Assuming this principle (without proving it) allowed Einstein to develop the general theory of relativity in 1916, and to describe gravity in purely geometric terms.
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We know that the general theory of relativity is compatible with the existence of space-times in which travel to the past or remote future is possible.
This exploits one of the predictions of Einstein's general theory of relativity: that the path of a beam of light (which is a straight line in empty space) is bent inwards by the gravity of a massive object.
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But the same could have been said of the theory of general relativity, and yet satellite navigation, on which we all now depend, would be riddled with inaccuracies without corrections derived from it.
"This means that by watching what happens to the positions of the quasars on the sky as the gravitational field of Jupiter moves past their line-of-sight, the scientists can test other aspects of the general relativity theory, " says Professor Shanks.
Although Riemann, who died at the age of only 39, also laid the foundations in geometry for Einstein's general theory of relativity, his paper on prime sattracted little attention in the decades after it was first published.
The SKA will join the hunt for gravitational waves ripples in the structure of space predicted by Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity.
Instead of using Newton's theory of gravity to examine why fast-moving stars remain within their galaxies, the pair applied general relativity, Einstein's theory of gravity, to the problem.
The effect is a direct consequence of Einstein's theory of general relativity which tells us that space is warped by the presence of mass.
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At the time Einstein proposed his Theory of General Relativity, it had not been observationally established that the universe was in a state of expansion.
Einstein predicted the distortion of light in this way in 1915, as part of his general theory of relativity.
It is notoriously hard to modify the equations of general relativity without damaging the theory beyond repair.
In any case, general relativity directly contradicts quantum mechanics, the other great physical theory of the 20th century, so more and more precise tests need to be carried out to find out what cracks might exist in either theory.
One of his great achievements since then, together with mathematician Roger Penrose, has been to prove that Einstein's General Theory of Relativity means space and time has a beginning in the "Big Bang" and ends in black holes.
The gravitational field between the two black holes was so strong that it had never been possible to test Albert Einstein's theory of General Relativity in such an extreme situation.
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