THE SIZE OF THE UNIVERSE.

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume XLVI, Issue 3168, 15 November 1927, Page 4

THE SIZE OF THE UNIVERSE.

An attempt to measure the size of the universe was made by Professor E. T. Whittaker in his address to the mathematics and physics section of the British Association. Prom a highly technical discussion of the theory of relativity, he proceeded by mathematical reasoning to the conclusion that gravitation ''acted so as to make the total amount of the curvature of spacetime a minimum," so that it might be said that ' * gravitation represented a continual effort of the universe to straighten itself out. " That was general relativity in a single sentence. Thence Professor Whittaker proceeded to the question of the dimensions of the universe, to what might be the dimensions of the complete straight line, the circuit of all space. He was unable to assign a definite length for the "radius of curvature of the universe; but it is millions of light-years, though probably not greater than about 100 millions. The curvature of space at any particular place due to the general curvature of the universe is therefore quite small compared with the curvature which may be imposed on it locally by the presence of energy. By a strong magnetic field we can produce a curvature with a radius of only 100

light-years, and of course in the presence of matter the curvature is far stronger still. So the is like the earth, on which the local curvature of hills and valleys is far greater than the general curvature of the terrestrial globe." *