Theory Gallery

Starlight bent by the Suns Attraction: The Einstein Theory

This diagram drawn by W. B. Robinson illustrates Professor Einstein's Theory that light is subject to gravitation. The drawing was based on British observers photographs at the eclipse of the sun on the 28-29th May 1919. Photographs of stars were taken during the total eclipse, which were then compared to other plates of the same region taken when the sun was not in the neighbourhood. Comparing the two plates, the stars on the eclipse plates seemed to be pushed outwards, thus starlight was found to be bent by the sun's attraction. Dr A. C. Crommelin, a British observer working on the project, wrote that straight lines in Einstein's space cannot exist; they are parts of gigantic curves

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

The night patrol of the London streets, 1853

The night patrol of the London streets. The figure of Death on horseback rides out of an overcrowded cemetery full of cholera victims. There were two medical theories related to the spread of disease at this time. One was that disease was transmitted by touch. The other was the miasmic theory, which taught that disease was spread by bad smells, bad air or poisonous miasma'. The illustration is accompanied by a poem which lays the blame firmly at the feet of the latter theory: Tis the Demon of Pestilence pacing our streets; Striking down - poisoning all that he meets...For he had from yon churchyard his hideous birth! Horribly - loathsomely born of the vapours that rise from that spot; where, in midst of the living, the dead lie to rot, by earth scarce enshrouded, so thickly they're crowded. Date: 1853

© Mary Evans Picture Library

Cartoon, The disciple of Kant, WW1

Cartoon, The disciple of Kant. Showing a German follower of Kantian philosophy, with illustrations of Kant's theory of Cause, Effect, and Sufficient Reason. The implication is that a man who studies too much may be driven to drink a lot of beer and is likely to vomit it up by the end of the evening. Date: 1916

© Mary Evans Picture Library