Gravitational theory and observation

JAN 01, 1967

Fifty years after Einstein formulated general relativity, an expermentalist looks at the observational support for this theory. He finds that the evidence is at least as good for a scalar‐tensor theory of gravitation.

DOI: 10.1063/1.3034139

Robert H. Dicke

ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY of the publication of Albert Einstein’s general relativity, his theory of gravitation, it is appropriate to reconsider the observational support of this theory and its place in contemporary physics. Within the framework of most of today’s specialized physical disciplines, gravitation appears superficially to be of little significance. Nonetheless, some of the most enigmatic and puzzling of physical problems intimately involve this phenomenon.

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More about the authors

Robert H. Dicke, Princeton University.