At a Glance: Arthur Eddington
- Born in 1882, Arthur Eddington was one of the world's leading astrophysicists
- He developed a successful mathematical model of stars that was based on shrewd assumptions, rather than detailed physical knowledge
- Eddington shot to fame when his expedition to study the 1919 solar eclipse confirmed Einstein's general theory of relativity
- In the 1920s and 1930s he became a respected popularizer of science
- A practising Quaker, Eddington saw much in common between science and religion
- His later years were spent on an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to unify relativity and quantum mechanics
From the halls of the Royal Astronomical Society to the shores of West Africa, Arthur Eddington was no ordinary scientist. He saw science not just as a series of intellectual goals but as a way of advancing humanity as a whole. He was the man who made Einstein famous and who first peered inside a star. He combined physics with astronomy to solve scientific mysteries, and helped to reconcile British and German scientists after the First World War. He inspired a generation to think about science not as a replacement for religion, aesthetics and emotion, but as a complementary partner contributing to a full appreciation of the world. Yet despite having played a major part in the growth of 20th-century science, Eddington's legacy has often been misunderstood.
To read the full version of this article - and the rest of the September issue of Physics World - please subscribe to our print edition.