1. The distortion of the oval orbits of planets round the sun (confirmed in the case of the planet Mercury).
2. The deviation of light-rays in a gravitational field (confirmed by the English Solar Eclipse expedition).
3. The shifting of spectral lines towards the red end of the spectrum in the case of light coming to us from stars of appreciable mass (not yet confirmed).
The great attraction of the theory is its logical consistency. If any deduction from it should prove untenable, it must be given up. A modification of it seems impossible without destruction of the whole.
No one must think that Newton’s great creation can be overthrown in any real sense by this or by any other theory. His clear and wide ideas will for ever retain their significance as the foundation on which our modern conceptions of physics have been built.
[1] Republished by permission from “Science.” [↑]
EINSTEIN’S LAW OF GRAVITATION[1]
BY
Prof. J. S. Ames
Johns Hopkins University