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theory of relativity
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The theory of relativity comprises two physics theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical phenomena in the absence of gravity. General relativity explains the law of gravitation and its relation to the forces of nature. It applies to the cosmological and astrophysical realm, including astronomy.
“No mathematician can give any meaning to the language about matter, force, inertia used in current text-books of mechanics.”
“If you don't take my words too seriously, I would say this: If we assume that all matter would disappear from the world, then, before relativity, one believed that space and time would continue existing in an empty world. But, according to the theory of relativity, if matter and its motion disappeared there would no longer be any space or time.”
“Only around the end of the nineteenth century did scientists come across a few observations that did not fit well with Newton's laws, and these led to the net revolution in physics - the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics.”
“I consider the theory of relativity to be an example showing how a fundamental scientific discovery, sometimes even against the resistance of its creator, gives birth to further fruitful developments, following its own autonomous course.”
“Einstein's famous theory of relativity states that while phenomena appear different to someone close to a black hole, traveling close to the speed of light, or in a falling elevator here on earth, scientists in profoundly different environments will nevertheless always discover the same underlying laws of nature.”
“Arthur Eddington, Space, Time and Gravitation: An Outline of the General Relativity Theory (1921)”
Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.