Erwin Finlay-Freundlich

Erwin Finlay-Freundlich FRAS
Born	(1885-05-29)29 May 1885 Biebrich, Hesse, Germany
Died	24 July 1964(1964-07-24) (aged 79) Wiesbaden , Hesse, Germany
Alma mater	Charlottenburg Polytechnic University of Göttingen
Spouse	Kate Hirschberg ​ (m. 1913)​
Scientific career
Fields	Astronomy
Institutions	Berlin Observatory Einstein Tower University of Istanbul Charles University of Prague St. Andrews University University of Mainz
Thesis	Analytische Funktionen mit beliebig vorgeschriebenem unendlich-blättrigem Existenzbereiche (1910)
Doctoral advisor	C. Felix Klein Paul Koebe

Erwin Finlay-Freundlich

In 1913 he married Kate Hirschberg.[3] After finishing his thesis under the direction of

In 1951 he was created John Napier Professor of Astronomy. On his retirement in 1959, he returned to his native town Wiesbaden and was appointed professor at the University of Mainz. Freundlich died in Wiesbaden, Germany on 24 July 1964.

Achievements

Freundlich researched the deflection of light rays passing close to the Sun. He proposed an experiment, during an eclipse, to verify the validity of Einstein's theory of general relativity. Freundlich's demonstration would have proven Newton's theories incorrect. He did conduct inconclusive tests on the prediction by Einstein's theory of gravitation-induced red shift of spectral lines in the Sun, using the solar observatories he had constructed in Potsdam and Istanbul. In 1953, he proposed with Max Born an alternative explanation of the red shifts observed in galaxies by a tired light model.

Publications

• Die Grundlagen der Einsteinschen Gravitationstheorie. Mit e. Vorw. von Albert Einstein. – Berlin : Springer, 1916. – 64 S.; 8
• Über die Rotverschiebung der Spektrallinien with Max Born (1953)
• Theoretische Bemerkungen zu Freundlichs Formel für die stellare Rotverschiebung (1953)
• Cosmology (1971)

References