Two Classical Tests of Relativity Essay by FallDog

This paper explores how the problem of the anomalous advance of the perihelion of mercury and the bending of light near massive bodies led to one of the most famous theories ever. It discusses the historical context of the two problems and how Einstein's theory was accepted on the strength of the two pieces of evidence. It also looks at how Einstein, when he published his general theory of relativity in 1916, was essentially following the latter method of explaining Mercury's orbit and how Newton's inverse square law of gravity was eliminated. Instead, Einstein introduced a gravitational field equation in which energy, as well as mass, could lead to gravitational effects.