1882-1944. British astrophysicist, who
studied the motions, equilibrium, luminosity,
and atomic structure of the stars, and became
a leading exponent of Einstein's relativity
theory. In 1919 his observation of stars
during an eclipse confirmed Einstein's
prediction that light is bent when passing
near the Sun. His book The Nature of the
Physical World 1928 is a popularization of
science ; in The Expanding Universe 1933 he
expressed the theory that in the spherical
universe the outer galaxies or spiral nebulae
are receding from one another.