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Dark Bodies and Black Holes, Magic Circles and Montgolfiers: Light and Gravitation from Newton to Einstein

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Jean Eisenstaedt
Jean Eisenstaedt
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Gravitation et CosmologieUniversité Pierre et Marie Curie CNRS, Paris
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Abstract

The question of the possible existence of black holes is closely related to the question of the action of gravitation on the propagation of light. It has been raised recurrently from the when that Newton referred to a possible bending of light in his Opticks. And it relies on apparently simple questions: Is light subject to gravitation? What is the effect of a gravitational field on the propagation of light? Could a particle of light emitted by a star be retained by its gravitational field?

From the end of the 1960s, the black hole idea has had a very important place in the relativistic literature, not to speak of the popularization of the theory. It turned out to be not only an important concept but also a tool that permitted us to understand general relativity better, indeed a tool that contributed greatly to changing the interpretation of Einstein's theory of gravitation. Here too I want to use this concept of the black hole to assist our understanding of the history of general relativity: the black hole is a fundamental milestone in the evolution of general relativity.

Type
The Context of Reception
Information
Science in Context , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , Spring 1993 , pp. 83 - 106
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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