The Day We Found the Universe (52 page)

233 “in part regretting a lost opportunity to pursue such a relation himself”: Smith, (1982), p. 184.

233 “the speed of spiral nebulae is dependent to some extent upon apparent brightness, indicating the relation of speed to distance”: Shapley (1929), p. 565.

233 Within two years, Hubble and Humason measured forty more galaxies: Hubble and Humason (1931).

233 “Humason's adventures were spectacular”: HUB, Box 2, “The Law of RedShifts,” George Darwin Lecture, May 8, 1953.

233 “My God, Nick, this is a big shift!”: AIP, interview of Nicholas U. Mayall by Bert Shapiro, February 13, 1977.

233 “panther juice”: Ibid. In the interview transcript, “juice” was substituted for a four-letter word that Mayall used in the oral interview.

233 “you are now using the 100-inch telescope the way it should be used”: AIP, interview of Nicholas U. Mayall by Bert Shapiro, February 13, 1977.

234 “You can't imagine how electric the atmosphere was”: Ibid.

234 Humason had the benefit of experience: AIP, interview of Nicholas U. Mayall, June 3, 1976.

235 “The intense publicity that swirled around Mount Wilson's nebular department”: Sandage (2004), p. 284.

235 Even though less than 5 percent of Mount Wilson's major publications in this era involved cosmology: Allan Sandage tallied up the papers and, after discounting the inconsequential ones, found that only 33 out of 760 papers in the Mount Wilson Contribution series, which ran from 1906 to 1949, concerned either galaxies or the universe. Sandage (2004), p. 481.

235 “Some spectroscopists began to feel resentful”: Ibid., p. 284.

235 “The outstanding feature”: Hubble (1929a), p. 173.

236 “great beacons scattered through space”: Hubble (1937), p. 15.

236 “The interpretation … should be left to you”: HUB, Hubble to de Sitter, September 23, 1931.

236 “It is difficult to believe that the velocities are real”: “Stranger Than Fiction” (1929), p. F4.

236 referred to the velocities of the galaxies as “apparent”: Hubble (1929a), p. 168.

236 “Not until the empirical sources are exhausted”: Hubble (1936), p. 202.

236 “I have always been rather happy that … my part in the work was, you might say, fundamental”: AIP, interview of Milton Humason by Bert Shapiro around 1965.

236 “It has been remarked by several astronomers that there appears to be a linear correlation”: De Sitter (1930), p. 169.

236 “The possibility of a velocity-distance relation among nebulae has been in the air for years”: HUB, Hubble to de Sitter, August 21, 1930.

237 “great pioneer work of V. M. Slipher”: Hubble and Humason (1931), pp. 57–58.

237 “I regard such first steps as by far the most important of all”: LWA, Hubble to Slipher, March 6, 1953.

237 “emerged from a combination of radial velocities measured by Slipher at Flagstaff”: Hubble (1953), p. 658.

237 “if cosmogonists to-day have to deal with a Universe that is expanding”: Stratton (1933), p. 477.

15. Your Calculations Are Correct, but Your Physical Insight Is Abominable

239 “I am not sure that I can”: “Report of the RAS Meeting in January 1930” (1930), p. 38.

240 “I suppose the trouble is that people look [only] for static solutions … that does not matter”: Ibid., p. 39.

240 “a concept outside their mental framework”: Kragh (2007), p. 139.

240 Lemaître soon read the remarks Eddington made: Eisenstaedt (1993), p. 361; McVittie (1967), p. 295.

241 “This seems a complete answer to the problem we were discussing”: Smith (1982), p. 198.

241 calling it “ingenious”: De Sitter (1930), p. 171.

241 find him just by pursuing the sound of his full, loud laugh: McCrea (1990), p. 204.

241 “exceptionally brilliant … quite remarkable both for his insight”: HUA, Eddington to Shapley, May 3, 1924.

241 Lemaître traveled to the United States for further study … in order to meet Hubble and learn of the latest distance measurements of the spiral nebulae: Kragh (1987), pp. 118–19; Kragh (1990), p. 542.

242 introduce
time
into the deliberations: Other theorists began to try this out as well, making de Sitter's model nonstatic. It was a lively and active pursuit among theorists, who included Kornelius Lanczos in 1922, Hermann Weyl in 1923, and H. P. Robertson in 1928. All these transformations, however, were treated as mathematical solutions for largely academic purposes.

242 “demonstrate the possibility”: Friedmann (1922), p. 377.

242 “We shall call this universe the
periodic world
”: Ibid., p. 385.

243 “appear to me suspicious”: Einstein (1922), p. 326. Several months later, Einstein realized that he had based his negative opinion on an error in his calculations. He immediately wrote to the
Zeitschrift für Physik
that “Mr. Friedmann's results are correct and shed new light.” See Einstein (1923), p. 228.

243 They didn't take them seriously: AIP, interview of William McCrea by Robert Smith on September 22, 1978.

243 “combine the advantages of both”: Lemaître (1931a), p. 483.

243 “are a cosmical effect of the expansion of the universe”: Ibid., p. 489. The gravitational field of a galaxy, far stronger than the field outside it, keeps the galaxy intact during the expansion.

244 Lemaître even estimated a rate of cosmic expansion: Kragh (2007), p. 144.

244 inexplicably did not widely discuss this latest idea with his colleagues: Kragh (1987), p. 125.

244 “Your calculations are correct, but your physical insight is abominable”: Smith (1990), p. 57.

245 “not current with the astronomical facts”: Kragh (1987), p. 125.

245 “no time for an unassuming theorist without proper international credentials”: Deprit (1984), p. 371.

246 “brilliant discovery”: “Discussion on the Evolution of the Universe” (1932), p. 584.

246 “Imagine my surprise on being able to rustle together more than 150 references”: CA, Robertson to R. C. Tolman, July 7, 1932. In 1929 Robertson had also derived a cosmological model similar to Friedmann's and Lemaître's but did not recognize the dynamic nature of the universe hidden within his equations. Though aware of Hubble's newfound law concerning distance and redshifts, he didn't recognize it as observational proof for an expanding universe at the time. See Kragh (2007), pp. 142, 146.

246 reported as breathtaking in its grandeur and terrifying in its implications: “A Prize for Lemaître” (1934), p. 16.

246 “The theory of the expanding universe is in some respects so preposterous”: “Discussion on the Evolution of the Universe” (1932), p. 587.

246 “On the face of it”: Jeans (1932), p. 563.

246 Eddington first devised this picture: Eddington (1930), p. 669.

246 “embedded in the surface of a balloon”: Ibid.

247 “About every two weeks some of the men from Mount Wilson and Cal Tech came to the house”: HUB, Box 7, Grace's memoir.

247 British cosmologist E. Arthur Milne, for example, posited that the expansion of spacetime was merely an illusion: Milne (1932); Hetherington (1982), p. 46.

247 the “tired photon” theory: Zwicky (1929a and 1929b).

248 Hubble worked for a number of years with Caltech theorist Richard Tolman: Hubble and Tolman (1935).

248 Hubble made the call that his data were too uncertain, which kept the expanding universe in play: Hetherington (1996), pp. 163–70. Historian Norriss Hetherington first pointed out Hubble's philosophical preference for an expanding, homogeneous universe, despite the noted astronomer's public statements that he was objectively testing all models. In the end, he preferred the simplicity and beauty of general relativity to dreaming up new laws of physics to fit his observations, as Zwicky was doing. Zwicky did not take this verdict sitting down. He famously accused Hubble and the “sycophants” among his young assistants with doctoring “their observational data, to hide their shortcomings and to make the majority of the astronomers accept and believe in some of their most prejudicial and erroneous presentations and interpretations of facts.”

248 “We cannot assume that our knowledge of physical principles is yet complete”: Hubble (1937), p. 26.

248 “a desire to show that the red shift was not an expansion”: AIP, interview with C. Donald Shane by Helen Wright on July 11, 1967.

248 Perusing Hubble's writings on the idea of an expanding universe: All quoted phrases in this paragraph are from Hubble (1937), pp. v and 26.

249 “around the earth in a second, out to the moon in 10 seconds”: Ibid., pp. 29–30.

249 “represent either actual recession (expanding universe) or some hitherto unknown principle of nature”: HUB, Box 15, Hubble to Harvey Zinszer, July 21, 1950.

249 “I just don't understand this eagerness”: Douglas (1957), p. 113.

16. Started Off with a Bang

250 “Would it not be more practical to have the herr professor come here”: “Einsteins Start Trip to America” (1930), p. 5.

250 to hunt for the sole twelve men in the world: “Relativity” (1930), p. A4.

250 “This reminds me of a Punch and Judy show”: “Einstein Battles ‘Wolves’” (1930), p. 1.

250 “his face … as smooth as a girl's”: Ibid., p. 2.

250 Arthur Fleming … first extended the invitation: Sutton (1930), p. A1.

251 steady round of private engagements: “Einstein's Date Book Crammed” (1931), p. A1; “Notables of World to Opening” (1931), p. B14; Feigl (1931).

251 Einstein laughed like a little boy: Hall (1931), p. 28.

251 “They cheer me because they all understand me”: Isaacson (2007), p. 374.

251 “Your husband's work is beautiful”: HUB, Box 8, “Biographical Memoir.”

251 Einstein had been given a room at Mount Wilson's main offices … issuing keys: AIP, interview of Nicholas U. Mayall by Norriss S. Hetherington on June 3, 1976.

252 “I have kept completely out of the Einstein excitement”: HP, Hale to Harry Manley Godwin, January 15, 1931.

252 carefully orchestrated expedition was arranged for Einstein: HL, Walter Adams Papers, Supplement Box 4, Folder 4.87.

253 young filmmaker named Frank Capra: In 1918 Capra had graduated from Throop Institute, later renamed the California Institute of Technology, with a BS degree in chemical engineering.

253 “And here he comes … down from the sun tower”: CA, Einstein Film Footage, 1931.

253 “This hundred-inch reflector was completed about thirteen years ago”: Ibid.

254 “Well, my husband does that on the back of an old envelope”: Clark (1971), p. 434.

254 After an early dinner the party returned to the 100-inch telescope: HL, Walter Adams Papers, Supplement Box 4, Folder 4.87.

254 on that day he at last conceded: “Einstein Drops Idea of ‘Closed’ Universe” (1931), p. 1.

254 “A gasp of astonishment swept through the library”: Christianson (1995), p. 210.

254 “the red shift of distant nebulae has smashed my old construction like a hammer blow”: “Red Shift of Nebulae a Puzzle, Says Einstein” (1931), p. 15.

254 “biggest blunder”: This is not a direct quote from Einstein. The Russian-American physicist George Gamow relayed this story in his autobiography, saying Einstein used the now-famous phrase while they were having a chat one day. Gamow (1970), p. 44. Ironically, at the start of the twenty-first century, astrophysicists reinserted the constant into their cosmological calculations to help them explain why the universe's expansion seems to be accelerating as the eons pass.

256 “made Einstein change his mind”: “Hubble to Visit Oxford” (1934).

256 “It remains to find the cause”: Lemaître (1931a), p. 489.

256 “beginning of time” … “philosophically, the notion of a beginning of the present order of Nature is repugnant to me”: Eddington (1931), pp. 449–50.

256 “not believe that the present order of things started off with a bang”: Eddington made this remark in a series of lectures given at the University of Edinburgh, later published as Eddington (1928). See p. 85.

256 Hoyle using a similar description: Hoyle's radio lectures on the cosmos, in which he first used the term
Big Bang
, were later published. See Hoyle (1950), pp. 119, 124.

256 “I picture … an even distribution of protons and electrons”: Eddington (1933), pp. 56–57.

257 “If we go back in the course of time”: Lemaître (1931b).

257 Lemaître was spurred by the revelations of atomic physics: Kragh (2007), pp. 152–53.

257 “The evolution of the world can be compared to a display of fireworks”: Lemaître (1950), p. 78.

258 “Lemaître believed that God would hide nothing from the human mind”: Kragh (1990), p. 542.