The River Houses

A National Network of Local Homeschool Societies

You are here: Home > 2019 > May > 29

Archives for 29 May 2019

🌏 🌕 🌞 AN EINSTEIN CENTENNIAL and a Famous Scientific Test ✨

by

For live links, click to: riverhouses.org/2019-relativity 😊

One of our homeschool countries-of-the-week last week was the tiny island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe off the west coast of Africa. You probably won’t find too many people who have heard of that little country, but just one hundred years ago this week, the island of Príncipe was the site of one of the most famous scientific tests in history. Here’s a fun two-minute video that describes that test — it was produced at the time of the U.S. eclipse two years ago, which is mentioned at the end:

➢

As the video explains, Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, published in 1915, predicted that massive objects such as stars would actually bend rays of light as they passed by — but how could anyone test such a proposition? The solution, carried out by the great astronomer Arthur Eddington (1882–1944), was to take photographs of the stars around the sun at the moment of a solar eclipse (when they could be seen), and then compare those stars’ positions to their normal positions when their light wasn’t reaching us by passing right next to the sun. If Einstein was correct, the images of the stars would be slightly nudged out of place when they were right next to the sun.

A total solar eclipse was scheduled to pass across Africa, the South Atlantic, and South America on 29 May 1919 (one hundred years ago today), and Eddington travelled to Príncipe to photograph it. His results proved Einstein right: the images of the stars were slightly nudged out of place as a result of having passed by the massive sun on their way to us.

Eddington commemorative stamp from São Tomé and Príncipe, issued in 2009 (ten years ago) on the 90th anniversary of the Eddington–Einstein eclipse observations. Note the image of the eclipsed sun and the solar corona next to Eddington’s portrait.

In honor of this scientific anniversary, why not take a few minutes to drop the names of Einstein and Eddington in your homeschool this week, and read again a fact or two about São Tomé and Príncipe. And if you’re really ambitious and want to make your own homeschool contributions to the advancement of science, why not sign up for the Einstein@Home research project on your family computer, and maybe you’ll discover something grand and wonderful yourself. 🔭

What astronomical observations have you made in your homeschool this week? 😊

❡ Explore more: If you turn to page 416 in your River Houses history encyclopedia (riverhouses.org/books) you’ll find an excellent illustrated profile of Albert Einstein’s life and work, with a timeline that includes the 1919 eclipse. Plate 95 in your atlas (both map and inset) will show you again the location of the tiny island of Príncipe.

❡ Stay in the loop: This is one of our regular Homeschool Astronomy posts. Add your name to our free weekly mailing list (riverhouses.org/newsletter) and get more great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox all through the year. 🗞

🌏 🇸🇬 WEEKLY WORLD HERITAGE: The Singapore Botanic Gardens

by

For live links, click to: riverhouses.org/2019-singapore

Singapore is one of our homeschool countries-of-the-week, so why not spend a few minutes today learning about one of Singapore’s World Heritage Sites: the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

“Phalaenopsis philippinensis orchid growing in a mist house” at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. (Image: Wikimedia Commons.)

The Singapore Botanic Gardens document the natural, cultural, and agricultural history of tropical Southeast Asia:

“Situated at the heart of the city of Singapore, the site demonstrates the evolution of a British tropical colonial botanic garden that has become a modern world-class scientific institution used for both conservation and education. The cultural landscape includes a rich variety of historic features, plantings and buildings that demonstrate the development of the garden since its creation in 1859. It has been an important centre for science, research and plant conservation, notably in connection with the cultivation of rubber plantations in Southeast Asia since 1875.“ (UNESCO World Heritage Centre #1483)

World Heritage Sites are cultural or natural landmarks of international significance, selected for recognition by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. More than 1000 such sites have been recognized in over 160 countries, and we post one every Wednesday, drawn from one of our homeschool countries-of-the-week. You can find a complete list online at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and in Wikipedia.

What world treasures have you explored in your homeschool this week? 😊

❡ Books in the running brooks: You can always turn to your River Houses almanac, atlas, and history encyclopedia (riverhouses.org/books) for more information about any of our countries-of-the-week. The almanac has profiles of all the nations of the world on pages 745–852; the endpapers of the atlas are indexes that will show you where all of the individual national and regional maps may be found; the history encyclopedia includes national histories on pages 489–599; and you can find additional illustrations, flags, and other mentions through the indexes in each of these volumes. 🇸🇬

❡ The great globe itself: This is one of our regular Homeschool States & Countries posts. Add your name to our free weekly mailing list (riverhouses.org/newsletter) and get great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox all through the year. 🌏