Big-G: Deus ex machina

 Big-G: Deus ex machina (PDF)

Did Cavendish measure the so-called Newtonian so-called gravitational so-called constant G? No. He didn’t.

In the 19th century, two centuries after Newton’s definition of his "universal" force of attraction, there was still no experimental verification of it.

Physicists desperately needed an experimental verification of this sanctified force so they defined the Cavendish experiment posthumously in the 19th century as the experiment that measured G for the first time.

But first they needed to define G and this was done by C.V. Boys.

G was defined in 1894, Henry Cavendish conducted his experiment in 1798. G was defined 96 years after Cavendish experiment.