On Sat, 9 Aug 2003, Stephen Speicher wrote:
"In this connection it is of importance to note that
when we exclude certain possibilities that would give
rise to still greater intricacy, the form of comparison
used by Einstein to present the theory is the only
possible one; the principle of the freedom of choice in
co-ordinates was the only one by which he needed to
allow himself to be guided. Although thus there was no
special effort made to reach a connection with the
theory of Newton, it was evident, fortunately, at the
end of the experiment that the connection existed."
As Tim Shuba correctly identified, these words were written by
Hendrik Antoon Lorentz, and they were published in "The Einstein
Theory of Relativity: A Concise Statement," _Brentano's_, 1920.
Jeff Krimmel was first with the correct date. (Note that Lorentz'
article first appeared in "The Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant on
November 19, 1919.)
As readers of past "Who said this ..." will recognize, Lorentz
has been the subject of several other installments of the
contest. Often the context has been Lorentz' reverence for
Einstein ("As for me personally, I cannot tell you how enticing
the prospect of maintaining a constant contact with you at work
would be for me. If it were granted to me to welcome you here as
my successor and my colleague ..." [1]), or of Lorentz'
recognition of the achievement of relativity and his thoughts on
the "old-fashioned roads" travelled by the ether approach. [2]
Lorentz was not only amongst the first to grasp the value of
general relativity, but very early on he actually taught a course
in the subject. He even inspired several of his students to do
work in the field. In typical Lorentzian fashion, the need to
formalize and structure the theory for teaching was itself a
means for Lorentz' deeper grasp of the material.
"In recent months I have been occupying myself much
with your gravitation theory and general theory of
relativity and have also lectured on it, which was very
useful to me. Now I believe I understand the theory in
its full glory..." [3]
In the current quotation Lorentz displays his grasp of an issue
which several today still have difficulty understanding, i.e,
just how Einstein made no special effort while formulating
general relativity, to connect it with Newtonian theory. The
necessary Newtonian connection, as an approximation of general
relativity under restricted circumstances, was a simple and
natural outgrowth of the already existing Einsteinian theory. As
Lorentz continues on:
"Although thus there was no special effort made to
reach a connection with the theory of Newton, it was
evident, fortunately, at the end of the experiment that
the connection existed. If we avail ourselves of the
simplifying circumstance that the velocities of the
heavenly bodies are slight in comparison with that of
light, then we can deduce the theory of Newton from the
new theory, the 'universal' relativity theory, as it is
called by Einstein. Thus all the conclusions based on
the Newtonian theory hold good, as must naturally be
required. But now we have got further along. The
Newtonian theory can no longer be regarded as
absolutely correct in all cases..."
Lorentz then goes on to illustrate with examples such as the
anomalous advance in the perihelion of Mercury, and the
deflection of light rays grazing the Sun. In fact, Lorentz goes
into some detail regarding the 1919 solar eclipse expeditions,
enough so for one to realize that Lorentz had carefully studied
the results.
Although by this time Lorentz had clearly embraced the value of
Einstein's relativity, he still never gave up some slight hope
for the ether: "Im my opinion it is not impossible that in the
future this road, indeed abandoned at present, will once more be
followed with good results." Lorentz thought that the only way to
do so, however, requires first the acceptance of Einstein's
general relativity so that "the [new] ideas about the ether must
accord with it." To Lorentz' way of thinking, Einstein had
established the gold standard, a "monument of science; his theory
entirely fulfills the first and principal demand that we may
make, that of deducing the course of phenomena from certain
principles exactly and to the smallest details."
Regarding Einstein and the ether, Lorentz further states that "It
was certainly fortunate that he himself put the ether in the
background; if he had not done so, he probably would never have
come upon the idea that has been the foundation of all his
examinations. Thanks to his indefatigable exertions and
perseverance, for he had great difficulties to overcome in his
attempts, Einstein has attained the results which I have tried to
sketch."
[1] --Hendrik A. Lorentz, "The Collected Papers of Albert
Einstein," Volume 5, Anna Beck, Translator, Document
359, p. 261, _Princeton University Press_, 1995.
[2] --Hendrik Antoon Lorentz, "Problems of Modern Physics;
a course of lectures delivered in the California
Institute of Technology," Edited by H. Bateman, _Ginn_,
1927.
[3] --Hendrik A. Lorentz, Letter to Einstein dated 6 June
1916, in "The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein:
Volume 8," _Princeton University Press_, 1998.
The Current Standings on "Who said this ..."
-------------------------------------------
Dirk Van de moortel 112
John Zinni 58
Michael Varney 40
Nicholas Steele 30
Jim Graber 30
Tom Bedford 27
Tim Shuba 23
Matthew Nobes 22
Ilja Schmelzer 22
Gene Nygaard 18
Jeff Krimmel 15
Jem 14
Russell Blackadar 12
Daryl McCullough 10
David Evens 10
Mel Lep 10
Shaun Webb 10
Domino Plural 10
Greg Neill 10
Bruce Pew 10
Tom Snyder 8
Arfur Dogfrey 7
David A. Smith 5.5
Michel Mouly 5
Double-A 4
David McAnally 3
Courtney Mewton 2
Aardvark 2
Tom Clarke 2
Colin Wetherbee 2
Jamieson Christie 2
Eli Botkin 1
Bob Kolker 1
man_mars 1
--
Stephen
sjs@speicher.com
Ignorance is just a placeholder for knowledge.
Printed using 100% recycled electrons.
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