Philosophy
“This world is a strange madhouse. Currently, every coachman and every waiter is debating whether relativity theory is correct. Belief in this matter depends on political party affiliation.”1 Thus begins a letter by Albert Einstein to his one time close collaborator, mathematician Marcel Grossmann. It was written on 12 September 1920, just some three weeks after Berlin’s Philharmonic Hall had hosted a rambunctious rally at which Einstein had been denounced as a fraud and scientific philistine.
The event, together with the public debate between Einstein and nobelist Philippe Lenard of a month later, constitutes the first apogee of, what has become known as, the anti-relativity movement. Sentiment against relativity had been brewing for some time, in various quarters; one of the speakers at the Berlin event, Ernst Gehrcke, spectroscopist and extra-ordinary professor of physics, had for instance started publishing against the theory already in 1911. However, since the very public announcement of the eclipse results of 1919, opposition against relativity had gained great momentum. These results had confirmed Einstein’s predictions of light bending in the gravitational field of the Sun, and the ensuing publicity had propelled him into the international limelight; clearly, the enormous interest in relativity is manifest in the above letter to Grossmann.
Read more...
"Essay review of “Einsteins Gegner. Die öffentliche Kontroverse um die Relativitätstheorie in den 1920er Jahren” by Milena Wazeck" by Jeroen van Dongen
Einsteins Gegner: Die öffentliche Kontroverse um die Relativitätstheorie in den 1920er Jahren
by
Milena Wazeck
ISBN 10: 3593389142 / 3-593-38914-2
ISBN 13: 9783593389141
- Einstein's Jewish Science: First Review
The first review of Einstein's Jewish Science: Physics at the Intersection of Politics and religion is up at Publishers Weekly. Prior to WWII, Nazi sympathizers dismissed Einstein?s theory of relativity as ?Jewish science.? Yet Einstein himself, notes...
- "defending Einstein" Is Out!
I know, I know, after your summer beach reading, you're up to here with Hans Reichenbach's early writings on the theory of relativity... but for that hard to buy for philosophy of science geek on your Chirstams list... Hans Reichenbach was one...
- "mistaken Identity And Mirror Images"...quirky Stories
Albert Einstein accepted a “special” visiting professorship at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands in February 1920. Although his appointment should have been a mere formality, it took until October of that year before Einstein could occupy...
- Albert Einstein's Methodology
Abstract... This paper discusses Einstein's methodology. The first topic is: Einstein characterized his work as a theory of principle and reasoned that beyond kinematics, the 1905 heuristic relativity principle could offer new connections between...
- Einstein & Religion...an Easter Offering
Just an offering during this movable feast...an article by M. Barone... Abstract: While Special and General Relativity are well known by a very large number of people, Einstein's religious convictions are almost ignored. The paper focuses on what...
Philosophy
Einstein's challengers
On Einstein’s Opponents, and Other Crackpots
“This world is a strange madhouse. Currently, every coachman and every waiter is debating whether relativity theory is correct. Belief in this matter depends on political party affiliation.”1 Thus begins a letter by Albert Einstein to his one time close collaborator, mathematician Marcel Grossmann. It was written on 12 September 1920, just some three weeks after Berlin’s Philharmonic Hall had hosted a rambunctious rally at which Einstein had been denounced as a fraud and scientific philistine.
The event, together with the public debate between Einstein and nobelist Philippe Lenard of a month later, constitutes the first apogee of, what has become known as, the anti-relativity movement. Sentiment against relativity had been brewing for some time, in various quarters; one of the speakers at the Berlin event, Ernst Gehrcke, spectroscopist and extra-ordinary professor of physics, had for instance started publishing against the theory already in 1911. However, since the very public announcement of the eclipse results of 1919, opposition against relativity had gained great momentum. These results had confirmed Einstein’s predictions of light bending in the gravitational field of the Sun, and the ensuing publicity had propelled him into the international limelight; clearly, the enormous interest in relativity is manifest in the above letter to Grossmann.
Read more...
"Essay review of “Einsteins Gegner. Die öffentliche Kontroverse um die Relativitätstheorie in den 1920er Jahren” by Milena Wazeck" by Jeroen van Dongen
Einsteins Gegner: Die öffentliche Kontroverse um die Relativitätstheorie in den 1920er Jahren
by
Milena Wazeck
ISBN 10: 3593389142 / 3-593-38914-2
ISBN 13: 9783593389141
- Einstein's Jewish Science: First Review
The first review of Einstein's Jewish Science: Physics at the Intersection of Politics and religion is up at Publishers Weekly. Prior to WWII, Nazi sympathizers dismissed Einstein?s theory of relativity as ?Jewish science.? Yet Einstein himself, notes...
- "defending Einstein" Is Out!
I know, I know, after your summer beach reading, you're up to here with Hans Reichenbach's early writings on the theory of relativity... but for that hard to buy for philosophy of science geek on your Chirstams list... Hans Reichenbach was one...
- "mistaken Identity And Mirror Images"...quirky Stories
Albert Einstein accepted a “special” visiting professorship at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands in February 1920. Although his appointment should have been a mere formality, it took until October of that year before Einstein could occupy...
- Albert Einstein's Methodology
Abstract... This paper discusses Einstein's methodology. The first topic is: Einstein characterized his work as a theory of principle and reasoned that beyond kinematics, the 1905 heuristic relativity principle could offer new connections between...
- Einstein & Religion...an Easter Offering
Just an offering during this movable feast...an article by M. Barone... Abstract: While Special and General Relativity are well known by a very large number of people, Einstein's religious convictions are almost ignored. The paper focuses on what...