[Paper Review] First echoes of relativity in Argentine astronomy

Alejandro Gangui, Eduardo L. Ortiz|ArXiv.org|Sep 17, 2008

Historical Studies in Science3 citations

TL;DR

This paper traces the early reception and experimental engagement with Einstein's theory of relativity in Argentine astronomy during the 1910s and 1920s, highlighting the roles of Charles Dillon Perrine, José Ubach, and Félix Aguilar in testing and disseminating relativistic predictions—particularly light deflection during solar eclipses—despite limited institutional recognition at the time.

ABSTRACT

We consider the attitude of astronomers in Argentina in connection with the new problems posed by relativity theory, before and after GR was presented. We begin considering the sequence of "technical" publications that appeared and use it to attempt to identify who were the relativity leaders and authors in the Argentina scientific community of the 1910-1920s. Among them there are natives of Argentina, permanent resident scientists, and occasional foreign visitors. They are either academic scientists, or high school teachers; we leave aside the {\it philosophers} and the {\it aficionados}. We discuss the scientific facts and publications they handled, the modernity of their information and the "language" they use to transmit their ideas. Finally, we consider astronomers proper; first Charles Perrine, an astronomer interested in astrophysics, contracted by the government of Argentina in the USA as director of its main observatory. He became interested in testing the possible deflection of light rays by the Sun towards 1912; his Argentine expedition was the first to attempt that test. Perhaps Perrine was not so much interested in relativity as in testing the particular astronomical effects it predicted. In any case, he attempted the test with the acquiescence and financial support of the Argentine state, and as a leading member of its official scientific elite. We contrast his very specific and strictly scientific efforts with those of our second astronomer, José Ubach, SJ, a secondary school teacher of science at a leading Buenos Aires Catholic school who reported in response to Eddington's expedition. Finally, our third astronomer is Félix Aguilar, who made an effort to contribute to the public understanding of Einstein's theories in 1924, when Einstein's visit to Argentina had become a certainty. [abridged]

Motivation & Objective

• To examine the scientific community's response to relativity theory in Argentina before and after the final formulation of General Relativity.
• To identify key figures—both native and foreign—active in disseminating and testing relativistic ideas in Argentina during the 1910s–1920s.
• To analyze the scientific and institutional context of early experimental efforts, particularly Perrine’s eclipse expeditions, and their reception within the Argentine scientific elite.
• To assess the role of public science communication in shaping awareness of relativity, as exemplified by Félix Aguilar’s 1924 article.
• To highlight the lack of institutional recognition for early relativistic work, such as Perrine’s efforts, even after the 1919 eclipse confirmation.

Proposed method

• Analyzing technical publications and scientific correspondence from Argentine scientific societies, including the Sociedad Científica Argentina (SCA), to identify early discussions of relativity.
• Tracing the academic and scientific activities of key individuals—Perrine, Laub, Collo, Isnardi, Aguilar—through their publications, lectures, and institutional roles.
• Examining primary sources such as Perrine’s eclipse expedition reports, Aguilar’s 1924 article in the SCA journal, and Laub’s Spanish translations of European physics papers.
• Comparing the scientific language and modernity of technical discourse in Argentina with contemporaneous European developments in relativity theory.
• Assessing the impact of international scientific events—like the 1919 Eddington expeditions—on Argentine scientific discourse and public understanding.
• Using archival sources, including Chaudet’s 1926 SCA history, to evaluate the omission of relativity-related work from official scientific narratives.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How did Argentine astronomers and physicists engage with Einstein’s theory of relativity in the decade before and after the 1919 eclipse confirmation?
• RQ2 What was the role of Charles Dillon Perrine in attempting to test the deflection of light by the Sun, and how was his work received within the Argentine scientific establishment?
• RQ3 Why were key contributions—such as Perrine’s 1912 and 1914 eclipse expeditions and Ubach’s 1919 article—largely overlooked in official scientific histories of Argentina?
• RQ4 How did Félix Aguilar’s 1924 article contribute to the public and scientific understanding of General Relativity in Argentina?
• RQ5 What factors contributed to the lack of communication and institutional recognition for early relativistic research in Argentina despite state support and scientific excellence?

Key findings

• Charles Dillon Perrine led the first Argentine expedition to test the deflection of light by the Sun in 1912, making Argentina the first country to attempt such an observation.
• Perrine’s 1914 eclipse expedition was the second such attempt, and he later facilitated the transfer of solar spectrograms to Friedrich Freundlich for gravitational redshift analysis.
• Despite his efforts, Perrine’s work was not acknowledged in the 1926 official history of Argentine astronomy by Chaudet, indicating institutional neglect.
• José Ubach, SJ, published a detailed analysis of the 1919 Eddington expeditions in a Buenos Aires Catholic school journal, but his work was not widely recognized in the scientific community.
• Félix Aguilar’s 1924 article in the SCA journal provided a comprehensive review of the three classical tests of General Relativity, including detailed tables and diagrams of star shifts from the 1919 eclipses.
• Aguilar correctly cited the predicted 1.74” deflection of starlight by the Sun and acknowledged the technical challenges in measuring the gravitational redshift, concluding that the data were inconclusive at the time.