Einstein & Eddington &  . . .

In 1919, Sir Arthur Eddington, an astronomer in the Royal Astronomical Society, traveled to the island of Principe – near Africa – to make important observations of a total solar eclipse that occurred there on May 19.  These observations would provide the first empirical test of Einstein’s general theory of relativity.  Luckily, Eddington was one of the few astronomers who had the mathematical talent to understand and work with the theory.  His observations, published the following year, proved Einstein right and bewildered lay people everywhere, causing a great stir.

Eddington was asked by journalists, “Is it true that only three people in the world understand the theory of relativity?”  Eddington took his time, then replied in carefully puzzled tones, “Who is the third?”.

Sources:   Wikipedia entry on Eddington.  See Wild Cards for link.

 Original Goodness, Eknath Easwaren, Nilgiri Press – p. 13