Today the Wallal Expedition has largely been forgotten, in spite of its immense world significance in proving the theory that underpins our understanding of gravity and the universe. Foundation Professor of Physics at UWA, Professor Alexander Ross played a major role along with scientists from USA, Canada, Britain and India. This year marks the centenary of the Great Wallal Expidition. Locally, as a discovery made in Western Australia, it is one for which all West Australian’s should be proud. The testing was needed because earlier tests of Einstein’s theory had given inconclusive results despite public claims to the contrary. The expedition confirmed the accuracy of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, the theory that revolutionised our understanding of the universe, and the one which we use today every time we use a GPS satellite navigation system. They measured the warping of space by observing stars during the eclipse of the sun.

This expedition was a heroic national and international effort that was supported and feted across the country. Curved Space and Warped Time – Australia Tests Einstein 1922Ī group of scientists, historians and students in Western Australia created an exhibition on the Great Wallal Eclipse Expedition that took place in Western Australia less than four years after the First World War.

Gravity as curved space activity