While new technological advancements grace humankind every day, it is astonishing that some long-gone scientists have produced research that is very much relevant today. As new research about the universe comes to light, we see that research done years ago is being proven right. One of these brilliant scientists that have stood the test of time is the great Albert Einstein. Unbelievable as it may be, the studies and theories put forth and born from his exceptional mind are still aiding scientists of today to understand the world better.
Thus, his work holds imperative value and should be studied even today. Maybe that is why it was a great idea for Jeffrey O’Callaghan to write a book about it.
Ever since I picked up “Einstein’s Explanation of the Unexplainable,” I’ve been completely engrossed and enraptured. While I always had a great admiration for Einstein and his work, I never really understood it on a fundamental level. This book helped me do just that. I must give credit where it’s due, of course. The author does a great job of explaining theories that would otherwise go above my head.
The book is filled with the theories and works of Einstein’s life. But… they’re explained in a way that makes it easy for just about anyone to understand. That means you don’t need to be an expert in the field to grasp the concepts. You can just be curious or want to know more.
For example, let’s discuss one of the topics mentioned in the book that captured my attention. In the very first article of the book titled, “Do the Laws of Physics Break Down in a Black Hole?”, he talks about one of the most important theories that have plagued many a scientist back in the day. This, of course, is the theory of general relativity.
Black holes pose a concern because they are enormously large and incredibly remote. Our ability to see their backsides is obstructed, and the signals coming from that side are weak. This makes it challenging to explain and nearly impossible to observe the swirling, extremely hot materials pouring into them (the accretion disc).
When Einstein first explained his theory of general relativity, it was considered extremely outlandish. What is the theory? Gravitational lensing is a phenomenon that amplifies light and causes it to move along a different trajectory than it might otherwise, each of which is caused by the distortion of space and time that large objects like black holes cause.
The English astronomer Arthur Eddington and colleagues made the first recorded observations of this phenomenon during a full solar eclipse in 1919, which propelled Einstein and his untested hypothesis to notoriety. Normally, stars stay in one spot in the night sky, whereas during the eclipse, those that were behind the Sun looked to have moved because the Sun’s gravity altered the path that their light took to reach earth.
In this chapter, he also answers the question posed in the chapter title itself, but I’ll leave that for you to discover.
Later Jeff
