JF Ptak Science Books Post 2311
Between the Eighth Avenue Line and Julius Einstein in the New York Times Index for April-September 1919, there is nothing. No Albert. No Albert Einstein. At least in the newspapers followed by the Index.
Abraham Pais mentions in his wonderful intellectual biography of Einstein Subtle is the Lord that there was no mention of Einstein in this index until after the famous 1919 measurements confirming his theory--this to huge popular acclaim. (This was a months-long series of work on the light rays passing through the gravitational field of the Sun, the Einsteinian theory of gravitation fitting the results rather than the Newtonian, thus determining the soundness of E's theory of relativity.) The paper1 announcing that was read in the Royal Society in November 1919, and then published in the first issue of the Philosophical Transactions in January 1920...and other places. But the reports started appearing in the press before that, the scientific reports lagging just a little.
I never checked it out until I stumbled upon a 1920 issue of Popular Astronomy, with a January 1 issue reporting on the great expedition.
Anyway, its true. The popular mentions of Einstein just aren't there. After the reports from Dyson/Eddington though Einstein begins his journey as a household name, blown out of the relative general obscurity of popular acknowledgment (in spite of his gargantuan year of 1905 and the other great papers of 1907, 1911, 1915, and 1916).
Notes, with the Times index following:
1. F.W. Dyson, A.S. Eddington, C. Davidson, “A Determination of the Deflection of Light by the Sun's Gravitational Field, from Observations Made at the Total Eclipse of May 29, 1919”, in The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Volume 220, pp. 291-333 (January 1920).
New York Times Index, Oct-Dec 1920
Then following the eclipse measurements, the explosion begins:
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