Arthur Eddington
Arthur Eddington
Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington OM FRSwas an English astronomer, physicist, and mathematician of the early 20th century who did his greatest work in astrophysics. He was also a philosopher of science and a popularizer of science. The Eddington limit, the natural limit to the luminosity of stars, or the radiation generated by accretion onto a compact object, is named in his honor...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth28 December 1882
ocean science engineering
An ocean traveler has even more vividly the impression that the ocean is made of waves than that it is made of water.
stars flower petals
You cannot disturb the tiniest petal of a flower without the troubling of a distant star.
stars future simple
It is reasonable to hope that in the not too distant future we shall be competent to understand so simple a thing as a star.
science law giving
If someone points out to you that your pet theory of the universe is in disagreement with Maxwell's equations-then so much the worse for Maxwell's equations. If it is found to be contradicted by observation-well these experimentalists do bungle things sometimes. But if your theory is found to be against the second law of thermodynamics I can give you no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation.
stars atheism matter
We are bits of stellar matter that got cold by accident, bits of a star gone wrong.
hatred anger-and-fear boundaries
The pursuit of truth in science transcends national boundaries. It takes us beyond hatred and anger and fear. It is the best of us.
sensual mathematics
The mathematics is not there till we put it there.
science together add
Observation and theory get on best when they are mixed together, both helping one another in the pursuit of truth. It is a good rule not to put overmuch confidence in a theory until it has been confirmed by observation. I hope I shall not shock the experimental physicists too much if I add that it is also a good rule not to put overmuch confidence in the observational results that are put forward until they have been confirmed by theory.
wise light weight
Oh leave the Wise our measures to collate. One thing at least is certain, light has weight. One thing is certain and the rest debate. Light rays, when near the Sun, do not go straight.
children cutting men
Science is one thing, wisdom is another. Science is an edged tool, with which men play like children, and cut their own fingers.
dodge wave mechanic
Schrodinger's wave-mechanics is not a physical theory but a dodge-and a very good dodge too.
stars science hypothesis
An electron is no more (and no less) hypothetical than a star. Nowadays we count electrons one by one in a Geiger counter, as we count the stars one by one on a photographic plate.
ocean sea two
Let us suppose that an ichthyologist is exploring the life of the ocean. He casts a net into the water and brings up a fishy assortment. Surveying his catch, he proceeds in the usual manner of a scientist to systematize what it reveals. He arrives at two generalizations: (1) No sea-creature is less than two inches long. (2) All sea-creatures have gills. These are both true of his catch, and he assumes tentatively that they will remain true however often he repeats it.
observers
Who will observe the observers?