The Elephant in the Universe: 100-year search for dark matter Author: Govert Schilling The Century-Old Mystery Begins: Early Astronomical Observations
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 6 September 2025
⏱️ 9 minutes
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Summary
The Century-Old Mystery Begins: Early Astronomical Observations
Headline: Pioneers Uncover Unseen Gravitational Effects in the Cosmos
In 1922, Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn, a Dutch astronomer, was the first to introduce the term "dark matter" in a paper theorizing the arrangement and motion of the sidereal system, realizing unseen matter had gravitational effects within the Milky Way. A decade later, his student, Jan Oort, further identified the Milky Way's rotation and, by studying the up-and-down motions of stars, made an early estimate of dark matter in the galaxy's central plane. Building on this, Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky observed the Coma Cluster in California, using redshift to determine galaxy motions. He concluded there was more mass and gravity than visible, coining the German term "dunkle Materie," meaning "dark matter." These early 20th-century findings laid the groundwork for the ongoing dark matter mystery.
1957
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| 0:26.7 | This is CBS. |
| 0:27.9 | Eye on the world. |
| 0:29.9 | Here's John Batchelor. |
| 0:33.6 | I welcome dark matter, |
| 0:36.1 | what we know and what we want to know. |
| 0:37.0 | A new book, |
| 0:39.3 | The Elephant in the Universe, 100 years search for dark matter. Guvert Schilling is the author, and we begin 100 years before |
| 0:46.7 | this moment. Jakobus Cornelius Coppeton, born 1851, writes a paper in May of 1822 that is revelatory. |
| 0:59.9 | It's entitled First Attempt at a Theory of the Arrangement and Motion of the Sidereal System. |
| 1:07.6 | That paper has in it this sentence, the amount of dark matter from its gravitational |
| 1:13.2 | effect. Goverd a very good evening to you. Thank you. Introduce us to Mr. Copton. What was it that |
| 1:21.2 | brought him to make that speculation that we now spend so much time puzzling over? Good evening |
| 1:26.7 | to you. Yeah, hello, very nice to meet you. |
... |
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