Astronomical Tales

How did the discoverer of galaxies become the toast of Hollywood, upstaging even Einstein?

Despite the scientifically irresistible opportunity to use the 100" Hale telescope, the largest in the world, Edwin Hubble instead enlisted in the army to serve in World War I. He mustered out as a Major in the Army and went directly to Mount Wilson Observatory, reporting to work still in uniform.

It was during those pivotal times in the 1920's that Hubble changed forever they way we see our place in the universe. Until then most astronomers believed that the Milky Way Galaxy made up the entire universe. But with his powerful 100" telescope, Hubble was able to determine that our Milky Way is just one of millions of galaxies all expanding from each other like dots on a balloon that is being slowly blown up.

Why is the Hubble Space Telescope named after a lawyer who competitively boxed?
the answer

Even Albert Einstein was willing to admit that Hubble's notions of the universe were more sophisticated than his. During the 1930's and 40's Hubble's fame made him the toast of Hollywood. Hubble hung out with Aldous Huxley, Helen Hayes, and William Randolf Hearst. Although Hollywood never made the movie, the science of cosmology was born thanks to Hubble's astounding contribution to our knowledge of the universe.

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