Sir Arthur Eddington
| Sir Arthur Eddington | |
|---|---|
Arthur Stanley Eddington (1882–1944)
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| Born | Arthur Stanley Eddington 28 December 1882 Kendal, Westmorland, England |
| Died | 22 November 1944 (aged 61) Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom |
| Residence | England |
| Citizenship | British |
| Nationality | English |
| Fields | Astrophysics |
| Institutions | Trinity College, Cambridge |
| Alma mater |
University of Manchester Trinity College, Cambridge |
| Academic advisors | Robert Alfred Herman |
| Doctoral students |
Leslie Comrie Gerald Merton G. L. Clark Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin S. Chandrasekhar Hermann Bondi |
| Known for |
Eddington limit Eddington number Eddington–Dirac number Eddington–Finkelstein coordinates |
| Influences |
Horace Lamb Arthur Schuster John William Graham |
| Notable awards |
Royal SocietyRoyal Medal (1928) Smith's Prize (1907) RAS Gold Medal (1924) Henry Draper Medal (1924) Bruce Medal (1924) Knights Bachelor (1930) Order of Merit (1938) |
Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington OM FRS (28 December 1882 – 22 November 1944) was 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 populariser 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 honour.
He is famous for his work concerning the theory of relativity. Eddington wrote a number of articles that announced and explained Einstein's theory of general relativity to the English-speaking world. World War I severed many lines of scientific communication and new developments in German science were not well known in England. He also conducted an expedition to observe the Solar eclipse of 29 May 1919 that provided one of the earliest confirmations of general relativity, and he became known for his popular expositions and interpretations of the theory.
Eddington was born 28 December 1882 in Kendal, Westmorland (now Cumbria), England, the son of Quaker parents, Arthur Henry Eddington, headmaster of the Quaker School, and Sarah Ann Shout.
His father taught at a Quaker training college in Lancashire before moving to Kendal to become headmaster of Stramongate School. He died in the typhoid epidemic which swept England in 1884. His mother was left to bring up her two children with relatively little income. The family moved to Weston-super-Mare where at first Stanley (as his mother and sister always called Eddington) was educated at home before spending three years at a preparatory school. The family lived at a house called Varzin, 42 Walliscote Road, Weston-super-Mare. There is a commemorative plaque on the building explaining Sir Arthur's contribution to science.
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