Reconsidering a Scientific Revolution: The Case of Einstein versus Lorentz

Physics in Perspective

Volumn 4, Issue 4, 2002, Pages 421-446

  Janssen, Michel ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA   (United States)

Author keywords

Ad hoc hypothesis; Albert Einstein; Common cause argument; Contraction hypothesis; Empirical equivalence; Ether theory; Hendrik A. Lorentz; Lorentz invariance; Special relativity; Theorem of corresponding states; Trouton Noble experiment

Indexed keywords

EID: 0346740285     PISSN: 14226944     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s000160200003     Document Type: Article

References (58)

1. See, for instance, Noel M. Swerdlow and Otto Neugebauer, Mathematical Astronomy in Copernicus's De Revolutionibus, 2 Vols. (New York: Springer, 1984).
2. Hendrik Antoon Lorentz, Versuch einer Theorie der electrischen und optischen Erscheinungen in bewegten Körpern (Leiden: Brill, 1895).
3. H. A. Lorentz, "Vereenvoudigde theorie der electrische en optische verschijnselen in lichamen die zieh bewegen," Verslagen tan de gewone vergaderingen der wis-en natuurkundige afdeeling, Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam 7 (1899), 507-522; "Electromagnetic Phenomena in Systems Moving with Any Velocity Less Than That of Light," Proceedings of the Section of Sciences, Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam 6 (1904), 809-831.
4. H. A. Lorentz, "Vereenvoudigde theorie der electrische en optische verschijnselen in lichamen die zieh bewegen," Verslagen tan de gewone vergaderingen der wis-en natuurkundige afdeeling, Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam 7 (1899), 507-522; "Electromagnetic Phenomena in Systems Moving with Any Velocity Less Than That of Light," Proceedings of the Section of Sciences, Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam 6 (1904), 809-831.
5. H. A. Lorentz, "De relatieve beweging van de aarde en den aether," Verslagen van de gewone vergaderingen der wis-en natuurkundige afdeeling, Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam 1 (1892), 74-79; Versuch (ref. 2).
6. H. A. Lorentz, "De relatieve beweging van de aarde en den aether," Verslagen van de gewone vergaderingen der wis-en natuurkundige afdeeling, Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam 1 (1892), 74-79; Versuch (ref. 2).
7. Russell McCormmach, "H. A. Lorentz and the Electromagnetic View of Nature," Isis 61 (1970), 459-497.
8. Albert Einstein, "Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper," Annalen der Physik 17 (1905), 891-921.
9. Albert Einstein, "Time, Space, and Gravitation," in The Times (London), November 28, 1919, pp. 13-14.
10. Henri Poincaré, "La théorie de Lorentz et le principe de réaction," Archives Néerlandais des sciences exactes et naturelles 5 (1900), 252-278.
11. H. Poincaré, "Sur la dynamique d'électron," Rendiconti del Circolo Matematico di Palermo 21 (1906), 129-175.
12. H. A. Lorentz, The Theory of Electrons, 2nd ed. (Leipzig: Teubner, 1915).
13. Hermann Minkowski, "Raum und Zeit," Physikalische Zeitschrift 10 (1909), 104-111.
14. Paul Ehrenfest, Zur Krise der Lichtaether-hypothese (Leiden: Eduard Ijdo and Berlin: Julius Springer, 1913).
15. See, for instance, Tony Hey and Patrick Walters, Einstein's Mirror (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), pp. 39-43.
16. Gerald Holton, "Einstein, Michelson and the "Crucial" Experiment," Isis 60 (1969), 133-197.
17. John Stachel, "Einstein and Michelson: the Context of Discovery and the Context of Justification," Astronomische Nachrichten 303 I (1982), 47-53.
18. Robert Schulmann, et al., ed., The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein. Vol. 8. The Berlin Years. Correspondence: 1914-1918 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998), Doc. 43.
19. Karl R. Popper, The Logic of Scientific Discovery (New York: Basic books and London: Hutchinson, 1959)
20. Adolf Grünbaum, "The Falsifiability of the Lorentz-FitzGerald Contraction Hypothesis," British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 37 (1959), 48-50.
21. Adolf Grünbaum, Philosophical Problems of Space and Time, 2nd ed. (Dordrecht: D. Reidel, 1973); "Ad Hoc Auxiliary Hypotheses and Falsificationism," British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 27 (1976), 329-362.
22. Adolf Grünbaum, Philosophical Problems of Space and Time, 2nd ed. (Dordrecht: D. Reidel, 1973); "Ad Hoc Auxiliary Hypotheses and Falsificationism," British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 27 (1976), 329-362.
23. See, for example, Howard P. Robertson, "Postulate versus Observation in the Special Theory of Relativity," Reviews of Modern Physics 21 (1949), 378-382.
24. Elie Zahar, "Why Did Einstein's Programme Supersede Lorentz's?" British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 24 (1973), 95-123, 223-262; Einstein's Revolution: a Study in Heuristic (La Salle, IL: Open Court, 1989).
25. Elie Zahar, "Why Did Einstein's Programme Supersede Lorentz's?" British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 24 (1973), 95-123, 223-262; Einstein's Revolution: a Study in Heuristic (La Salle, IL: Open Court, 1989).
26. Imre Lakatos, "Falsification and the Methodology of Scientific Research Programs," in Imre Lakatos and Alan Musgrave, ed., Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970), pp. 91-196.
27. Zahar, "Why Did Einstein's Programme Supersede Lorentz's?" (ref. 21), p. 11.
28. See also Arthur I. Miller, "On Lorentz's Methodology," British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 25 (1974), 29-45; Kenneth F. Schaffner, "Einstein versus Lorentz: Research Programmes and the Logic of Comparative Theory Evaluation," ibid., pp. 45-78.
29. See also Arthur I. Miller, "On Lorentz's Methodology," British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 25 (1974), 29-45; Kenneth F. Schaffner, "Einstein versus Lorentz: Research Programmes and the Logic of Comparative Theory Evaluation," ibid., pp. 45-78.
30. Lorentz, "De relatieve beweging" (ref. 4); Versuch (ref. 2).
31. Lorentz, "De relatieve beweging" (ref. 4); Versuch (ref. 2).
32. Lakatos, "Methodology of Scientific Research Programs" (ref. 22), p. 164.
33. Zahar, "Why Did Einstein's Programme Supersede Lorentz's?" (ref. 21), p. 243.
34. Ibid., pp. 246-247.
35. Lorentz, "Vereenvoudigde theorie" (ref. 3).
36. Zahar, "Why Did Einstein's Programme Supersede Lorentz's?" (ref. 21), pp. 249-251.
37. For similar criticism of Zahar's study, see R. M. Nugayev, "The History of Quantum Mechanics as a Decisive Argument Favoring Einstein over Lorentz," Philosophy of Science 52 (1985), 44-63. As the title of his paper suggests, Nugayev argues that to understand the rationality of the acceptance of special relativity in the physics community by the early 1910s one should take into account concurrent developments in quantum theory.
38. Grünbaum, "Ad Hoc Auxiliary Hypotheses" (ref. 19), p. 360.
39. Frederick T. Trouton and Henry R. Noble, "The Mechanical Forces Acting on a Charged Electric Condenser Moving through Space," Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 202 (1903), 165-181.
40. See, for instance, Howard C. Hayden, "High Sensitivity Trouton-Noble Experiment," Review of Scientific Instruments 65 (1994), 788-792.
41. Max Laue, "Zur Theorie des Versuches von Trouton und Noble," Annalen der Physik 38 (1912), 370-384.
42. Max Laue, "Zur Dynamik der Relativitätstheorie," Annalen der Physik 35 (1911), 524-542; Wolfgang Pauli, "Relativitätstheorie," in Arnold Sommerfeld, ed., Encyclopädie der mathematischen Wissenschaften, mit Einschluss ihrer Anwendungen. Vol. 5. Physik, Part. 2 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1921); translated as Theory of Relativity (London: Pergamon, 1958).
43. Max Laue, "Zur Dynamik der Relativitätstheorie," Annalen der Physik 35 (1911), 524-542; Wolfgang Pauli, "Relativitätstheorie," in Arnold Sommerfeld, ed., Encyclopädie der mathematischen Wissenschaften, mit Einschluss ihrer Anwendungen. Vol. 5. Physik, Part. 2 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1921); translated as Theory of Relativity (London: Pergamon, 1958).
44. Max Laue, "Zur Dynamik der Relativitätstheorie," Annalen der Physik 35 (1911), 524-542; Wolfgang Pauli, "Relativitätstheorie," in Arnold Sommerfeld, ed., Encyclopädie der mathematischen Wissenschaften, mit Einschluss ihrer Anwendungen. Vol. 5. Physik, Part. 2 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1921); translated as Theory of Relativity (London: Pergamon, 1958).
45. J. W. Butler, "On the Trouton-Noble Experiment," American Journal of Physics 36 (1968), 936-941; Michel Janssen, "A Comparis on Between Lorentz's Ether Theory and Special Relativity in the Light of the Experiments of Trouton and Noble," Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, 1995; Saul A. Teukolsky, "The Explanation of the Trouton-Noble Experiment Revisited," American Journal of Physics 64 (1996), 1104-1109. All three accounts were inspired by Fritz Rohrlich, "Self-energy and the Stability of the Classical Electron," American Journal of Physics 28 (1960), 639-643; Classical Charged Particles: Foundations of their Theory (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1965).
46. J. W. Butler, "On the Trouton-Noble Experiment," American Journal of Physics 36 (1968), 936-941; Michel Janssen, "A Comparis on Between Lorentz's Ether Theory and Special Relativity in the Light of the Experiments of Trouton and Noble," Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, 1995; Saul A. Teukolsky, "The Explanation of the Trouton-Noble Experiment Revisited," American Journal of Physics 64 (1996), 1104-1109. All three accounts were inspired by Fritz Rohrlich, "Self-energy and the Stability of the Classical Electron," American Journal of Physics 28 (1960), 639-643; Classical Charged Particles: Foundations of their Theory (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1965).
47. J. W. Butler, "On the Trouton-Noble Experiment," American Journal of Physics 36 (1968), 936-941; Michel Janssen, "A Comparis on Between Lorentz's Ether Theory and Special Relativity in the Light of the Experiments of Trouton and Noble," Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, 1995; Saul A. Teukolsky, "The Explanation of the Trouton-Noble Experiment Revisited," American Journal of Physics 64 (1996), 1104-1109. All three accounts were inspired by Fritz Rohrlich, "Self-energy and the Stability of the Classical Electron," American Journal of Physics 28 (1960), 639-643; Classical Charged Particles: Foundations of their Theory (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1965).
48. J. W. Butler, "On the Trouton-Noble Experiment," American Journal of Physics 36 (1968), 936-941; Michel Janssen, "A Comparis on Between Lorentz's Ether Theory and Special Relativity in the Light of the Experiments of Trouton and Noble," Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, 1995; Saul A. Teukolsky, "The Explanation of the Trouton-Noble Experiment Revisited," American Journal of Physics 64 (1996), 1104-1109. All three accounts were inspired by Fritz Rohrlich, "Self-energy and the Stability of the Classical Electron," American Journal of Physics 28 (1960), 639-643; Classical Charged Particles: Foundations of their Theory (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1965).
49. J. W. Butler, "On the Trouton-Noble Experiment," American Journal of Physics 36 (1968), 936-941; Michel Janssen, "A Comparis on Between Lorentz's Ether Theory and Special Relativity in the Light of the Experiments of Trouton and Noble," Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, 1995; Saul A. Teukolsky, "The Explanation of the Trouton-Noble Experiment Revisited," American Journal of Physics 64 (1996), 1104-1109. All three accounts were inspired by Fritz Rohrlich, "Self-energy and the Stability of the Classical Electron," American Journal of Physics 28 (1960), 639-643; Classical Charged Particles: Foundations of their Theory (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1965).
50. For a discussion of these experiments, see, for instance, Arthur I. Miller, Albert Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity. Emergence (1905) and Early Interpretation (1905-1911) (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1981).
51. 2, and a Slice of Minkowski Space-Time," to be published in a Festschrift for John Stachel.
52. The historical context is discussed by Andrew Warwick, "The Sturdy Protestants of Science: Larmor, Trouton, and the Earth's Motion Through the Ether," in Jed Z. Buchwald, ed., Scientific Practice. Theories and Stories of Doing Physics (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995), pp. 300-343.
53. Frederick T. Trouton, "The Results of an Electrical Experiment, Involving the Relative Motion of the Earth and Ether, Suggested by the Late Professor FitzGerald," Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society 7 (1902), 379-384.
54. Joseph Larmor, "Can Convection Through the Æther Be Detected Electrically?" in Joseph Larmor, ed., The Scientific Writings of the Late George Francis FitzGerald (Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, & Co. and London: Longmans, Green, & Co., 1902), pp. 566-569.
55. Poincaré, "La théorie de Lorentz" (ref. 8).
56. Max Abraham, "Prinzipien der Dynamik des Elektrons," Annalen der Physik 10 (1903), 105-179.
57. Lorentz, "Electromagnetic Phenomena" (ref. 3).
58. Albert Einstein, "Das Prinzip von der Erhaltung der Schwerpunktsbewegung und die Trägheit der Energie," Annalen der Physik 20 (1906), 627-633.