New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1923-01-01
Biggest Task
Up Science
In New Year
by Edwin y. slosson
Scientist and Author

Il
The most important scientific event
Of the coming year. so far as can be
foretold. will be the confirmation or
contradiction OF Einstein's theory OF
relatively.
Already the evidence is In hand.
Director w. w. Campbell OF the Lick
observatory has returned to California
with the precious plates that may SET
tie the question which Is right In re-
gard TO gravitation-Isaac Newton or
Albert Einstein. He says they are
good negatives and likely TO prove
something.
be known to the world until tho
images Of the faint stars surround
Ing the eclipsed sun are measured
with the micrometer of thousandth
of an inch to see II they are farther
apart than when the sun is not in
their midst. If they are so separated
and to the right amount. It will show
Einstein was right when he said In
1915 that ray OF light from star
passing near by heavy body like the
sun would be bent out OF its straight
path toward the sun.
To get these few photographs the
American astronomers had to travel
across the Pacific to Australia and
up the west coast OF the island con-
tinent to place in the desert known
as Wallal. Why did they go there?
Because 1t was in the desert-and
therefore likely to be clear Weather
during the six minutes of total eclipse.
Other astronomers went farther
and Jared worse. The British. Ger
man and Dutch astronomers chose
Christmas Island, in the Indian
Ocean, as their observation point for
the eclipse of September and it hap
pened to be cloudy day so they
had to return without any evidence
on the Einstein theory.
Triple Test
Einstein, like Portals suitors, has
to pass three-fold test. He pre-
dicted, besides the DETECTION of light
rays passing by the sun, that light
rays proceeding from the sun would
have their waves so heightened that
their spectral lines would be showed
toward the red end.
Some astronomers say that there is
such a shift. Others find more of the
sort required. This question is being
most thoroughly tested by DR.. c. f.
st. John at the Mount Wilson OBJ
,ervatory
The third test, or rather the first
n point of time, is the famous ex-
pertinent made by Nicholson and
Morley In 1856 to determine the rate
If either drift. This gave the dis
result that there seemed
o be no ether at all.
Einstein interprets this to mean
hat everything shortens as its speed
Increases: that at a velocity of 161,-
100 miles second footrule would
hrink to six inches anG watch
would lose 80 minutes an hour
Apples still Fall
Professor d. c. Miller of Cleve-
and is now repeating the Nicholson
iorley experiment on a more extern
i've scale and with more exact ap-
'aratus. but his results so far are
nconclusive.
But we may expect all three of
HeSe Crucldf experiments 10 UTiHs
ut convincing evidence within the
heory. If the theory is confirmed
does not mean, as some have
astily concluded. that ''gravitation
ill be abolished" No. Apples will
till fall from trees So will boys,
they do not hold on tight.
But 1t means that boys In college
i'll have to study geometry Of four
r more dimensions instead of the
lain and simple Euclid that they
lake such a fuss over now. And 1t
leans that we elders will have to
" to adjust our inelastic minds to
leas more revolutionary than those
lat were introduced into the world
Y Copernicus and Darwin.