Roland, baron von Eötvös

Table of Contents

Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Read Next

Highway Night Traffic Portland, drive, driving, car, automobile.

What's the Difference Between Speed and Velocity?

Solar system illustration. (planets; sun)

Why Are Planets Round?

Astronomical Observatory of the Mojon del Trigo. Long exposure using the star trail technique. Sierra Nevada National Park, in the province of Granada, Andalusia.

Is Earth Going to Change the Direction in Which It Rotates?

Solar system illustration. (Sun; planets)

A Model of the Cosmos

Paleogeography and paleoceanography of Early Triassic time. The present-day coastlines and tectonic boundaries of the configured continents are shown at the lower right. Continents, continental drift, plate tectonics, Pangea, Laurussia, Gondwana.

Spotting a Supercontinent: How Pangea Was Discovered

Discover

22 Questions About Time and Timekeeping Answered

Baseball laying in the grass. Homepage blog 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society, sports and games athletics

10 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time

earthquake. Heavily damaged school in the town of Yingxiu after a major earthquake struck China's Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008.

The 6 Deadliest Earthquakes Since 1950

A Factory Interior, watercolor, pen and gray ink, graphite, and white goache on wove paper by unknown artist, c. 1871-91; in the Yale Center for British Art. Industrial Revolution England

Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution

Close-up of crocodile eye; location unknown (rainforest, reptile).

What’s the Difference Between Alligators and Crocodiles?

Queen Elizabeth II addresses at opening of Parliament. (Date unknown on photo, but may be 1958, the first time the opening of Parliament was filmed.)

All 119 References in “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” Explained

Charles Darwin, carbon print photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1868.

What Darwin Got Right (and Wrong) About Evolution

Roland, baron von Eötvös

Hungarian scientist

Also known as: Loránd, Báró Eötvös

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Quick Facts

(German),:

Hungarian:: Loránd, Báró Eötvös

Born:: July 27, 1848, Pest, Hungary

Died:: April 8, 1919, Budapest (aged 70)

Notable Family Members:: father József, Báró Eötvös

Roland, baron von Eötvös (born July 27, 1848, Pest, Hungary—died April 8, 1919, Budapest) was a Hungarian physicist who introduced the concept of molecular surface tension. His study of the Earth’s gravitational field—which led to his development of the Eötvös torsion balance, long unsurpassed in precision—resulted in proof that inertial mass and gravitational mass are equivalent, later a major principle of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity.

Eötvös, the son of Baron József Eötvös, was minister of public instruction in the cabinet of Sandor Wekerle, resigning in 1895 to devote himself to teaching physics at the University of Budapest.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.