good evening about him to "einstein's war" at the lynn howe library and the national world war i museum good evening and welcome to instant. we're a program in partnership with linda howell, the library of national war one museum and memorial. two cultural institutions located right ear in kansas city, missouri. and we are delighted to be able to stand at that intersection of science and history and bring in great conversations like this one. now it is my pleasure and my honor to introduce the president of linda hall library, lisa barry. thank you, laura. we also are pleased to present tonight's program in association with the national world war i museum and memorial. for the past several years, our

two institutions and worked together to present programs on a wide range of topics, illustrating the role played by science in the first world war. tonight's event, ice tyrants war, how triumph amid the vicious nationalism of world war i, discusses the effects of that war on the global scientific community and the obstacles that one member of that community, albert, einstein had to overcome. on behalf of everyone at the london hall library, thank you for joining us this evening. now i will turn it back to laura to introduce tonight's distinguished speaker. >> lisa, thank you very much. it is truly my honor to introduce dr. matthew stanley. he is a professor of the history of science that new york university. he obtained his ph.d. from harvard. he is the author of einstein's war, how relative triumphed in the vicious nationalism of

world war i. that story of how pacifism and friendship led to a scientific revolution. he has also written practical mystic, religion, science, and a yes addington husk sleaze church and maxwell's demon which explore the complex relationships between science and religion in history. and potentially my favorite introductory remark in my tenure career here, he is also a host of what the f. a podcast that you can find on all streaming services. go to you streaming service of choice. it is a podcast, i think you might enjoy. but if you want to toss it out before you start uploading it, you are in for a treat. you have an hour ahead. again, we welcome your questions. but even more so we welcome you. dr. matt stanley. we fought >> thanks, laura.

and thanks to the national one museum and memorial as well as the little library for putting this together. i'm really delighted to be here. i think i am supposed to say that i would rather be there in person, but as i am watching the locations that people are putting into the chat, i have to say it is really extraordinary that i am going to get to talk to people from coast to coast and literally around the world. so, as perhaps this will work out better than if i had actually been there in person. so, we are here of course to talk about einstein tonight. let me get my screen going properly here. an einstein, and sometimes we feel like we all know. his name is synonymous with genius.

he is the iconic science. he is literally the image you think of when you think of science and scientists. and kind of what i want to talk about tonight, the story that i want to tell, is how that came to be. and in some sense how extraordinary and unusual it was that in the space of just a few weeks, einstein goes from being and obscure academic to literally being recognized all around the world. and one of the aspects of the story i think are particularly fascinating is that he didn't have much to do with the sudden change. that is, it wasn't just because he was a genius. he became famous because he wasn't a particular place at a particular time. and specifically, that was in berlin during the middle of the great war. he was blockaded, he was starving. it might not sound like this would be conducive to a scientific revolution, but there was one extra element to the story that made all the difference. and that was einstein's

friends. that is, it wasn't just him, it was a whole network of people. and we are going to begin the story not with perhaps the old sagely and stein that we all know well, nor the young heroic insulin whose exploits get coated. but rather, the middle age einstein. he is not a padded clerk anymore. he has held a couple of professorships. and as we are picking up the story, it is the summer of 1914 and he is moving to berlin from switzerland. he's actually moving back to germany for the first time. he was born there in the southern town of home to a secular jewish family. he came to really dislike german forms of authority and classroom instruction. through various experiences, he became what he describes as a socialist internationalist. so switzerland was a very comfortable place for him. and moving back to germany was

a matter of some emotional discomfort. he remembered his difficult childhood there. but he had been sought after, recruited by some of the finest minds in german science. in particular, his contributions to it will eventually become the theory of quantum mechanics. but it is important to note that even though he is being recruited for this job, he is not yet famous. certainly no one outside of physics knew his name, and really most people within physics wouldn't have known his name either unless they were working on this very specific aspect of quantum theory. and while einstein was recruited to work on the quantum theory, his baby, what he really wanted to spend a scientific time working on was a theory of relativity. and the theory of relativity comes in a couple of different parts. the first part of it is what was called the special theory of relativity that he published in 1905. and as the name suggests, that applied to only very specific

and restricted situations. it wasn't applicable to many different kinds of circumstances that you might be interested in. but what i want to do, and he really hadn't had the time to do this in my 1914, was create what he called the general theory of relativity. this was an attempt to extend his conclusions from 1905 to literally the entire universe. to all the conceivable situations in which one might be interested in the laws of nature. and he hopes that moving to this new position in berlin, he will finally be able to do that. these very few teaching responsibilities, very few administrative responsibilities, but the hiccup turns out that he had been having an affair with a woman in berlin for some years. so upon moving to berlin with his family, instead of being able to throw himself into the science, he had to deal with some extremely rocky relationship which. and in fact his first wife,

malaysia, leaves him and takes the children. and is devastated by this. he had a very deep connection to his children. but of course this is all someone fault. so is a media thing he has to do is find a place to sleep. he crashes on his friend fits our birds catch for a while, and harbor helps counseling through the emotional wreckage of the end of his marriage. but eventually, einstein is able to settle down and work. as i said, what he is open to work on is this theory of general relativity. general relativity is the idea that the right way to understand the universe is not as a universe made a space and made a time, but rather this four dimensional congratulation of space and time in which we three-dimensional creatures don't really experience the universe in the right way.

so nonsense universe, space and time are warped by the presence of planets, stars. we talk about the fabric of space time being able to curve and stretch. and a lot of the strange things that we associate with relativity. things like locks running slow, twins aging at different rates, energy turning into matter, matter turning into energy, or all consequences of the sort of great vision that einstein has of the right way to approach the universe in a scientific and philosophical something. unfortunately for ads down, he discovers early on in the process of trying to develop general relativity that the mathematics necessary are extremely complicated. and einstein was not a very good student back in college. so it turns out that he had actually skipped the mathematics classes that he needed to develop this particular theory. so in a rather extraordinary turn of events, he goes back to

his friend whose notes he had copied so he could pass that class. the sao marcell grossman pictured here, who was by this time of professional mathematician, to ask him for help learning the mathematics that he was supposed to have learned back in. college as the story goes, einstein flings open takes flings open the door and says you must elbow. crazy. he helped overthrow the superstructure of the theory, einstein have been working on the scientific theory. he published little on the theory at this point what he called his draft version seem pretty good. in particular, by the summer of 1914 he had achieved a milestone. it is not just that he had sort of formally put the equation out there, but rather he had gotten the theory to a point where he had to been tested. this was an important thing for any.

he knew that he needed some sort of empirical. test some physical thing in the world that you can point to and say, this is why you should believe that my theory is correct. in a particular job you are talking about here, there's actually three glass the test. so this is the one that is sort of at hand in 1914. something called a gravitational reflection of white. so i'm theory predicts that gravity should pull not just on heavy objects like tables and professors, but also on the most ephemeral things. that is light. so the path of light should be bent by gravity the same way that the path of a thrown ball is bent by gravity. as well. but the effects is very tiny and you need an extremely strong gravitational source to observe this affects. so the way that einstein figured out you could see this effect was if you waited for a

solar eclipse and then looked for a star that was supposed to be near the edge of the sun stuff. . from our point of view here on earth. look we see that bending of light looks like. is at the start appears to be in the wrong place. that is that it is displace word from it should be. the effect is very. small so you need very sophisticated equipment, very skilled observers to see it. and you also have to wait for a solar clips which is somewhat where. now fortunately for einstein, very soon after he arrives in berlin, there is a solar eclipse predicted two acre. specifically in crimea which at the time was in russia. one of einstein's acolytes, a fan of his, is a trained astronomer, a guy named -- who agreed to go to russia

observe the eclipse. and try to get photographs to prove that einstein is right. at this time, this is a normal thing for scientists to do. that is, to cross borders and go to do scientific projects. there were a half dozen cruise of astronomers in crimea area crimea to try to observe the solar eclipse, not necessarily to test the theory but just to see the eclipse. so einstein is biting his nails in berlin waiting to hear results from this expedition. the rest of the world doesn't care in the slightest. einstein's theory is of no interest except to a tiny handful of people. everyone else in the world is paying attention to in august 1914 is the culmination of geopolitical conflicts, the arms race, political tension and the spark of the -- and bosnia and herzegovina. that initiate's the beginning of world war i. scientists watch this happen,

as the rest of the world does, and find that they hope they can hold themselves above the fray. that science is supposed to be an international enterprise, disconnected from human things like politics and conquest. in particular, as the war began, the british association for advancement of science is holding its annual meeting -- an international meeting as it turned out -- and many of the scientists there are -- and they declare that scientists should be above all politics. this seemed like a moment for how science could rise above. one of the scientists in attendance there

was arthur stanley eddington, a professor at cambridge, and also important for our story, also a quaker. this meant he was a pacifist and internationalist. he was very pleased to see at the meeting these international outreach efforts. but this was almost immediately bashed. in fact, the moment that one friend was supposed to toast to observe, he was arrested by russian police as a german spy and and spends much of the war actually locked up in prison. scientists on both sides go into hostile national camps. german intellectuals here they give a famous declaration, declaring their solidarity with the german army. army. this included many of einstein's friends and mentors. british scientists say germans could no longer be trusted to do science. this is a

particularly famous astronomer, turner, and he did not agree that the lusitania was sunk. -- the german scientists had gone out of the way to declare their adhesion of these things. german ideals are infinitely farther from the conception of science. scientists began attacking each other. the nobel prize winner dean caused called for german scientists to no longer be cited in papers. he said that now german should use the term equity partitions theorem again. he has accused british scientists of taking credit for german work, and literally the trenches cross across the telegraph lines that scientists use to communicate data back and forth. scientific journals were

withdrawn, and no longer sent to countries. british scientists working in germany and austria are arrested. einstein finds himself horrified, in particular discovering that he is essentially the only pacifist among the scientific community. he joins organizations, he tries to keep up against the war. he is largely ignored. because he is a person of no consequence at this time. he writes to a friend of his at this time, saying i love science twice as much in these times. i feel so painful for people about their emotional judgment and consequences. we scientists in particular must foster international relations all the more. and we must distance ourselves from emotions of war. this did not have currency even among scientists. einstein felt these issues, essentially, immediately. as the war ends, the royal navy blockades

germany and germany falls short on food within a week of the beginning of the war. this is a test. hundreds of die thousands of germans of die of starvation starvation--. einstein einstein was is nearly one of nearly one of them them. he was he is starving, starving, he was very very sick, he sick, he has only survived trouble because he was getting surviving as he was getting food packages sent from food packages sent by friends in his friends and switzerland -- switzerland. he lost he loses 50 pounds into. monsey comes as hands are always cold and then he cannot write. for much of the time he is bedridden and actually writes the fundamental papers of modern khan mullah g while under blankets. he feels isolated politically, and intellectually. one of the places he looks for intellectual and social companionship is actually in the netherlands. the netherlands are neutral during the war. so he can go

and visit there and -- and particularly the three gentlemen on the right side and there are physics friends. he enjoys being around the other internationalists and people of left wing politics those are the people that he discusses relative really with these become the only people in the world to know about this work, on general relativity, and as i've suggested, they stop scientific papers just as well as scientific armaments. and who would want to hear what a german scientist had to say in any case? some of his dutch friends -- he is an astronomer. the world should hear about einstein -- and so it happens that he speaks english. so he sends a letter to the royal astronomical society in london describing einstein's work. it so happens that the secretary of the society is arthur stanley eddington. i can't

overemphasize how lucky einstein was that addington was the one who opened up. and this is because as i've been suggesting few scientists were even willing to think about this. -- but eddington was a pacifist and internationalist and thought that international relations within science were absolutely critical. he also was one of the few people that understood complicated mathematics. so as it happened, he was chosen as the one corresponded britain who is willing and able to think about einstein and grapple with relativity. and so eddington is excited about the science. he recognizes the scientific significance. and he, like einstein, was feeling isolated. there are very few people he can talk to in england who, within the scientific community, share his views. eddington is very worried about the future

of international it seemed to him that it might be ruptured forever. but suggesting that germans as a people could no longer be trusted to cite jens, seemed to him absurd, and which would surely be damage for the long term even working hard to get his. colleagues to think in international ways, and to moderate some of their anti german hatred. he does this through practical terms. he points out that problems of astronomy are worldwide. latitude and longer toot lines don't care about borders. he also appeals to philosophical, idealistic and even spiritual concerns, saying that there is a conviction to the pursuit of truth, whether we are in the vast system of the stars, there are vast differences. and this is used as a barrier -- it's

interesting to note that what eddington he's doing here, by taking the pacifist views to the war in general and applying them specifically to the realm of science. these include humanizing the enemy, making contact across the trenches and showing the world -- that the world is a better place united than it is divided. he invites his colleagues, i think not as a symbolic german but as a friend. the german scientist -- called him a pirate, a baby killer, try to work up a little fury, says the worship of a empire an aerial patriotism of that science has brought the world a disaster. as addington is grappling with these nationals and scientists, --

so einstein for him can be a symbol of science, reaching above the chasm formed by the war, showing that world changing science depended on international cooperation. on scientists working together. einstein was perfect for this not just because he was a brilliant physicist but because since einstein was a pacifist as well, -- as a peaceful german, einstein could be just what a quaker scientists needed to convince his colleagues of the error of their ways. that his relativity could show what was lost when science became consumed by this wartime hatred. but remember, at this point, no one who einstein was. so dedicated the next couple years of his life to popularizing relativity and getting people to speak about it. he has to do all of this without any direct indication by einstein. they cannot send letters through the telegram.

they cannot stand letters back and forth through the neutral netherlands. this would look like espionage. many scientists while trying to just mid-letters back and forth. so adding ten was essentially on his own. he does manage to teach himself relativity. but like einstein. he also realizes that persuading people of the importance of the theory would require tests. a physical -- assertion that the theory should be true. so, he wants to do that same eclipse tests that had been attempted in 1914. and the eclipse was coming up in 1919 across the southern hemisphere. but it was, was not at all clear that he would actually be able to do the test. would the war be over? would he be able to travel? could he get colleagues to support a complicated and expensive expedition to test the theory? these are radical fears for him. -- some relativity -- he

does have some success. and just as he was making progress convincing his colleagues to support him in this expedition, eddington found himself in danger of being pulled from the observatory and sent to the front. the war at this that he was to be conscripted. and as a quaker, he would have why refused to fight. he was a conscientious objector and conscientious objection was not a legally allowed status. but there was little guidance on what would happen who claims this objection to the war. he was essentially the only one in the scientific community. the vast majority of scientists agreed to working on technical projects related to the war. so it was essentially unprecedented. and what was going to happen to addington was most places by conscientious objection. these

were terrible places -- conscientious objectors were despise and treated many very badly, many of them died in the camps. so addington did not want want the camps and continue to work on relativity. he had to appear in front of a tribunal to justify his claims and explain why he should be able to continue to work on science. one of his major difficulties was getting people to understand that he was both a scientist and a person of religious faith. this seemed like a contradiction. so, many of the members of the contribution tribunal rejected him on those grounds. he ended up getting saved at the last second because he was friends frank dyson, who is the owner more royal. essentially the top scientists in britain at the time. and dyson wrote to the tribunals and said that it was

important for british scientific prestige to be the test. that is, if they were allowed to do the test of relativity, that would show that english shines was to period to german scientists. in what i think was an irony, was eddington allowed to do this pacifist exhibition on the ground that it would be good for the british empire. so addington had be free to go to the expedition. but with more allow it to proceed? a moment ago, i saw the eclipse in the 1919 eclipsing were hoping to observe -- britain was also under blockade at this point by the u of boats. not many astronomers are likely to try to run the u-boat blockade, so they had to hope that the circumstances of the war would change in some way. as they're planning for those in 1918, they're hoping that things are going to go better than they had been.

in fact, in 1918 the german offensive runs out of steam. the kaiser's armies could not hold. eventually it became clear that the germans could not win on the battlefield. the kaiser flees to the netherlands. and a our public was declared on berlin. on november 11th the famous day, we have silence. there is a journal entry on that day and it's a very short century. he says class was canceled because of revolution. and einstein gleefully watches the collapse of the military state that he had been resisting for four years, and his socialist politics that caused him so much trouble during the war were suddenly a blessing under this new republic. he writes to a friend, i am enjoying the reputation of an ear reproachable socialist, as

a consequence yesterday's heroes are becoming the -- and the opinion i could break their fall. funny world. and in, fact berlin is something of a scary place immediately after the end of the war. einstein finds themself climbing over barricades he has to negotiate for being released of genes that are being held hostage by revolutionaries, and petition the new regime for a dramatic kind of action in the freedom for professors after the war. so it's important to emphasize here, at this point, even though there is an armistice, that is the fighting has stopped, there is no peace treaty so the british blockade actually continues. so, einstein is still starving at this point, and he still can't communicate with his scientific allies and other countries. the british are meeting the blockade with the explicit intent of making things as difficult as possible for

germany so that they can get the best conditions they can after these negotiations. now addington, wants the >> -- once the armistice comes on, finds himself working frantically because, suddenly, at the end of 1918, it's going to take months to get to the southern hemisphere if they're going to the observations. and they couldn't do any of the preparations that they had to during the war because, amongst other things, they couldn't get the materials and labor because of wartime restrictions. and they were going to have to leave in early march two make it to where they needed to go. for the observations. to get a government grant for this -- which was quite extraordinary, given the financial situation at that time. and the decision was made to send to expeditions. just in case there was bad weather at one of the sites. so, one team would be sent to -- and brazil, and the

other team, led by addington, would the lead to this tiny island of princes pay off the coast africa. each team would take with them special cameras to take photographs quickly of the -- during the eclipse. in particularly, a astros graphic, a type of telescope -- and the way you would do an observation, a technique well-established at this point -- is you get to the path of totality, that is where the eclipse is going to be, and you essentially build and emergency observatory, wherever that happens to be, and you lay the telescopes horizontally like. so and then the cameras are sort of on the right side of the image here, in the back -- and then in the front, there's a round mirror there -- and its job is to reflect an image of the -- the sun, in this case the stars.

and that's driven by a clock -- capture the image without any emotional, they hope at the end of all of this was that they would get a series of photographs that -- of the stars around the sun that they could then compare to what the stars were supposed to look like when the sun wasn't there and then they could measure how much the sun's gravity had distorted the position of the stars in the sky. and they actually predicted the displacement, how much the star should have moved on the photographic plate is one 60th of a millimeter. a millimeter is very tiny, if you're not used to metric measurements -- so, that's less than one 1007 inch. so, a very small amount. and so, many critics of the expedition at the time said that's too small to measure. he said no, astronomers measured sizes like that all the time. it's not easy, but it's a perfectly normal thing for us to do. you should have full confidence

in our measurements of this thing. so addington sort of works up the mathematics of the theory, that is what should we expect to see. and the way addington presents it is this. einstein's theory predicts that the amount that the storm moves in the sky is one point 75 seconds, don't worry amount about that. and then for comparison, addington says that newton has a theory of gravity to. and if we use newton's theory of gravity, then the reflection should be about half of what einstein predicts. it should be a significant amount less -- and then, the third possibility is, there's nothing at all. no deflection at all -- so, at some point during the preparations for the expedition -- explaining these three possibilities to a guy named carting ham who is going to be the a technician to go along the expedition, keep the machines running and cunningham

got it into his head that, given these two possibilities, the bigger the deflection the better. if we kept double the einstein -- even better. -- and you will have to come home alone. even as addington and dyson are working very hard for all the logistical aspects of the expectation. they're also working very hard to -- so when they came back, months later with the results, there would be a public eager and ready to hear about the sort of titanic battle between einstein and newton that's why he's framed that way as to make this kind of intellectual battle for the agents. once they have everything ready, addington hops on one of the first war passenger zips headed south. he knows how strange it is to be outside the rationing that had been normal in the uk for

so many years by this point. full bowls of sugar, large portions of meat. he -- finally arrived at principe on april 26th. he had never been to prince of pay. this was a long time before travel web websites, unlike the coat drives. principe is a little speck of an island in the middle of an ocean. it's thickly wooded, there's a big mountain in the middle. it's part of the portuguese empire, and what it was known for at the time -- somewhat ironically, is that it was covered in cocoa plantations that sold cocoa to the quaker chocolate factories back in britain. in, fact the plantation workers at those cocoa plantations were the ones who carried the equipment by hand through to the jungle, and set it up in the place where it needs to be. everything was set up by may 16th, not quite two weeks before the eclipse was predicted to happen.

the astronomers have to begin practicing with these. these are very complicated systems that they have to be able to operate, essentially, in the dark during the eclipse. and there will be no room for error. there is no do-over on this, they have to make sure that they can carry out the experience perfectly. it's hard to overemphasize how nerve wracking the last few days before the eclipse were. years of planning, months of journeying, weeks of physically and mentally grueling preparation, and this is all without knowing whether the sky will be clear at the critical moment. one cloud could ruin everything. and in fact, in brazil, on the day of the eclipse, the day started off cloudy but then cleared at the right moment. -- in principle, a the, the day was not just cloudy but there is a gigantic rainstorm. and local dignitaries watched --, well the astronomers waited for a break in the clouds. in fact, the rain ends a couple

hours before the eclipse, but the clouds remain. totality becomes five seconds after 2:13 pm, local time. the astronomers carrying out this machine like photography process, without knowing whether the clouds had cleared or not. and, indeed addington describes being so focused on the photography that he wasn't able to watch the actual event. there is a marvelous spectacle, above and as the photographs afterwards reveals, a wonderful prominence flamed placed 100,000 miles above the surface of the sun. we are conscious only of the weird half light of the landscape, and hush of nature, broken by the cubs of the observers and the beats of the matrimony taking out 300 seconds. and by the end of the, eclipse 16 glass photographic plates sat covered in a box, holding the secrets of the stars -- when indeed, right after it would be required, before they were turned into scientific data, addington telegraphs home

to dyson, back in london through cloud. now, in africa, addington has to actually develop the photograph plates. it turns out that most of them are cloudy. only six of the 16 show the stars they needed. this is one of the original plates. the question was, where the six plates enough? addington spends each day hunched over the photographs of the special tool called a micro mature making these fine measurements, and the effect he was looking for was large by astronomy and standards -- the measurement had to be reduced, that is mathematically analyze to account for interference, eliminates optical effects. before it became real data. he was legendary with how fast you can calculate things. but the still took an enormous amount of. time in the end, he actually returned to his, mother i got

the one good play to that i measured, and the results are going with einstein, and i think that i have got a little confirmation from the second plate. so, at some point, in the first week of june 1919, addington put down the pain he had been using for his calculations, perhaps he rested his head in his hands. this is three years after he received -- a year after he'd been freed from the conscription tribunal, addington finally had his answer. he knew that i'd since theory had withstood the test. he later clause this the greatest moment of his life but despite that, solemnity addington did not let that opportunity slip. he turned to calling ham, recalling dyson's warning, he told cunningham you won't have to go home alone. in britain, addington literal months of tedious -- and the results from principled were

calculated to be 1. 6 one -- thought to be comfortably close to einstein's prediction of 1. 7 five. and once the results were in hand, addington and dyson did some tests -- presenting the data the two private audiences -- in fact, it went well. and the -- scheduled a joint meeting of the royal society -- to present the results publicly. now, addington sends words to the result of the mutual friends in the netherlands. he still can't communicate directly to einstein. and then their dutch friends communicates -- and einstein is delighted. and einstein showed this the to anyone who walks into his apartment for the next couple of months, even when he was bedridden. there are various versions of the story. i like this one. one of his students -- who he show the telegram to the -- within

30 adam, i explained -- i'm perturbed, he remarked, i knew that theory was correct. -- what would you have said if there was no confirmation? he replied, i would have to pity our dear god. the theory was correct all the same. -- he's a little more humble and a little more critical. the test of his theory -- this is him writing to one of his mentors. -- -- thus, the intimate union within the beautiful, the true, and the real has once again proved. operative he said many times he is personally never doubted the operatives. but now that the fact has been in dubuque to really -- know the public presentation of the results back in london, it was held at the royal society.

one of the people present at the presentation was the mathematician -- who describes it in this way. the whole atmosphere of tense interest was exactly like that of the peak drama. there is a dramatic quality in the very staging, the traditional ceremony, a and in the background a picture of newton to remind us that the greatest of scientific generalizations was now, after more than two centuries to receive his first modification. more with a personal interest wanting, a great adventure in thought -- dyson took the podium and announced that after. there can be no doubt that the confirm einstein's protection, a very definite result has been obtained and the light is deflected in accordance with einstein's law of -- . the observation teams including addington describe the expedition and explain their data, and then the president of the royal society j.j. thompson, who was not a fan of einstein

during the war announces that this is the most important result in connection with the theory of gravitation since newton's. it was fitting that it should be announced at the meeting of sin city so closely connected with him. if it sustain that and sensors-ing holds good, and that this arrived to very severe tests -- mercury in the present eclipse and it was. highest achievements in human thought. in the following conversation among the scientists there, was to say the least vigorous relatively with question. the alternative presentations were presented. one person rose and posts tented to newton's -- demanding that they move very carefully and modifying the theory of that great man. the next day, the times of london presented the greatest scientific headline in history. revolution in science in fact -- observations -- einstein versus newton -- and remember that

this was the first time that anyone in britain had heard of einstein. and it was presented exactly as eddington wanted, who repudiated all of the work -- a man of liberal tendencies, one of the signatories to the protest against the german manifesto. -- germany's part in the war. soon, the new york times picked up on the articles. the lights all askew in the heavens. and this can be -- first einstein -- he comes out of nowhere to the front page of the times. and eddington begins to work tireless. he gives public lectures and interviews -- by

cooperation -- and everyone wanted to pick talk about einstein. heading to -- all eddington has been working about your theories, it's the best possible thing that could have happened to scientific revelations. i do not anticipate -- but there is a big -- frame of mind among scientific man and that is even more important than the renewal of -- but as he puts it one things have turned out fortunately, the solidarity of british and german scientists. but this wasn't just searching. it was that einstein and eddington worked hard to portray this as a repair despite terrible years of the war. einstein praises the wonderful tradition in the science that they should devote their time and energy to. and this is during the war. this is the moment when einstein becomes famous, literally around the world. the beginning

of what he calls the relativity surface, hounded for autographs. mail piles up at his home. everyone wants to learn more about this mysterious sage that has turned change the universe. -- today in germany i am college ermine and the scientists. and in england i have come to be represented as a -- and i shall become a switch to for the germans and a german man for the germans -- it's worth noting that not all aspects of einstein's fame was positive. -- as a jewish internationalist. specifically

with zionism -- and eventually left the country under the nazis and went to the u.s. as a russian jew. -- squarely due to the timing and context of the war. it is described by rutherford, a great british scientist of the time, that the war had just ended the complacency of the victorian era. suddenly, a -- by a german scientist had been confirmed and sent by a british astronomer. struck a responsive chord -- scientific faith during -- period of war. but an -- civilization itself seemed

to be in peril. so the war and pacifist like einstein -- forge these intricate, fragile networks. without this network, the relativity revolution would never have happened. the theory didn't have many applications and without the war relativity would have been just one more scientific theory. without the war, einstein would be one more name for a board schoolchildren to memorize. instead his name was now an idea, an icon, personification of everything kids want to be. this was einstein and his friends, not just einstein's geniuses making. thank you very much. it's been a pleasure. you may email me or go to my podcast website. >> spectacular. matt, thank you

so much. i know i was laughing out loud at some of the comments. so i fully anticipate that those across the nation and from around the world were doing the same thing. so thank you all, again for joining us. again, if you are joining us, do please add your questions. in that q&a section. if you are appearing either on the linda hall library facebook page or the national world war i museum and memorial facebook page, please feel free to add your questions into the chat. we have educators in both organizations who are there to moderate. the first question actually came from tim and he asked a question, how did it

come that einstein had no talent in mathematics? >> so this is actually einstein being self deprecating. you can find a quote of him saying he wasn't very good at math. in fact, unsigned as fine and mathematics at school. that anecdote about him skipping math class wasn't because he was bad at math because he hated going to classes. he describes himself as being not a good mathematician, he is comparing himself to literal a sly literally the greatest mathematician in the world at the time. so in explaining why he has to go talk to -- he is explaining and saying i don't understand mathematics, i need help. so he's actually very good at math but not just in comparison to them. >> from tom winter -- npr science friday reported that the historical study about a barber who brings to einstein

the idea that gravitation could effect light and courage. is that something we have the opportunity to balance out and be a signing sounding board for the truth of media today? science, history, media, it's all coming into one today. >> [laughs] that was great. i didn't hear that episode so i don't know the specific question. but there is a cottage industry of finding the earlier versions of einstein's predictions. in fact, it was the case that way back in the 18th century there were people he proposed that nuanced theory could affect light. if you accept that idea, there are people who make similar predictions to just the general idea that gravity can bend light before einstein. i should say that a warning i want to put here. there is a group of far-right anti-semitic critics of einstein in the 1920s and

1930s, he used his claim to make the case that einstein plagiarize relativity. that's not true it all and it is just an anti-semitic attack. >> from benjamin, he wanted to know, what was the results of the solar eclipse study that was done in brazil? >> that's a really good question and in fact i passed over that for a time. so it's quite interesting. and it's like the one that they have an africa. there are technical problems at the last second. so it produces photographs that at

first glance are really bad. and by everybody -- by first glance i mean that the scientists that look at them -- they had been kind of -- there was a problem where you can subtract the problem and figure out what the problem would have been -- if you do that, then you do get a result similar to einstein's prediction. and the other telescope they brought as a backup at the last section. and those are smack on with einstein's prediction. so it's actually an epic tale of near disaster. >> i feel like in your area of expertise, the history of science, it's probably just full of the near disastrous moments. >> [laughs] >>, was einstein qualified to carry out this type of test?

>> the answer is a full-on no. but einstein was a theorist. he was good at principles and figuring out what was going on and making predictions. but he was not good at going and doing the observations and testing. so that's a completely different skill set. einstein realizes this immediately. this is one of the things he realizes he has to do. assign someone who is qualified to do the test. and there is a framework -- the frameworks boss won't let him lead. so einstein is tearing his hair out on whether he is qualified to do the test. but it's really important, actually, that

einstein is not involved with the expedition. >> a very specific question coming to us from guy raider. he spoke about a clockwork mechanism during the eclipse expeditions. could you this tell us more is about the relationship a test could between you share astronomers, more about physicists and clock makers? is that is that a strong diagram a venn. diagram? >> it's that's a great question. it's it's so a unique then diagram. happens that both astronomers and so astronomers physicists really and physicists, rely on clock they really rely makers well into the on clock 20th century. makers. because because clock clock makers are the makers are the people people who can that can make really precise most perfect instruments instruments, particularly robust instruments.. but and so, what typically happens, and this is a good example, is that astronomers and physicists have advanced degrees but along the lines of what we were talking

about, don't necessarily have the hands-on skills to operate the machinery. and so then there are other employees at observatories who actually have to operate the equipment in a way that people with the advanced degrees cannot. that's an interesting intersection, einstein, of the venn diagram. and his first job out of college was an assistant at the royal observatory. so he does learn how to operate the machinery in a way that physicists like dyson are not able to. >> from robinson -- after the 1919 eclipse, what were the divisions in the scientific community with respect to accepting relativity? >> this is an interesting question. there is a real tension. einstein's theory of

relativity was generally accepted everywhere. for the most part, everyone who looks at their data and the actual photographs agrees that there is a reflection of light and that it matches einstein's predictions. and maybe there is an alternative explanation, they say, that is not so weird. but then and one of the interesting one of the interesting things that happens things that happens is is -- that astronomers continue to test continuing to test einstein's very einstein's reason though it's theory even though it generally accepted already is generally so accepted. so, for instance, for instance, american american astronomers. test astronomers go and test this again is in the this again in the 1920s 1920s. at a much much better better precision precision--. now, but but, what i find what i find interesting is that interesting is they they do the test do -- even even though they kind though, they kind of know what the of know with the answer is answer is going to going to be. be, no no one expects one expects it einstein -- to be ever and throughout

the -- at this point. 20th century, and throughout the continuing to this day, we 20th century and continue to test continuing to einstein's theory, today, we continue even to test though no einstein's theory one doubts that. it is even though no and amazing. we doubts it. it's spend billions of amazing, we spend dollars on billions of projects to test dollars in relativity projects even though of we know we science to test are not going to get an relativity, answer that is wrong. even though we know i don't know why the what community is quite result we so obsessed will get. i don't with trying to know why the scientific test. community is so obsessed with this. but they are. >> we have we a lot of really good have a lot of really questions. good questions. i i want to be want to be sure sure to honor to honor everyone's everyone's time. time. i'm going to ask one more. but before i do that, would you be willing to stay on a little bit longer so that we can explore some more of these. i would like to hear some of the answers. >> sure. >> the last question comes to us from stacey. i know your next book is a history of scientific predictions at the end of the world. can you say a little bit more about this project of yours? it sounds very exciting.

>> i certainly could. i wish i knew more about it. it's a new project, right? so the question that struck me about this was that once upon a time, predictions about the end of the world was something that you asked profits and priess. it was a religious kind of prediction. but nowadays, we ask scientists about the apocalypse instead. they have a lot to describe. i'm interested in how that came to be and how these scientists take on the duty of having to predict the end of the world. and at the moment einstein had a particular kind of prediction, and that is the idea that an asteroid will hit the earth and destroy us all, the same way that -- describe the dinosaurs. when i find interesting about

this is that when i was a kid, this was a ridiculous idea. it was literally laughed out. but nowadays, we have an office of planetary defense. how did that come to be? how did we get such a change. for saucer specific problem. dr. matthew stanley, on behalf of the -- museum and memorial -- and the linda hall library, with whom we have been so pleased to partner on this and many lectures, thank you so very much. if you are interested in the future or the demise of our future, as doctor stanley was just talking about, do pay attention to the website that you see right there. start listening to his podcast. what's the f. com. and, if you like history and science, do take a look. we've got it on sale on our website, the world war dot o archie. if you haven't picked up the book yet, and learn more up by reading the book, einstein's war -- always support your local

library. that's another great way to do it. and if you want to stay on, please do. and for those of you who need to leave, thank you so much for your time. it has been one of your most valuable commodities. we truly appreciate learning with you. all right -- there are so many other really great questions that are -- let me -- no, go for it. >> -- interesting question about einstein's relationship to other socialists, like h g wells -- how einstein escaped germany -- i don't know specifically that wells was involved in that or not. einstein was actually traveling abroad when not nazis came to power and they sacked his home. so, einstein just never goes back. i think einstein -- wells helped einstein -- and then einstein comes of moves around

and ends up in new jersey. and then, he -- so, it's quite extraordinary how -- international socialism helped get people out of germany and the access powers. spends the first few years of his time in the united states, trying to do the same kind of thing -- people helped him get out of germany -- he spends all of this time writing letters of recommendation and making phone calls, trying to make as many people of jewish heritage -- and such, out from underneath

the nazis -- and then, i should say, all those refugees that come to the united states, sort of on einstein's watch, those are the people that built the atomic bomb. it's an amazing -- h g wells was actually the one who coined the term -- more on our youtube channel. charles keller is associated with the h g well society -- lecture that he has done there. again, this intersection of history, and literature, and science -- it's a wonderful space to be. nancy vote, i hope i said your last name correctly. what happened to the astronomers that went to russia? >> interesting. so, there -- they were arrested as spies. and you can't blame the russians for that because they set up their equipment right over the russian naval base -- which made sense when there

wasn't a war going on because then you can use -- but once the war begins, -- so, they are arrested, whether or not they are tortured is unclear. they are released in a prisoner of war trade -- first german prisoners to come back. but then, with their equipment, stays in russia for almost 100 years after that. it doesn't come back until after the collapse of the soviet union. so, the germans couldn't have read on the test even if they wanted to. medicine -- that is you have a very specific question on how many -- this is actually a pretty important question. another example of hand waving for presentation purposes. -- it's actually more -- a bend in the light after -- past the edge of the sun -- the

diagram i had -- actually completely right -- people get confused by that because there are not used to thinking about information in that way. but if you're not used to thinking -- that's confusing. but you're quite right. and i'm happy to be corrected on that. who else do we have? >> -- and thinking about the anti german, anti semitic rhetoric, could you speak more about the anxieties of scientists during this time? they would have to capitulate to cut popular discourse -- scientists? have to capitulate to popular discourse? in the same vein, do you notice any

similarities with the pandemic today, the public and -- fabulous question -- and again, i hope i'm saying your name correctly. >> that is a terrific question. -- we have -- and i put some of these quotes out here. these really things that -- german scientists and french scientists -- and one way to read those statements was that the scientists didn't really believe that, but they need to say things like that because they are under pressure. and that's a possibility. we do have private letters of many of these astronomers, as well. so, we may have some better sense of what was actually going on in their head. and in the british case, which i know better than the german or french cases, is that they actually -- they were not

feeling like they needed to change what they had to say in terms of political or social pressure. -- and they, for instance, they laid plans for after the war, setting up new international -- where they wouldn't have to deal with the germans -- -- a particularly interesting case. he actually doesn't make anti german political statements during the war. but his personal correspondence shows that he

was actually quite anti german. he's upset that his son isn't old enough to go fight. he really hopes that the germans lose the war. -- but then he goes along with -- on this interesting plan that could have been -- so, it's really interesting to see how scientists navigate the sort of treacherous political and social waters, while also trying to kind of hold -- in terms of the comparison to the modern day, and the struggle that scientists have had talking to the general public during the pandemic, i think one of the lessons we should take away from einstein and addington story, is that -- it's not so much that people trusted the science more, although i think that's probably true, but rather that scientists were more concerned with talking to the public and making clear -- making legible their ideas in a way that people could understand. so, addington really takes years off from doing his technical

work in astrophysics to help people understand relativity better. and that's a set of skills that i think not many scientists today have. and the reason for that is that we don't train scientists -- we train them to publish papers and run experiments -- we don't teach them how to communicate them. and i think one of the lessons of the league last year and a half is that it would be really nice if we took some time out to train our scientists and teaching them how to actually talk to non scientists. >> i already know one of the soundbites that's going to be coming from the top right here. there are two more questions. the first is about a specific date. you might know it. >> let me google that. >> the nice thing is google

exists for things -- -- august 21st, 1920. >> carey, that's your answer. and then, beth walsh brings us back to media and reporting. >> yeah, let's just say the media, the story of the 1919 eclipse there is a sense at which the first big media event of the post war period radio and international telegraph lines, everybody is stunned at how quickly the news changed. he hears about this when reporters show up at his door he is like why do people care about me why people have to say?

in terms of the accuracy of the reporting, this is kind of interesting, there is an original story in the times, which is planted by adding ten. that is the recruit reporter. to come to the announcement of the results, so, that is pretty accurate. but, then the times, the new york times gets the times of london article. and then writes their own article based on that reading. and so, inaccuracies began to creep in. famously, i don't know if i am still sharing my screen, but i will go back to the times article. men of science over eclipse expeditions. and then, this famous line. a book for 12 wise man, and then, in the article they say no more than 12 people could

understand it, that is totally fabricated by the times, that is not true at all. lots of people understood relativity by this point, but, interestingly you will actually still hear that quid sometimes, or some variation of it even today, only four people really understand einstein's theory, no, for people in this building understand einstein's theory. that is not true at all. and then, the times article gets picked up by other newspapers, and so, you can kind of track and accuracy is creeping in with time,. and, some of the inaccuracies like einstein's nationality, which i think is a particularly interesting one the people for again to forget, the fact that he is jewish kind of drops off the map really quickly as well, and the two expeditions, one to africa and one to brazil get conflated quite quickly. and the actual numerical productions disappear, essentially, almost interest instantly.

so, goodness only knows what would have happened if the blogosphere was around at the time. >> dr. matthew stanley, thank you so very much, it has been a true delight to be in conversation with you this evening, and it is a delight at the national museum and at the linda hall library to stand and that space of trying to keep inaccuracies away from both history and science, and to be bringing conversations like this to you in your homes. right now, if you are watching live and in the future. if you have enjoyed this and you want to share you can find it on our youtube page, the easiest way to get there is go to the world war dot org in the upper right hand side. you will see the youtube channel side, and you can share from their later on.

now, if you want to find out more you should pick up the book, or be following along with doctor stanley at any of his other spaces where he is teaching. again, dr. stanley, thank you so very much for being in conversation with me. >> thank you for having me, this is really light for. >> and thank you all for being here. >> american history tv, saturdays on c-span two, exploring the people and events that tell the american story. at 8 pm eastern, on lectures in history, kermit roosevelt, university of pennsylvania law professor and descendant as the head or roosevelt argues that modern america traces its political sentiment to lincoln and the reconstruction era. rather than the founding fathers. and, at 9:30 pm eastern on the presidency, historian david -- look at depression era america through the personality and presidency of franklin roosevelt in his 1936 landslide

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