The phenomenal eclipse
When we were young we were scared of the dark and the solar eclipse or the drop in temperature accompanied with strong winds. At such times everyone used rushed to the mosques to pray for the end of this crises thinking it was something evil but all this ended with development in science that cleared the mist from our eyes, and soon this phenomenon became something that we now spend money to watch and wait for its occurrence.
On August 21, 2017, a total eclipse took place and pleased many people. The last time this occurred was about 100 years ago, and we won’t see another one until 2024 so until then, Muslims will continue to fight, insult with each other and consider an unbeliever over the authenticity of seeing the crescent or Ramadan.
During the May 29, 1919 eclipse which lasted six minutes, it was seen from Northern Brazil to Principe Island in African Guinea. It represented a scientific phenomenon, as the English physicist Arthur Eddington convinced his government to finance his attempt to prove the gravity theory written by a German Jewish scientist Albert Einstein in 1915, who said that gravity causes the curvature of space, and that the lights leaving the stars bend following the curvature. So if there was a star that is close to the sun, then its light will bend due to the gravity of the sun.
The total eclipse gave Eddington the opportunity to test Einstein’s theory but the English government gave credit to the German national, its arch enemy, besides that proof of the theory represents an adjustment made by the smart English scientist Isaac Newton. Yet, Eddington went ahead with his project, as he will not get another opportunity. When darkness prevailed with the sun disappearing behind the moon, and stars appeared during midday, Eddington located a certain star that is normally hidden behind the sun, exactly like Einstein expected and in turn was sure he was accurate.
In addition to that, the total eclipse phenomenon enabled scientists to see the sun’s crown and considered it as a scientific discovery, as the sun’s disc is brighter than its outer edges or crown, and only with the eclipse the outer limits can be seen. After that German Einstein with his relativity theory, knocked down or adjusted the theories of Isaac Newton, and became the greatest scientist humanity has known, and that was the start of Einstein’s fame.