bedevile

Mario Livio著　"Brilliant Blunders" を読んでいます。


By introducing general relativity, Einstein dazzlingly solved the problem of the faster-than-light propagation of the force of gravity--the predicament that bedeviled Newton's theory. In general relativity, the speed of transmission boils down to how fast ripples in the fabric of space-time can travel from one point to another. Einstein showed that such warps and swells--the geometrical manifestation of gravity--travel precisely at the speed of light.

"bedevil" の意味を辞書で見ます。

・Oxford English Dictionary: (of something bad) cause great and continual trouble to.: ‘inconsistencies that bedevil modern English spelling’

・Collins Dictionary: If you are bedevilled by something unpleasant, it causes you a lot of problems over a period of time.: His career was bedevilled by injury.

・Cambridge English Dictionary: to confuse, annoy, or cause problems or difficulties for someone or something: Ever since I started playing tennis, I've been bedevilled by back pains.

例文を読むと、長い間悩ます問題の様ですね。