Arthur Eddington
A brilliant astronomer who proved Einstein's theory of relativity by photographing starlight bending around the sun during an eclipse.
1882–1944 (age 62)·British astrophysicist·Birthday: December 28·The Gilded Age
Biography
Arthur Eddington was a thinker who connected the cosmic dots. As the director of the Cambridge Observatory in the early 20th century, he was a master of both complex mathematics and clear, public explanation. His great moment came in 1919, when he led an expedition to the island of Principe off Africa to observe a total solar eclipse. His photographs showed that the positions of stars near the sun's edge had shifted, their light bent by the sun's gravity exactly as predicted by Einstein's then-controversial general theory of relativity. Eddington's confirmation made Einstein a global celebrity and revolutionized physics. He spent his later years exploring the internal structure of stars, defining the fundamental limit to a star's brightness that still bears his name, and writing bestselling books that brought the universe down to Earth for a generation of readers.
The Gilded Age
1860–1882
Born during or after the Civil War, they built industrial America — the railroads, the steel mills, the first skyscrapers. An era of massive wealth, massive inequality, and the belief that the future belonged to whoever could build it fastest.
Arthur was born in 1882, placing them squarely in The Gilded Age. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Arthur Was Born
The biggest hits of 1882
Arthur's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1882Born
First electrical power plant opens in New York
President: Chester A. Arthur
1887Started school
President: Grover Cleveland
1895Became a teenager
First public film screening by the Lumiere brothers
President: Grover Cleveland
1898Could drive
Spanish-American War; US emerges as a world power
President: William McKinley
1900Could vote
Boxer Rebellion in China
President: William McKinley
1903Turned 21
Wright brothers achieve first powered flight
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1912Turned 30
Titanic sinks on its maiden voyage
President: William Howard Taft
1922Turned 40
King Tut's tomb discovered in Egypt
President: Warren G. Harding"April Showers" — Al Jolson
1932Turned 50
Amelia Earhart flies solo across the Atlantic
Gas: $0.18/galPresident: Herbert Hoover"Night and Day" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: Grand Hotel
1942Turned 60
Battle of Midway turns the tide in the Pacific
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $3,175Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"White Christmas" — Bing CrosbyBest Picture: Mrs. Miniver
1944Died at 62
D-Day: Allied forces land at Normandy
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $3,400Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Swinging on a Star" — Bing CrosbyBest Picture: Going My Way
Key Achievements
- Led the 1919 eclipse expedition that provided the first observational proof of Einstein's general theory of relativity.
- Formulated the Eddington limit, the theoretical maximum luminosity a star can achieve before radiation pressure overcomes gravity.
- Wrote the influential book 'The Internal Constitution of the Stars', which laid the foundation for modern astrophysics.
- Served as the Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy at Cambridge University for over 30 years.
Did You Know?
He was a devout Quaker and was a conscientious objector during World War I.
He was an avid cyclist and once claimed he had ridden every road within 25 miles of Cambridge.
He calculated a fundamental number, the 'Eddington number', which was his estimate of the number of protons in the observable universe.
“Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.”
