Black and white photo of Albert Einstein.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Einstein’s theory of relativity is still standing 100 years later and the world is celebrating the scientist’s remarkable achievements. The theory of general relativity changed the way scientists have been looking at the universe for the last century and it is still the foundation for defining concepts such as time, space and gravity in modern science.
The theory was first written down by Albert Einstein in Berlin 100 years ago during a series of lectures in late 1915 and boasted some revolutionary concepts and predictions about the universe, many of which have been since supported and proven as being true by experimental evidence, such as is the case with black holes and gravitational waves.
Many of Einstein’s predictions, like the existence of wormholes in space and the ability to travel back in time, have not yet been proven by modern scientific experiments. But some of his discoveries have influenced and made possible the development of several modern inventions still present in our day to day lives, such as smartphones and GPS systems.
Albert Einstein was a faculty member of the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) at the Princeton University since 1933 until his death and had an office at the university for many years. Princeton is now celebrating the 100 years that have passed since the brilliant scientist walked its halls and worked within its campus, as well as the endurance of his theory.
Einstein’s work on gravity completes earlier work made by Isaac Newton in the field. Einstein’s theory of general relativity explains how the attractive force of gravity occurs and completes the information previously published by Newton, which had predicted several properties of the gravitational force and had recognized this force as a universal one.
But, while Newton’s theory contained a logical error, specifically the idea that the effects of gravity could be transferred instantly through space, Einstein proved in the special theory of relativity, a predecessor to his general theory of relativity, the fact that no signal could travel through empty space faster than the speed of light. This implied that the effects of gravity would not be transferred from one point to another in space instantly, but would take a certain amount of time to travel from one point to the other.
Several physicists have tried to modify Einstein’s theory of relativity for many reasons, including the lack of correspondence between it and the other major theory developed during the 20th century, that of quantum mechanics. But despite veritable efforts, Einstein’s theory is now being celebrated for standing strong a hundred years later.
Image source: www.pixabay.com
Matthew Slotkin
