Einstein's Jury: The Race to Test Relativity 1st Edition

In prose not readily accessible to the average reader, science writer Crelinsten, who has written radio and film documentaries about Einstein, explores how the theory of relativity was greeted by members of the astronomical community. By focusing on astronomers rather than the theoretical physicists more often associated with Einstein, he offers new insights. Crelinsten presents the surprising fact that virtually all astronomers engaged in crafting the empirical tests of relativity for a period of almost two decades had very little understanding of the theoretical physics and mathematics underlying Einstein's principles. Nonetheless, astronomers from around the world spent years chasing solar eclipses in an attempt to gather data, and each held strong opinions about whether or not Einstein's theory was correct. Crelinsten is best when discussing the attacks on Einstein and his theory, demonstrating that some arose from ignorance, some from petty jealousy and some from anti-Semitism. He uses the introduction of the theory of relativity to present a case study of how innovative scientific ideas enter both the scientific community and the consciousness of the general public. Crelinsten provides so much astronomical detail, however, that only true aficionados are likely to remain interested throughout. B&w photos and illus. (Aug.)
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"In this impressively detailed yet readable scholarly work, Jeffrey Crelinsten examines the history of early attempts by astronomers to put Einstein's theory to the test. . . . As well as casting new light on a neglected aspect of relativity studies, Einstein's Jury provides a fascinating analysis of science in action: the scrupulous weighing of evidence to assay--as far as is humanly possible--the truth of the matter."--Peter D. Smith, Times Literary Supplement

"By focusing on astronomers rather than the theoretical physicists more often associated with Einstein, Jeffrey Crelinsten offers new insights. . . . He uses the introduction of the theory of relativity to present a case study of how innovative scientific ideas enter both the scientific community and the consciousness of the general public."--Publishers Weekly

"Jeffrey Crelinsten's fascinating Einstein's Jury: The Race to Test Relativity tracks the ways in which one particular community, astronomers, handled Einstein's relativity theories, roughly between 1910 and 1925. . . . Crelinsten has done a great service and deserves our thanks for tracking so beautifully the American astronomical response to relativity between the wars."--Peter Galison, Science

"Crisply written and impressively researched. . . . [T]wo elements make Einstein's Jury stand out: First, it looks at astronomers, rather than physicists or mathematicians, providing a focus that comparatively offer a genuinely novel perspective on the question of relativity's reception. . . . It belongs to that rare breed of works that will be of genuine interest and enjoyment to the casual reader while at the same time being required reading for the specialist."--Suman Seth, American Scientist

"Einstein's Jury tells a fascinating and largely unknown story of how Einstein's revolutionary ideas on the nature of space and time were received, understood, misunderstood, tested and finally confirmed by astronomers of the day, giving birth to relativistic cosmology."--Alan S.McRae, Mathematical Reviews

"Einstein's Jury is a story of true scientific effort and petty human weaknesses and eventualities. It is hard to put down this tale of how American astronomers, equipped with the best instruments in the world, struggled for or against the observational evidence for three experimental consequences of Einstein's theory of general relativity."--József Illy, Isis

"Einstein's Jury is an extremely well researched and readable account of how Einstein's innovative theories were received in the early decades of the twentieth century. The book follows the birth of modern astrophysics from the first trickles off Einstein's pen in 1905 to the emergence of relativistic cosmology in the mid-1930s. . . . Crelinsten's account of Relativity's twenty-year struggle for acceptance by the scientific community is told with all the tension of a well-paced thriller. I have no doubt that professional historians and popular science readers alike will thoroughly enjoy Einstein's Jury."--Gerard McMahon, Astronomy and Space

"Crelinsten charts an important but understudied episode in the history of modern physics: the empirical tests of general relativity. . . . Crelinsten is a believer in details. He diligently documents exchanges of ideas, conducts of experiments, and steps of arguments. He utilizes two kinds of sources. Regarding Einstein and other European physicists, Crelinsten relies on published documents and the secondary literatures. To delineate American astronomers' activities, he uses a lot of unpublished archival substances."--Chen-Pang Yeang, University of Toronto Quarterly

"Crelinsten is to be congratulated on having made a substantial contribution to our understanding of the reception of general relativity by American astronomers, and the central role they played in placing the theory's astronomical predictions beyond doubt."--Andrew Warwick, British Journal for the History of Science

"Crelinsten . . . is a good writer, who, without repeating himself, periodically sums up his discussion and sets things up for the next section so that we always know what to look forward to and are reminded of what we have just learned. . . . I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in how revolutionary scientific ideas find acceptance within the scientific community."--Naomi Pasachoff, Metascience