The Expanding Universe

The Expanding Universe | Sir Arthur Eddington

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My enthusiasm for this book is only slightly dimmed by not really understanding most of its almost 100 years old contents!
Eddington was responsible for championing Einstein's theory of relativity at a time when supporting a German citizen's work could be seen as unpatriotic, if not treasonous, especially as Eddington was a Quaker and a WWI conscientious objector. He was the first to experimentally prove Einstein's theory's ability to predict ⬇️

Bookwomble ... observable physical effects, catapulting Bertie into global fame.
I've enjoyed learning about his work and life, and there's a bit about him in this BBC article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-48369980 6mo

willaful I read about how the focus on correct thinking held the Soviet Union back, scientifically... thank goodness for this man! 6mo

Bookwomble @willaful The British establishment of the day (1910s) set this up as a culture war between the Proper British Values of Isaac Newton & his physics & the untrustworthy German-Jewish-Socialist physics by which Einstein was somehow seeking to undermine the Empire. Fortunately, Eddington & other scientists advocated for international scientific cooperation, but it's interesting how close so many Western countries of the time were to nazi views. 6mo

Bookwomble @willaful The Soviets, by contrast, saw Einstein as a capitalist collaborator and his ideas anti-revolutionary, so I guess you know you're onto something worthwhile if both extremes are threatened by you! 6mo

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Bookwomble

The Expanding Universe | Sir Arthur Eddington

"That part of our conscious experience representable by physical symbols ought not to claim to be the whole. As a conscious being *you* are not one of my symbols; your domain is not circumscribed by my spatial measurements. If, like Hamlet, you count yourself king of an infinite space, I do not challenge your sovereignty. I only invite attention to certain disquieting rumours which have arisen as to the state of Your Majesty's nutshell.”

Bookwomble Using a Shakespearean quote ("I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space.") as a metaphor to question subjective and consensual reality as related to the physical universe! I was not expecting this when I picked up this slim book! ? Loving it ? 6mo

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Bookwomble

The Expanding Universe | Sir Arthur Eddington

“I can see no more reason for preferring the theories of fifty years ago than for preferring the observational data of fifty years ago.”

I'm pleasantly surprised to find that far from giving a dry, heavy exposition of maths & physics, Eddington leavens his book with thoughts on the philosophy of science, & with quotes from Shakespeare & Dante. He was a popular communicator of science to the general public, and if this adaptation of a lecture ⬇️

Bookwomble ... he presented to a professional convention is anything to go by, he was a lively and engaging speaker.
This quote, referring to the then emerging new physics, seems equally applicable to social and cultural theories about race, gender, sexuality, art, nation states, politics... basically the whole of human experience. If it's not growing, evolving and in an ongoing process of emergence and becoming, it's stagnant and moribund. 6mo

The_Book_Ninja Spot on again, Wombie. On a roll today, Sir. You have to admire the scientist who doesn‘t try to put himself outside of the philosophical and cultural aspects of society. There‘s a power play in science and its modern manifestation tells us that only white men make all the important/valid scientific breakthroughs. 6mo

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Bookwomble

The Expanding Universe | Sir Arthur Eddington

First published in 1933, my edition is a Pelican reprint dated November 1941, describing the then fairly novel theory that the universe is expanding. Concepts of the form of expansion already included the Big Bang Theory and the Steady State Theory, though it was a few more years before either of those terms were coined. It will be interesting to see whether Sir Arthur backed the winning horse, TBBT 🎇 (sorry, spoilers again! 😄)

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