Einstein Had A Hard Time Thinking About The Shape of The Universe

Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity revolutionized how we think about light, gravity, and heavenly bodies today. Through this theory, Einstein was able to calculate how the Sun's mass bends the space around it. But Einstein didn't stop there; In 1917, just two years after his general theory of relativity, Einstein went on to the quest of modeling the shape of the Universe. If his theory modeled how mass is distributed throughout the Universe, Einstein thought he could calculate the Universe's shape. It was a bold move, and he thought he might be sent to a madhouse with his controversial ideas about the cosmos.

But without any data to work with, how could Einstein model the shape of the Universe? The answer was with simplifications, assumptions, and estimations. Less data available meant more freedom to speculate. And speculate Einstein did, and he drew from his worldview. Back at that time, most people believed that the Universe was static, and Einstein belonged to this group. He did not like the idea of an expanding Universe.

In 1929, however, astronomer Edwin Hubble proved that the Universe was expanding. Two years later, in 1931, Einstein discarded his idea of a static universe when he met the astronomer in California.

(Image Credit: ParentRap/ Pixabay)


Newest 1
Newest 1 Comment

The Space - Time concept gave GR to Einstein.Universe is static as he added cosmological constant to original equation of GR.But,Hubble viewed that universe is expanding,thus ending the static universe model.
So,space - time corelation is a dynamic concept results expansion as formulated by Hubble.
This can be noted that galaxy does not has any motion,but has simply expansion,the expansion of space with time.The space-time corelation is dynamic in nature.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Login to comment.




Email This Post to a Friend
"Einstein Had A Hard Time Thinking About The Shape of The Universe"

Separate multiple emails with a comma. Limit 5.

 

Success! Your email has been sent!

close window
X

This website uses cookies.

This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using this website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

I agree
 
Learn More