Re: Gravitational time dilation HOAX along the years

Physfitfreak <Physfitfreak@gmail.com> wrote:

On 12/21/2024 4:01 AM, J. J. Lodder wrote:

Ross Finlayson <ross.a.finlayson@gmail.com> wrote:
 

It used to be said "at one point only three people
in the world understood Relativity Theory, ...."
>
Now, one of them's usually assumed to be Einstein.

 
Don't be silly, it was a joke. In full, something like:
 
Journalist: Professor Eddington, is it true that there are only three
people in the world who understand relativity?
Eddington: Hesitates, does'n answer.
Journalist: Why are you hesitating?
Eddington: Not hesitating, I was just thinking who might be the third.
 
Jan

 
 
No, it was a little more involved.

Not really more involved, it never happened.
It was a joke that circulated widely at the time.
Your version is as good as mine.

There were no "journalist". It was
another physicist who in a scientific gathering where Eddington was
present had claimed only three persons in the world understood
relativity (in his mind implying himself and Einstein and Eddington),
and then tells Eddington he should know who the third one is. When
Eddington did not answer, he told Eddington, "Don't be shy, tell us who
the third one is."
 
To which, Eddington had responded, "Oh, no, I was just wondering who the
third one might be," thus kicking the other physicist out of the
supposed "three".

John Waller, in  his book: Einstein's Luck_
The Truth behind Some of the Greatest Scientific Discoveries
has this to say on it:
====
By 1919, Eddington had also acquired enormous credibility because he
was such a fine expositor of general relativity.
He grasped its implications with a flair that could not but inspire
confidence. Such was his standing in this new scientific area that the
following apocryphal story had wide currency.
Eddington's fellow physicist Ludwig Silberstein remarks, 'Professor
Eddington, you must be one of three persons in the world who understands
general relativity'. After a longish pause, he continues, 'Don't be
modest Eddington', to which the latter replies, 'On the contrary, I am
trying to think who the third person is!'
The story is entirely mythical, but it is as illuminating as it is
amusing.
=====

It was a joke of course.
General relativity was widely understood,
among those who mattered,

Jan