Arthur Stanley Eddington

British astronomer, physicist, and mathematician Arthur Stanley Eddington (December 28, 1882 November 22, 1944) founded the science of astrophysics, in hich he pioneered the study of ste!!ar evo!ution, subatomic sources of ste!!ar ener"y, and diffuse matter in interste!!ar space# $e as the first scientist to propose that the tremendous heat production at a star%s core is hat &eeps a star from co!!apsin" under its o n "ravity and for arded a theory that every star ends its !ife by co!!apsin" to a sma!!, dense, "!o in" ob'ect &no n as a hite d arf# (ndian)born *merican astronomer +ubrahmanyan ,handrase&har amended this theory hen he determined that -ddin"ton%s ca!cu!ations did not ho!d for stars ith a mass "reater than about 1#44 times that of the +un# ,handrase&har sho ed that a more massive star ou!d be crunched by its o n "ravity and become either a neutron star or a b!ac& ho!e# -ddin"ton%s ideas !ed him to the conc!usion that unifyin" .uantum theory and "enera! re!ativity theory ou!d a!!o for the ca!cu!ation of certain universa! constants# $e as&ed/ 01hat do e rea!!y observe2 3e!ativity theory has returned the ans er e on!y observe re!ations# 4uantum theory returns another ans er e on!y observe probabi!ities#5

-ddin"ton as born at 6enda! in 1estmor!and to 4ua&er parents# $is father died durin" a typhoid epidemic before his son as t o years o!d# *rthur%s mother as !eft ith !itt!e financia! means to brin" up her son and his o!der sister# 7he fami!y re!ocated to 1eston)super)8are, here -ddin"ton as tau"ht at home before spendin" three years at a preparatory schoo!# (n 1899 he became a day student at the Bryme!yn +choo! in 1eston here he e:ce!!ed in mathematics and -n"!ish !iterature# ;ive years !ater he as a arded a scho!arship that a!!o ed him to enter < ens ,o!!e"e, 8anchester, here he

main!y studied physics but as "reat!y inf!uenced by his mathematics teacher, $orace =amb# -ddin"ton on severa! hi"h!y competitive scho!arships that provided him ith enou"h money to continue his university education, and, in 19>2, he earned his B#+c# ith ;irst ,!ass $onors# * Nationa! +cience scho!arship a!!o ed him to proceed to 7rinity ,o!!e"e, ,ambrid"e, here he became +enior 1ran"!er in the 8athematica! 7ripos in 19>4 and as "ranted his 8#*# the fo!!o in" year# 7he ne:t year he as appointed chief assistant at the 3oya! <bservatory at ?reen ich and then as e!ected a ;e!!o of 7rinity# *t the a"e of thirty -ddin"ton as appointed @!umian @rofessor of *stronomy, and, in 1914, he added the tit!e of Director of the <bservatory# $e remained in both positions unti! his death of cancer in 1944#

(n his first boo&, Stellar Movements and the Structure of the Universe (1914), -ddin"ton summariAed his mathematica!!y e!e"ant investi"ations# *t a time hen it as sti!! most!y assumed that there as on!y one "a!a:y in the universe, he for arded the thesis that the spira! nebu!ae, c!oudy structures seen in the te!escope, ere "a!a:ies !i&e the 8i!&y 1ay# *fter receivin" papers by -instein and Dutch cosmo!o"ist 1i!!em de +itter, -ddin"ton !ectured on re!ativity at the British *ssociation meetin" (191B)# (n 1918, he de!ivered his 03eport on the 3e!ativity 7heory of ?ravitation5 ritten for the @hysica! +ociety# 7he ne:t year, -ddin"ton or"aniAed an e:pedition to @rincipe (s!and in 1est *frica to photo"raph the stars in the nei"hborhood of the +un durin" a tota! so!ar ec!ipse# 7he purpose of this e:periment as to determine hether stars ad'acent to the +un%s rim appeared to have shifted a ay from the +un and their norma! position re!ative to each other#

*!thou"h difficu!t to measure, -ddin"ton%s observations ere the first confirmation of -instein%s "enera! re!ativity prediction that !i"ht rays are bent hen sub'ected to the stron" "ravitationa! fie!d of a massive star# 1ith his popu!ar ritin"s, inc!udin" Space, Time and Gravitation (192>) and his treatise Mathematical Theory of Relativity (1929), -ddin"ton captured the inte!!ectua! ima"ination of the

"eneration# -ddin"ton%s o n contribution to the fie!d of re!ativity as his bri!!iant modification of non) -uc!idean "eometry, hich !ed to a "eometry of the cosmos# *fter Be!"ian astronomer ?eor"es =emaCtre pub!ished his thesis of an e:pandin" universe, -ddin"ton made his o n investi"ations, hich he e:p!ained to the "enera! reader in The Expanding Universe (1999)#

-ddin"ton demonstrated that in order to remain in e.ui!ibrium the in ard "ravitationa! pressure of a star must ba!ance the out ard radiation and "as pressure# 7his !ed him to conc!ude that there as an upper !imit on the mass of a star, about D> so!ar masses# <ther ise the ba!ance bet een "ravitation and radiation pressure cou!d not be maintained# 7he reason that some stars pu!sate is that they are ver"in" on instabi!ity# -ddin"ton%s discovery sho ed that the more massive a star the "reater is its !uminosity# 7his re!ationship in turn a!!o s the ca!cu!ation of the mass of a star from its intrinsic bri"htness# $is ear!y research in this area is contained in The Internal Constitution of Stars (192B) and in Stars and toms (1928)# ;rom 199> on, -ddin"ton "ave so many popu!ar !ectures on re!ativity that British physicist +ir Eoseph Eohn 7homson 'ested that -ddin"ton had convinced thousands of peop!e that they actua!!y understood it# -ddin"ton, ho as concerned ith the re!ation of physics to phi!osophy, rote a number of phi!osophica! boo&s, inc!udin" The !ature of the "hysical #orld (1928) and The "hilosophy of "hysical Science (1999)# $is !ast boo&, $undamental Theory (194B), pub!ished posthumous!y by his bio"rapher +ir -dmund 1hitta&er, had as its "oa! findin" the re!ation bet een the siAes of different physica! systems, and to unite .uantum mechanics and "enera! re!ativity#

8otivated by his deep!y he!d 4ua&er be!iefs, durin" 1or!d 1ar ( -ddin"ton dec!ared himse!f a pacifist# $is re!i"ious faith a!so found e:pression in his popu!ar treatises# $e insisted that the or!d%s meanin" cou!d not be discovered from science, but must be sou"ht throu"h apprehension of spiritua! rea!ity# -ddin"ton be"an a 1998 7arner !ecture ith the remar&ab!e statement/ 0( be!ieve there are 1D,F4F,F24,19B, 2FD,>>2,DFF,B>D,BD9,9B1,181,DDD,4B8,>44,F1F, 914,D2F,11B, F>9,9BB,291,42D,

>FB,18D,B91,>91,29B protons in the universe and the same number of e!ectrons#5 7his .uantity, hich can be e:pressed as 19B G 22DB , is no &no n as the 0-ddin"ton number#5 7he number as never ta&en very serious!y and has since been discredited, but it spran" from his deep insi"hts that ere revo!utionary at the time#

-ddin"ton he!d that dimension!ess constants of the cosmos ho!d the &ey to the or!d# (n addition, he maintained that the structure and even numerica! va!ues of physica! theories can sprin" from the abstract a!"ebra of "roup theory# *!thou"h -ddin"ton had a hea!thy suspicion of the ri"or of mathematics, he became one of the ear!iest scientists to champion the importance the theory of "roups ou!d p!ay in physics# (n his both !e% "ath%ays to Science (199D), he e:p!ained that to "ive an account of the e:terna! or!d, a super)mathematics as needed in hich the operations are un&no n as are the .uantities they operate on# -ddin"ton c!aimed that such a super)mathematics e:isted, name!y, the 7heory of ?roups# $e rote/

07he 7heory of ?roups is usua!!y associated ith the strictest !o"ica! treatment# ( doubt hether anyone hitherto has committed the sacri!e"e of renchin" it a ay from a settin" of pure mathematica! ri"or# But it is no becomin" ur"ent!y necessary that it shou!d be tempered to the understandin" of a physicist, for the "enera! conceptions are be"innin" to p!ay a bi" part in the pro"ress of .uantum theory# Harious mathematica! too!s have been tried for di""in" do n to the basis of physics, and at present this too! seems the most po erfu! to use#5

-ddin"ton proceeded to describe the theory of "roups in a ay that physicists ou!d understand and appreciate by means as he put it, 0+o ith rou"h ar"ument and ma&e)shift i!!ustration ( am "oin" to profane the temp!e of ri"or#5

-ddin"ton%s name has been "iven to a five)year space mission p!anned for 2>>8 that is to !oo& inside stars, determine their precise chemica! composition, and in some cases, the siAe of their ener"y) "eneratin" hearts#

Quotation of the Day: 0@roof is the ido! before hom the pure mathematician tortures himse!f#5
+ir *rthur +tan!ey -ddin"ton