"In 1928 Robertson found a non-static line element similar to the one Lemaître had found three years earlier. Also like Lemaître, he derived a linear relationship between apparent recessional velocities and distances, and he discussed it in relation to observation data. Within the same tradition was Tolman's 1929 derivation of a 'Hubble law', that is, a relationship of the form v = kr, with v = \frac{d\lambda}{\lambda}. Robertson and Tolman generalized the De Sitter model to an arbitrary scale factor F(t), but they remained within the static paradigm and did not realize the significance of F(t). In a paper of 1929, Robertson wrote the general line element of what would later be known as the Robertson-Walker models and he even referred to Friedmann's work. And yet, although he had evidently studied Friedmann, he 'misread' him and failed to realize the significance of the expanding metric."
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Mathematicians from the United StatesCosmologistsPhysicists from the United StatesPrinceton University facultyPeople from Washington (state)
Original Language: English
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Helge Kragh, Robert W. Smith, "Who Discovered the Expanding Universe?" (2003) History of Science, Vol. 41, p.141-162.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Howard_P._Robertson
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Howard P. Robertson
Howard Percy Robertson (January 27, 1903 – August 26, 1961) was an American mathematician and physicist known for contributions related to physical cosmology and the uncertainty principle. He was Professor of Mathematical Physics at the California Institute of Technology and Princeton University.
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