Critical Summary

Except for the report by W. W. Campbell and R. Trumpler on the observational test of one of the predictions from the general theory of relativity, and except for the presentation of some generally accepted cosmogonic theory by Henri Poincaré and Albert Einstein, this whole part is riddled with speculation. It is, however, both very interesting and rather profitable speculation. "The Beginning of the World" and "The End of the World" are brave advances in human thought; and although both the primeval atom and the perfect cosmological principle are now considered by many to be dead-end excursions, they have served and will continue to serve in leading to more acceptable speculations about a most tremendous theme—the origin of the universe. George Gamow’s thoughts in the area of explosive beginnings, and Fred Hoyle’s writings on the continuous creation hypotheses, have helped to keep our attention turned to the "big bang" and "steady state" versions of the universe. It now appears that the origin of the universe which we presently observe, and the origin of the planet on which we live and speculate, will long remain unsettled questions. Currently our best contributions seem to be those researches that show what is not true.

Again attention is drawn to the essays by Poincaré and W. de Sitter—both masters of their technical subjects, both artists in their presentations. On the other hand, quite unreadable except by experts is the derivation by Einstein of the most momentous formula, dangerous and utopian, of the atomic age.

The brief paper by Sir James Jeans slightly antedated the appearance of Einstein’s formulation; it contained the important suggestion that available energy sources lie within matter.