General relativity centennial celebrates Einstein’s genius
By Eva Emerson
Einstein is shorthand for genius, and describing everything Albert Einstein did to inspire that synonym would take a book, or multiple books (see reviews of some). But in this issue, Science News uses the opportunity of the 100th anniversary of the general theory of relativity to take a deep dive into one — perhaps the most important — of Einstein’s scientific contributions.
Tom Siegfried describes the challenges that Einstein faced and met to develop his theory, which reimagined gravity as a warping of spacetime. Of course, his equations had much wider implications. As Christopher Crockett explores, general relativity’s requirement that gravity bend light has been a boon to astronomers seeking to see the most ancient stars and galaxies. Gravitational lenses can help magnify or brighten images of faraway objects, extending scientists’ vision. Gravitational waves, another consequence of general relativity, have been detected indirectly; scientists are actively searching for direct evidence.