• Skip to Page Content
  • Skip to Site Navigation
  • Skip to Search
  • Skip to Footer
American Museum of Natural History
Share
OLogy Home
Games
Reading
Hands-on
Videos
Biology
Biodiversity
Brain
EntomOLogy
Genetics
Marine BiOLogy
MicrobiOLogy
PaleontOLogy
ZoOLogy
Human Cultures
AnthropOLogy
ArchaeOLogy
Earth & Space
Astronomy
Climate Change
Earth
Physics
Water
Type keyword(s) to search OLogy

OLogy Cards > Sir Arthur Eddington

OLOGY CARD 171
Series: Ologist

Sir Arthur Eddington

Einstein might never have become a worldwide celebrity had it not been for the English astrophysicist Arthur Eddington. Eddington was one of the first scientists to understand and confirm Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. In 1919, Eddington led an expedition to observe a solar eclipse. His results showed that gravity will bend a ray of light when it passes near a massive star.

Date of Birth: December 28, 1882
Date of Death: November 22, 1944
Hometown: Westmoreland, England
Position: astronomer, mathematician
Education: Owens College, Manchester; Trinity College, Cambridge
Known for: contributions to Einstein's General Theory of Relativity

Eddington was also known for his research on the internal makeup of:

the Sun and the stars

the Earth and the Moon

chocolate

Correct!

Eddington made great contributions with his research on the internal makeup of stars -- including our closest star, the Sun. He calculated that the temperature at the center of the Sun would have to be in the millions of degrees.

Eddington never received any recognition for his scientific research.

Fact
OR
Fiction
?

Fiction

Eddington received many honors and awards throughout his career for his important scientific discoveries. He was even knighted in 1930, thereby becoming Sir Arthur Eddington.

Eddington traveled thousands of miles to test Einstein's General Theory of Relativity.

Fact
OR
Fiction
?

Fact

Solar eclipses happen only in certain parts of the world. Eddington traveled from England to West Africa to prove that an object with mass will bend the space around it.

“

Proof is an idol before whom the pure mathematician tortures himself.

„
Illustration of Sir Arthur Eddington

Sir Arthur Eddington

Image credits: main image, ©AMNH/Eric Hamilton; quote: © AMNH/Eric Hamilton.

You might also like...

Space and Time

How do you describe your place in the 4th dimension?

Card 161: Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who changed the way we think about our world and our Universe.

Card 176:

What would happen if you were to place a bowling ball on top of a nice fluffy pillow? The mass of the bowling ball would...
Page footer
  • Contact Us
  • OLogy Cards
  • For Educators
  • Credits
  • Privacy Policy
  • Copyright
  • OLogy Sitemap