Changes

Einstein's revised his work on [[General Relativity]] to include a '[[fudge-factor]]' which he termed the [[Cosmological Constant]]. He was trying to account for the apparent steady-state nature of the universe.

Einstein's revised his work on [[General Relativity]] to include a '[[fudge-factor]]' which he termed the [[Cosmological Constant]]. He was trying to account for the apparent steady-state nature of the universe.

[[Edwin Hubble]], of whom [[NASA]]'s famous [[Hubble Space Telescope]] is named in honor, later convinced him otherwise.  At one point he had Einstein actually making direct [[observation]]s alongside him, and Hubble's [[finding]]s showed conclusively that the [[universe]] was indeed [[expand]]ing, as predicted by certain solutions of GR's field equations in the absence of a cosmological constant.  Einstein recanted his original [[philosophy]], and accepted as true the notion of a changing [[universe]] having a definite [[begin]]ning.

[[Edwin Hubble]], of whom [[NASA]]'s famous [[Hubble Space Telescope]] is named in honor, later convinced him otherwise.  At one point he had Einstein actually making direct [[observation]]s alongside him, and Hubble's [[finding]]s showed conclusively that the [[universe]] was indeed [[expand]]ing, as predicted by certain solutions of GR's field equations in the absence of a cosmological constant.  Einstein recanted his original [[philosophy]], and accepted as true the notion of a changing universe having a definite [[begin]]ning.

He later said of the Cosmological Constant, <nowiki>"It was the biggest blunder of my life."</nowiki> A cosmological constant is now commonly accepted among cosmologists as a way of explaining the accelerating expansion of the universe.

He later said of the Cosmological Constant, <nowiki>"It was the biggest blunder of my life."</nowiki>

 

An interesting end-note on this term. Princeton scientists published findings in 1998 apparently revealing an accelerating expansion for the universe as a whole. Because this initially seemed like it might be a sort of "anti-gravity" term (similar in concept to Einstein's original notion), it became quite popular briefly to dub it the 'Cosmological Constant' as well.

 

Subsequent observations and deeper analysis have revealed that not only is the accelerating expansion a real phenomenon, but the effect arises from a much deeper and more fundamental characteristic of the fabric of space-time itself.  For more information, see [[Dark Energy]].

==Criticisms==

==Criticisms==