Weber, Joseph 1919

PHYSICIST

Einstein's Concept of Gravity.

Einstein's general theory of relativity predicted that huge bodies accelerating in space should give off gravity in waves. These gravity waves would travel at the speed of light. Physicists believed Einstein, but until University of Maryland physicist Joseph Weber published the results of a ten-year experiment in 1968, these waves had not been proven to exist.

Detecting Gravity.

Weber posited that gravity waves should not be expected to be strong, so he would need a sensitive detector. But then he would need a way to eliminate the interference—Earth tremors, passing cosmic rays, electromagnetic radiation, and even atomic decay of naturally radioactive materials within the detector itself. He concluded that two detectors fairly far apart would both be influenced by all those interfering factors, but not at the same time. So if two detectors recorded activity at the...

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