Word: redshift
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Dates: during 1934-1934
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...measurements of the reddening ("red-shift'') of light from distant nebulae. Effect of these observations was to make the universe, already expanding in theory, seem expanding in fact. The nebulae appeared to be hurtling away from Earth at speeds proportional to their distances, and the redshift of the farthest whose spectra could be analyzed (about 150,000,000 lightyears) indicated the thumping pace of 15,000 miles per second. Thus the galaxies at the frontiers of the observable universe must be receding twice as fast, and at the unseen bounds of the cosmos the nebular velocity must...
This is a reductio ad absurdum not only for common sense but for the theory of Relativity. Timidly at first but more boldly of late, some astronomers have suggested other possible causes for the redshift, viz. cosmic dust scattered through space or a slowing of light's velocity after millions of years of travel. Once as fervid a believer in the expanding universe as Sir Arthur Eddington, Dr. Hubble was ready last week to admit that it might be an illusion. "The cautious observer," said he wryly, "refrains from committing himself to the present interpretation and employs the colorless...