Background
Arthur Eddington was born on December 28, 1882, in Kendal, Westmorland, United Kingdom. He was a son of Quaker parents, Arthur Henry Eddington and Sarah Ann Shout. Eddington had a sister.
mathematician philosopher physicist scientist astronomer
Arthur Eddington was born on December 28, 1882, in Kendal, Westmorland, United Kingdom. He was a son of Quaker parents, Arthur Henry Eddington and Sarah Ann Shout. Eddington had a sister.
Arthur Eddington studied at Brynmelyn School and proved to be a most capable scholar, particularly in mathematics and English literature. He won an entrance scholarship to Owen’s College (now the University of Manchester), where he studied physics. There his teachers were renowned physicist Arthur Schuster and mathematician Horace Lamb, and both of them inspired him to a great extent. Eddington received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics with First Class Honours in 1902.
Eddington was awarded a scholarship to Trinity College in 1902. In 1904, he became the first-ever second-year student to be placed as Senior Wrangler. He received a Master of Arts degree in 1905. He also carried on experimental work on thermionic emission in the Cavendish Laboratory.
Arthur Eddington started his career as a teacher of mathematics in 1905. He taught mathematics to first-year engineering students at Trinity College. In 1906, he was appointed to the post of chief assistant to the Astronomer Royal at the Royal Greenwich Observatory. At that time he worked on a detailed analysis of the parallax of 433 Eros on photographic plates that had started in 1900. As a result, Eddington developed a new statistical method based on the apparent drift of two background stars. In 1913, he took up a post of the Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy. One year later, Eddington became the director of the entire Cambridge Observatory. In 1914, he published his first book Stellar Movements and the Structure of the Universe.
In 1916, Arthur Eddington started his investigation of possible physical explanations for Cepheid variable stars. He analyzed the ‘Emden polytropic models’ which considered the stars as a sphere of gas and its thermal pressure which counters the gravitational force. He concluded that in addition to the thermal pressure, radiation pressure is also a requisite to keep the stars from collapsing. Eddington and Astronomer Royal Frank Watson Dyson organized two expeditions to observe a solar eclipse in 1919 that provided the first confirmation of the Einstein relativity formula for the deflection of light in a gravitational field. In the 1920s, he wrote a research paper called The Internal Constitution of the Stars in which Eddington anticipated the discovery and mechanism of nuclear fusion processes in stars. He also wrote such books as Space, Time and Gravitation: An Outline of the General Relativity Theory and Report on the relativity theory of gravitation.
Eddington discovered the mass-luminosity relation for stars in 1924. The theory stated that the size of a star and its luminosity are related by direct variation. Eddington's theory appeared in mature form in 1926 as The Internal Constitution of the Stars, which became an important text for training an entire generation of astrophysicists. During the 1920s and 30s, Eddington gave numerous lectures, interviews, and radio broadcasts on relativity, in addition to his textbook The Mathematical Theory of Relativity, and later, quantum mechanics. In 1926, he published The Internal Constitution of Stars. He also penned some philosophical books like ‘The Nature of the Physical World’ which was published in 1928, and the following year, the book ‘Science and the Unseen World’ was printed. He wrote the book called The Mathematical Theory of Relativity, in which he interpreted the cosmological constant to mean that the universe is "self-gauging".
Arthur Eddington was an English astronomer, physicist, and philosopher, known as one of the founders of modern astrophysics. He established many renowned theories, which have been named after him, such as ‘Eddington number’ and ‘Eddington limit’. He wrote a number of articles that announced and explained Einstein's theory of general relativity to the English-speaking world. Eddington performed fundamental research on the theory of the inner structure of stars. He anticipated the discovery and mechanism of nuclear fusion processes in stars. Eddington also gave a theoretical interpretation of the relationship between mass and luminosity.
Arthur Eddington received the Smith's Prize for the development of a new statistical method based on the apparent drift of two background stars in 1907. He also received the Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal, Henry Draper Medal, Royal Medal and the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society. In 1939, Eddington received the Order of Merit.
(Long out of print, this classic book investigates the exp...)
1933(This is an illustrated version of a classic of physics-re...)
1939(This vintage book contains a fascinating book on scientif...)
1935Arthur Eddington argued for a deeply rooted philosophical harmony between scientific investigation and religious mysticism, and also that the positivist nature of relativity and quantum physics provided new room for personal religious experience and free will. Unlike many other spiritual scientists, he rejected the idea that science could provide proof of religious propositions. Eddington believed that the world is opened not only through observation and logical thinking, but also through religious insight into the “invisible world”.
Arthur Eddington wrote The Nature of the Physical World in which he stated that materialism had been conclusively overthrown with the development of relativity and, even more importantly, quantum physics, and that the only viable alternative was a form of idealism. He said that the world should be conceived as made of ‘mind-stuff’, that consciousness is continuous with subconsciousness, and that beyond that lies ‘something indefinite but continuous with our mental nature’. Eddington believed that we can have no conception of that which is not conscious or continuous with conscious substance, for all that we can ever know is of a mental nature.
Eddington’s popular books and lectures were designed to defend a liberal position in which science was perfectly compatible with traditional values, thus retaining both religion and science as critical elements of British identity and culture. Eddington also emphasized the connection between the language of science and everyday language.
Quotations:
"We have learnt that the exploration of the external world by the methods of physical science leads not to a concrete reality but to a shadow world of symbols, beneath which those methods are unadapted for penetrating. Feeling that there must be more behind, we return to our starting point in human consciousness – the one centre where more might become known. There we find other stirrings, other revelations than those conditioned by the world of symbols... Physics most strongly insists that its methods do not penetrate behind the symbolism. Surely then that mental and spiritual nature of ourselves, known in our minds by an intimate contact transcending the methods of physics, supplies just that... which science is admittedly unable to give."
"Physics has in the main contented itself with studying the abridged edition of the book of nature."
"We used to think that if we knew one, we knew two, because one and one are two. We are finding that we must learn a great deal more about 'and'."
"It is impossible to trap modern physics into predicting anything with perfect determinism because it deals with probabilities from the outset."
"It is difficult for the matter-of-fact physicist to accept the view that the substratum of everything is of mental character. But no one can deny that mind is the first and most direct thing in our experience, and all else is remote inference – inference either intuitive or deliberate."
"The mind has an outlook which transcends the natural law by which it functions."
"You will understand the true spirit neither of science nor of religion unless seeking is placed in the forefront."
"It is difficult for the matter-of-fact physicist to accept the view that the substratum of everything is of mental character. But no one can deny that mind is the first and most direct thing in our experience, and all else is remote inference – inference either intuitive or deliberate."
Arthur Eddington was the Chairman of the National Peace Council. He also served as President of the Physical Society and the Royal Astronomical Society. Eddington was a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Arthur Eddington was never married.
