (see here) and educational exhibition (see here) was established at Roça Sundy, the former colonial plantation where Eddington took measurements. Blog is here. Photos are here. Other commemorative events mentioned here. Press coverage is here (with links to two original newspaper articles - these and some of the 2009 coverage are suitable for this article). The special project involved the Royal Astronomical Society, the Royal Observatory Edinburgh, and the Lisbon Geographic Society, as well as officials and organisations of São Tomé and Príncipe.
• There is a 1919 musical with lyrics by Adrian Ross, called The Eclipse. This source states it opened at the Garrick Theatre on 12 November 1919. The Royal Society meeting where the results of the experiment were announced had been held on 6 November, and newspaper headlines about the experiment were appearing by at least 10 November. No source found yet to explain title of the musical.
• The play 'Rose Tattoo' by Tennessee (Thomas Lanier) Williams was originally titled 'The Eclipse of May 29, 1919.' Sources are here and here. No reason yet found for what seems to have only been a working title. This 1949 play was later adapted into a film of the same name (Rose Tattoo).
• Found a new source here that is an example of the popular reception of Einstein's theory (The Progress of Science - Relativity and the Eclipse, Edwin E. Slosson, The Scientific Monthly, Volume 15, Number 5, November 1922, pp. 473-475). Try to find a few more of these.

Carcharoth (talk) 21:42, 3 June 2008 (UTC) Updated: 08:16, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Books ordered

• The Golem: What You Should Know About Science (Canto) - Harry M. Collins, Trevor Pinch
• Einstein's Jury: The Race to Test Relativity - Jeffrey Crelinsten

When these arrive, will do more work on this. Am also attempting to get copies of all the journal papers mentioned above. Carcharoth (talk) 03:09, 3 November 2009 (UTC) Update: Books arrived. Journal articles listed above that are not available free online are next on shopping list. 13:54, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

New sources

Unsurprisingly, given the 100th anniversary on 29 May, new sources:

• The man who made Einstein world-famous
• Einstein's War: How Relativity Conquered Nationalism and Shook the World

If time(!), add to and finish draft. Carcharoth (talk) 12:42, 24 May 2019 (UTC)

Re-add later

The edits here to be re-added later by contacting the editor. Carcharoth (talk) 08:11, 27 May 2019 (UTC)

Planned article work

- Background

The previously planned expeditions and First World War stuff. Make clear that very few scientists understood general relativity, and they wanted to see definitive proof of this new theory.

- Theory

Rewrite this into something about the theory behind the experiment

- Expeditions and observations

Details of the planning and activities of the expeditions. Make clear that they were attempting to detect a very small deflection.

- Results and publication

Cover the analysis of the results, the presentations and the publications.

- Immediate impact

The impact the results had and the newspaper coverage, and in particular the English scientist confirms German theory angle that was emphasised in light of the recently concluded war.

- Later research

Briefly cover later experiments focused on eclipses.

- Criticism and legacy

Cover the later criticism and rehabilitation and the changing views within the history of science, and the making of a legend and the associated myths. This section needs extensive rewriting.

Carcharoth (talk) 08:36, 27 May 2019 (UTC)

Archive 1