Arthur Stanley Eddington

By Nina Carroll

Arthur Eddington was born on December 8^th in 1822 in Kendal England. An English astronomer, physicist and mathematician, he is known for his amazing research work in astrophysics. He was the first person to investigate the motion, internal structure and evolution of stars, Eddington is considered to be one of the greatest astronomers of all time.

Eddingtion’s father, Arthur Henry Eddington, was a great influence, and taught at a Quaker training college in Lancashire before moving to Kendal to become a principal at Stramongate School. He died of typhoid in 1884 before Arthur turned two. Eddington's mother, Sarah Ann Shout, came from Darlington and also came from a Quaker family. When Arthur Henry Eddington died she was left to take care of their kids, Arthur and his older sister. On November 22^nd in 1944 Eddingtion passed away in Cambridge, England.

In 1893 Arthur entered Brymelyn School in Weston-super-Mare. The school provided a good education with limited resources available to it and allowed Arthur to excel in math and English literature. He excelled fast and earned high recognition in math. Arthur was at such an advanced level the school was not able to teach him calculus. He received two scholarships, one to Trinity College, Cambridge and one to Somerset County.

At the end of 1901 Eddingtion was awarded a Natural Science scholarship of £75 a year to study at Trinity College, Cambridge. Going to school in 1902 he received, in March 1903, a Mathematics Scholarship of £100 a year instead of the Natural Science scholarship. At Trinity he was taught by three professors who greatly influenced Arthur, E T Whittaker, A N Whitehead and E W Barnes. He became Senior Wrangler in the Mathematical Tripos in 1904 and graduated with a M.A. in the following year.

In 1914 Eddington published his first book, “Stellar Movements and the structure of the Universe”. It laid the groundwork for scientific experimentation. In 1926 another book, “The Internal Construction of the Stars”, was published and still remains one of the best-selling books about astronomy. His “Mathematical Theory of Relativity” was the earliest work in English language that explained the mathematical details of Einstein’s theory of gravitation.

One of the founders of quantum mechanics, Erwin Schrödinger, was very interested in Eddington’s “unified field theory” program. Einstein also wrote four papers in 1923 in response, but no good results occurred. Eddington’s program was published after he died in a highly detailed and thoroughly documented form as Fundamental Theory (1946), a book that is, according to biographer A. V. Dougla, ‘incomprehensible to most readers and perplexing in many places to all but which represents a continuing challenge to some”.

I like to look at the stars. At my dad’s house you cannot see the stars that much because he lives in the suburbs. At my mom’s house every night and morning you can go outside and look at the many twinkling stars because she lives by the country. I like math and science because without it we would not have the technology we have today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography:

Arthur Eddington - Biography, Facts and Pictures." Famous Scientists - List and Biographies of Most Famous Scientists and Inventors in History. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. <http://www.famousscientists.org/arthur-eddington/>.

"Eddington biography." Welcome to the Turnbull Server. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. <http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Biographies/Eddington.html

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Arthur_Stanley_Eddington.jpg/250px-Arthur_Stanley_Eddington.jpg

“Gifford Lecture Series - Biography - Arthur Eddington." Gifford Lecture Series - Over 100 Years of Renowned Lectures on Natural Theology. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://www.giffordlectures.org/Author.asp?AuthorID=57>.

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