fbpx

KidsKonnect

Arthur Eddington Facts & Worksheets

Arthur Eddington was an English physicist, mathematician, and astronomer. Eddington was also a philosopher of science and a popularizer of science.

Search for Worksheets

Worksheets /People /Figures /Arthur Eddington Facts & Worksheets
Premium
Arthur Eddington Worksheets
Not ready to purchase a subscription? Click to download the free sample version   Download sample

Arthur Eddington was an English physicist, mathematician, and astronomer. Eddington was also a philosopher of science and a popularizer of science. One of his contributions is the Eddington Limit, which is a natural limit to the luminosity of stars.

See the fact file below for more information on the Arthur Eddington or alternatively, you can download our 24-page Arthur Eddington worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

BIOGRAPHY AND EARLY LIFE

  • Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington OM FRS was born in Kendal, United Kingdom, on December 28, 1882. He was born into a Quaker family. At a very young age, Eddington was already interested in stars.
  • In 1884, Henry Eddington, who was the headmaster of a local school and his father, died because of typhoid and their family moved to Weston-super-Mare, where Eddington was educated first at home. Later on, Eddington spent three years at a preparatory school.
  • At the age of ten, Eddington borrowed money to buy his first telescope because of his fondness for the stars. In 1893, Eddington entered Brymelyn School that provided a good education despite having limited resources that made him excel in mathematics and English literature.
  • Later on, Eddington’s progress in school was rapid and he earned a high distinction in mathematics.
  • In 1898, Eddington was awarded a scholarship for three years by Somerset County, but he still could not enter a university at his age. However, this problem was quickly solved, and he was allowed to enter Owens College, Manchester.
  • In 1902, Eddington graduated with a First-Class Honors degree in physics. With this, he was awarded a scholarship to Trinity College Cambridge. After graduating, Eddington spent some of his time researching thermionic emission at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge.

EDDINGTON’S CONTRIBUTIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

  • In 1906, Eddington became the chief assistant to the Astronomer Royal at the Royal Greenwich Observatory. Eddington developed a new statistical method for observing the stars that made him win the Smith’s Prize in 1907.
  • This led Eddington to a fellowship at Trinity College at Cambridge. Simultaneously, Eddington was an active member of the Quaker Guild of Teachers, a group that helped the members to better understand and integrate their faith and intellectual life.
  • In 1912, Eddington became the Plumian Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge and, after a year, the Cambridge Observatory Director.
  • World War I was a difficult time for Eddington because his Quaker principles led him to call for British scientists to preserve their pre-war friendships and cooperate with the German scientists.
  • Eddington was the Secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society. He was the first one to receive a series of papers sent by William de Sitter, who was a Dutch astronomer that met Einstein, about Einstein’s general relativity theory.
  • During World War I, with Eddington’s research work, he was able to obtain an exemption from the service. This was also because he was a pacifist as a Quaker. During the war years, he completed his transit observations for the zodiacal catalog.
  • In 1919, Eddington went on an expedition to the island of Principe off Africa’s coast to observe an eclipse.
  • His observations helped confirm Einstein’s prediction that a slight shift in the starlight was caused by the gravitational field of the Sun.
  • Eddington had published the earliest works in the English language, the “Space-Time and Gravitation,” in 1920 and “Mathematical Theory of Relativity,” in 1923. These explained the mathematical details of Einstein’s theory of gravitation and special relativity.
  • In 1914, Eddington published his first book, “Stellar Movements and the Structure of the Universe.” The book explained the groundwork for our understanding of the structure of the universe.
  • In 1926, Eddington published “The Internal Constitution of the Stars,” which became one of the best-selling astronomy books for decades.
  • In the same year, Eddington was able to discover that the inward gravitational pressure of a star must maintain the gas pressure and external radiation in order to remain its equilibrium.
  • With these, Eddington also demonstrated that there was an upper limit on the mass of the stars. This also led to Eddington’s discovery about the mass-luminosity relationship. This shows that the size of the star is directly proportional to its luminosity.
  • This is called the Eddington mass limit or the Eddington limit. It means the theoretical upper limit to the mass of a star or an accretion disk. This also means that if a star exceeds this limit, its luminosity would be so high that it could blow off the outer layers of the star.
  • This certain limit depends on the star’s specific internal conditions and is around several hundred solar masses.

LATER IN LIFE

  • Later in his life and career, Eddington wanted to find a fundamental theory that would unite the quantum theory, relativity, and gravitation. His research was published in “Fundamental Theory” after his death.
  • In 1906, Eddington became a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, and in 1924, Eddington became a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1930, he was knighted.
  • Eddington never had the chance to be married and died after an unsuccessful surgical operation on November 22, 1944, in Cambridge, England. In order to honor him, the Eddington Memorial Scholarship and Eddington Medal were established.

Arthur Eddington Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Arthur Eddington across 24 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Arthur Eddington worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Arthur Eddington who was an English physicist, mathematician, and astronomer. Eddington was also a philosopher of science and a popularizer of science. One of his contributions is the Eddington Limit, which is a natural limit to the luminosity of stars.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Arthur Eddington Facts
  • Eddington’s Profile
  • Timeline of the Eddington
  • The Published Works
  • Crossword Stars
  • The Eddington Limit
  • Questions of Arthur
  • Filling the Limit
  • Jumbled Eclipse
  • Arthur’s Words
  • Eddington and Einstein

Link/cite this page

If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source.

Link will appear as Arthur Eddington Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, December 4, 2020

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

Related Resources