Abstract
The question of Einstein's rejection of the November tensor is re-examined in light of conflicting answers by several historians. I discuss these conflicting conjectures in view of three questions that should inform our thinking: Why did Einstein reject the November tensor in 1912, only to come back to it in 1915? Why was it hard for Einstein to recognize that the November tensor is a natural generalization of Newton's law of gravitation? Why did it take him three years to realize that the November tensor is not incompatible with Newton's law? I first briefly describe Einstein's work in the Zurich Notebook. I then discuss a number of interpretive conjectures formulated by historians and what may be inferred from them. Finally, I offer a new combined conjecture that answers the above questions.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 98-122 |
| Number of pages | 25 |
| Journal | Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B - Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics |
| Volume | 62 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2017 Elsevier Ltd
Keywords
- Albert Einstein
- Conservation of energy momentum
- Correspondence principle
- Entwurf field equations
- General relativity
- Gravitational field equations
- Harmonic coordinate condition
- Hertz condition
- Hole argument
- Marcel Grossmann
- Newtonian limit
- November tensor
- Poisson equation
- Rotation metric
- Static gravitational field theory
- Zurich notebook
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- History
- General Physics and Astronomy
- History and Philosophy of Science