“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.”

— DONALD RUMSFELD

Inearly 1916, Einstein presented his new theory of gravity, his life’s biggest breakthrough. It successfully explained the notions of space, and time, and how matter interacts and evolves in the universe. However, if the question of a complete description of our universe as a whole was raised then clearly Einstein’s theory wasn’t sufficient to predict any such model.

As per the understanding of the scientific community of the early 1900s, the universe was supposed to be static and everlasting, with one Milky Way galaxy in the middle of a vast and infinite cosmic ocean.

That idea about the universe was comfortable for them to believe because in that case, they wouldn’t have to worry about its origin as well as its creator.

But apparently, the static universe was in complete disagreement with the notion of gravity in Newton’s classical theory. Gravity was thought to be an attractive force between masses altogether. This concept resulted in confusion about how masses in a universe i.e stars, planets, and other cosmic objects stay at rest, where in fact they should eventually collapse and destroy each other due to their mutual gravitational pull.

Also, the theory of gravity presented by Einstein wasn’t found to be consistent with the static picture of the universe. Einstein’s work is primarily assumed to be dependent upon pure reason and thought, just like most string theorists these days. But, he always yearned for observational and experimental shreds of evidence too. He was guided by a number of thought experiments before reaching his ultimate results. One observational proof of general relativity worth mentioning here is the profound explanation of the perihelion shift in Mercury’s orbit.

The author made this story available to Medium members only. Upgrade to instantly unlock this story plus other member-only benefits.

“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.”

— DONALD RUMSFELD

Inearly 1916, Einstein presented his new theory of gravity, his life’s biggest breakthrough. It successfully explained the notions of space, and time, and how matter interacts and evolves in the universe. However, if the question of a complete description of our universe as a whole was raised then clearly Einstein’s theory wasn’t sufficient to predict any such model.

As per the understanding of the scientific community of the early 1900s, the universe was supposed to be static and everlasting, with one Milky Way galaxy in the middle of a vast and infinite cosmic ocean.

That idea about the universe was comfortable for them to believe because in that case, they wouldn’t have to worry about its origin as well as its creator.

But apparently, the static universe was in complete disagreement with the notion of gravity in Newton’s classical theory. Gravity was thought to be an attractive force between masses altogether. This concept resulted in confusion about how masses in a universe i.e stars, planets, and other cosmic objects stay at rest, where in fact they should eventually collapse and destroy each other due to their mutual gravitational pull.

Also, the theory of gravity presented by Einstein wasn’t found to be consistent with the static picture of the universe. Einstein’s work is primarily assumed to be dependent upon pure reason and thought, just like most string theorists these days. But, he always yearned for observational and experimental shreds of evidence too. He was guided by a number of thought experiments before reaching his ultimate results. One observational proof of general relativity worth mentioning here is the profound explanation of the perihelion shift in Mercury’s orbit.

The author made this story available to Medium members only. Upgrade to instantly unlock this story plus other member-only benefits.