The Michigan Daily-Thursday, May 27, 1982-Page 9 PHYSICIST SEES PROBLEM IN EINSTEIN'S WORK Relativity theory examined again NEW YORK (AP) - If Henry Hill thought he could challenge Einstein's Theory of Relativity and not be taken to task for it, he was mistaken. The Arizona physicist met yesterday in face-to-face intellectual combat with Einstein's defenders and admirably defended his recent discovery of a possible flaw in Einstein's work. BUT THE confrontation, held at the New York Academy of Sciences, opened Hill's old wounds. It was not the first time that he had been forced to defend an unpopular point of view. The scientist has had the misfortune throughout his career of discovering things that don't match other scientists' expectations: "I've been a heretic ever since I've been in grad school," Hill said. His latest round of skirmishes began April 6 when he announced to the Royal Astronomical Society in Dublin, Ireland, that careful observations of the sun had led him to conclude there is an error in Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. SINCE THE theory was announced in 1916, physicists have tried every measurement and calculation they could think of to try to prove or disprove it. The theory has passed every test and thus has become one of the most important underpinnings of modern physics. One of the theory's triumphs has been its ex- planation of a slight deviation in the orbit of Mercury, the planet nearest the sun. The orbit, a giant oval path around the sun, precesses, or rotates ever so slightly. Before Einstein, scientists could not say why. THE DETAILED calculations of relativity provide a neat mathematical explanation for the precesion of Mercury's orbit, but assume that the sun is perfectly round. If the sun should turn out not to be round, Ein- stein's theory would be in trouble. .Hill, of the University of Arizona in Tucson, has been using a very sensitive telescope just north of Tucson to measure the diameter of the sun. He has concluded that the sun is flattened slightly at its north and south poles. He wasn't able to actually see the flattening, but he calculated that it was there by observing and carefully measuring waves of burning gases traveling across the sun's surface. Ronald Hellings of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California said measurements of Mercury's orbit are so imprecise that it is impossible to say yet who is right. Britain faces heavy losses;* 2 ships sunk, 24 men killed (Continued frem Page 4) the missiles that hit the Atlantic Con- veyor were believed intended for the carrier Hermes, flagship of the British task force, which was close enough to the merchant ship to see the weapons strike. THE SOURCE, who asked not to be identified, said the Exocets had been fired at the container ship-which was serving as a makeshift carrier for ver- tical-takeoff Harrier warplanes-from 28 miles away. The Harriers had been removed earlier, Nott said. A second destroyer, the Broadsword, accompanying the Coventry, suffered minor damage with no casualties reported, the source said. Nott called the losses-which pushed the official British death toll in the con- flict to 98-"tragic." But he said 10 more destroyers and frigates have joined the armada "in the last two days." CORRECION In the "World According To Garp" advertisement that ran in the Daily Tuesday, May 26, the date for the film was incorrectly printed as May 27, 1952. The film will be shown on June 1 1982, in Angell Hall. The Daily apologizes for any incon- veniences it may have caused. LSAT - MCAT- GRE GRE PSYCH - GRE B10- MAT GMAT- DAT- OCAT- PCAT VAT. SAT. ACT* CPA*-TOEFL MSKP - NAT'L MED BDS ECFMG - FLEX - VQE NDB - NPB I - NLE ~4 9MPWN EDUCATIONAL CENTER Test Preparation Specialists Since 1938 For information, Please Call 211 E. Huron St. ---r Ann Arbor, MI 48104 (313) 662-3149 isO Garp- The m us, levrM ,r 3 beig yo L 19M A GEORGE ROY HILL Film ROBIN WILLIAMS "THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP" MARY BETH HURT GLENN CLOSE - JOHN LITHGOW Executive Producer PATRICK KELLEY Screenplay by STEVE TESICH Based on the novel by JOHN IRVING Produced by GEORGE ROY HILL and ROBERT L.CRAWFORD Directed by GEORGE ROY HILL FROM OSNERSROS A WARNER COMMUNICATIONO COMPANY 0 R e *E L GnIANN(Read the Novel from POCKET BOOKS. LOCATION: Auditorium A/Angell Hall Univ. of Michigan/Ann Arbor DATE: June 1 TIME: 7:00 SPONSOR: Dept. of Communications Admission isfree to the college community, but seating is limited. Admittance ison a first-come. first-sed asis.