Eddington, Lemaitre and the discovery of the expanding universe. (arXiv:1907.12297v1 [physics.hist-ph])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/physics/1/au:+ORaifeartaigh_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Cormac O'Raifeartaigh</a>
One of the leading astronomers and theorists of his generation, Arthur
Stanley Eddington was an important early proponent of the general theory of
relativity in both theory and experiment. Yet when his former student Georges
Lemaitre suggested in 1927 that the well-known redshifts of the spiral nebulae
could be explained in terms of a relativistic expansion of space, Eddington
paid no attention for three years. In this paper, we consider the reasons
Lemaitre’s hypothesis attracted little attention when it was first articulated.
We review several factors that have previously been discussed in the
literature, from Lemaitre’s status as an early-career researcher to his
decision to publish in a lesser-known journal, from the language of the article
to conceptual difficulties associated with time-varying cosmologies. We discuss
two new factors that have not been previously been considered, namely the
technical challenge presented by Lematre’s analysis to contemporaneous readers
and the preliminary nature of the observational data he used to support his
model.
One of the leading astronomers and theorists of his generation, Arthur
Stanley Eddington was an important early proponent of the general theory of
relativity in both theory and experiment. Yet when his former student Georges
Lemaitre suggested in 1927 that the well-known redshifts of the spiral nebulae
could be explained in terms of a relativistic expansion of space, Eddington
paid no attention for three years. In this paper, we consider the reasons
Lemaitre’s hypothesis attracted little attention when it was first articulated.
We review several factors that have previously been discussed in the
literature, from Lemaitre’s status as an early-career researcher to his
decision to publish in a lesser-known journal, from the language of the article
to conceptual difficulties associated with time-varying cosmologies. We discuss
two new factors that have not been previously been considered, namely the
technical challenge presented by Lematre’s analysis to contemporaneous readers
and the preliminary nature of the observational data he used to support his
model.
http://arxiv.org/icons/sfx.gif
