The Department of Physics at Wake Forest University, in celebration of the 2005 World Year of Physics, is proud to present a Public Lecture by one of the world's leading authorities on Einstein's Theory of General Relativity. Clifford Will is the James S. McDonnell Professor of Physics at the Washington University in St. Louis, and is currently the President of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation. Professor Will is the author of over 200 scientific, semi-popular, and popular articles and reviews, and two books: Theory and Experiment in Gravitational Physics (Cambridge University Press 1981; 2nd Edition, 1993) and Was Einstein Right? (Basic Books, 1986; 2nd Edition 1993). The latter book won the 1987 American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award and was selected one of the 200 best books for 1986 by the New York Times Book Review.
Abstract:
How has the most celebrated scientific theory of the 20th century held up under
the exacting scrutiny of planetary probes, radio telescopes, and atomic
clocks? After 100 years, was Einstein right? In this lecture, celebrating
the 100th anniversary of Einstein's ``miracle year'' and the World Year
of Physics, we relate the story of testing relativity, from the 1919 measurements
of the bending of light to the 1980s measurements of a decaying double-neutron-star
system that reveal the action of gravity waves, to a 2004 space experiment
to test whether spacetime ``does the twist''. We will show how a revolution
in astronomy and technology led to a renaissance of general relativity
in the 1960s, and to a systematic program to try to verify its predictions.
We will also demonstrate how relativity plays an important role in daily
life.