Wolfgang G. Gasser
2007-07-15 20:15:28 UTC
Einstein has always denied to have known Poincaré publications.
It's hard to believe as his friends Maurice Solovine and Carl
Seelig, report Einstein had read the Poincaré book " La Science et
l'hypothèse" (no absolute time, no absolute space, no ether ... )
around 1902-1904.
Your presentation of the facts is actually not far away fromIt's hard to believe as his friends Maurice Solovine and Carl
Seelig, report Einstein had read the Poincaré book " La Science et
l'hypothèse" (no absolute time, no absolute space, no ether ... )
around 1902-1904.
dishonesty. Einstein never denied to have read "La Science et
la l'hypothèse". Do you have read this book yourself? Does it
suggest special relativity? And are you sure that noone before
Poincaré ever had the idea that the best way to synchronize
distant clocks is by means of light signals from the center?
The case Einstein-Poincaré is quite similar to the case Einstein-
Hilbert. There is a confusion between
1) Sur la Dynamique de l'Électron, Comptes rendus hebdomadaires
des séances de L'Académie des sciences, Volume 140,
(5 June 1905), pp. 1504-1508
2) Sur la Dynamique de l'Électron, Rendiconti del Circolo
matimatico di Palermo, Volume 21, (1906, submitted July 23rd,
1905)
3) La dynamique de l'électron, Revue générale des sciences pures
et appliquées 19:386-402 (1908)
and maybe even: 4) La dynamique de l'électron par Henri Poincaré
(Lectures given by Henri Poincaré in July 1912 at the Ecole
Supérieure des Postes et des Télégraphes. Mars 1913, A. Dumas
Editeur, Paris. Published and edited posthusmously by Pomey.)
Even if Einstein had known 1) it would not have helped him a lot
(see appendix below). Five years ago I wrote on this subject:
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Anyway, a Lorentzian ether is inconsistent with a consistent
generalization of the so-called Galilean relativity principle
to the whole of physics. Such a relativity principle had been
consistently advocated by e.g. Ockham (1290-1348), Nicolaus
Cusanus (1401-1464) and later also by Immanuel Kant (1724-1804).
So "Lorentzian relativity" is at best a misnomer and at worst a
contradiction.
The classical relativity principle presupposes the inertia
principle (often attributed to Galilei but) advocated at the
latest by Ibn Sina (Avicenna) a millennium ago. Relevant
quotations from Avicenna can be found in:
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.skeptic/msg/0c7a6e19aec6ace0
According to the classical relativity principle as conceived
by e.g. Ockham, Cusanus and Kant, all inertial movements are
equivalent. According to the theory of Lorentz and Poincaré
however, that is obviously not the case. Still in June 1905
Poicaré wrote (translated by me):
Lorentz was also led to assume that the moving electron takes the
form of a compressed ellipsoid; ...
... and at the same time [one gets] a possible explanation of the
electron contraction, in assuming that the electron, deformable
and compressible, is subject to a kind of exterior constant
pressure whose effect [travail] is proportional to the variations
in volume. ...
The original:
Lorentz est amené également à supposer que l'électron en mouvement
prend la forme d'un ellipsoide aplati; ...
Mais avec l'hypothèse de Lorentz, l'accord entre les formules
ne se fait pas tout seul; on l'obtient, et en même temps une
explication possible de la contraction de l'électron, en supposant
que l'électron, déformable et compressible, est soumis à une sorte
de pression constante extérieure dont le travail est proportionnel
aux variations du volume.
Poincaré, "Sur la dynamique de l'électron.", Comptes rendues 140
So the reproach that Einstein plagiarized somehow a "relativity
principle" from Poincaré does not even make sense. (The question
however, whether Poincaré profited from Einstein's relativity
paper without attribution when publishing his own "relativity
theory" in 1906 could still be open.)
_______________________________________________________________________
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.history.science/msg/440485ea71f72b92
This question is still open:
"D'un autre côté, même si Poincaré n'était pas homme à se mettre
sur le devant de la scène, on se demande encore pourquoi la
communication à l'Académie des sciences de Paris du 5 juin 1905,
«Sur la dynamique de l'électron», reçue en juillet 1905, n'a
finalement été publiée qu'en janvier 1906 dans le Circolo
matematico di Palermo, revue scientifique de second ordre alors
que sa renommée lui autorisait plus de visibilité?"
http://www.ledevoir.com/2005/04/19/79680.html
At the end of his life, Einstein wrote in 1955 in a letter to Carl
« There is no doubt, if we look back to the development of the
Relativity theory, special Relativity was about to be discovered
in 1905. Lorentz already noticed that the transformations (named
Lorentz transformations) were essential in the Maxwell theory
and Poincaré had gone even further.
At that time I only knew Lorentz work of 1895, but I knew neither
Lorentz nor Poincaré further work.
This why I can say that my work of 1905 was independent » (ref 8,
page 11).
Think about it, Einstein had a regular work and a family. It was« There is no doubt, if we look back to the development of the
Relativity theory, special Relativity was about to be discovered
in 1905. Lorentz already noticed that the transformations (named
Lorentz transformations) were essential in the Maxwell theory
and Poincaré had gone even further.
At that time I only knew Lorentz work of 1895, but I knew neither
Lorentz nor Poincaré further work.
This why I can say that my work of 1905 was independent » (ref 8,
page 11).
impossible for him to study all the papers and books that were
published in those days. And how could he have known that the
best candidates for plagiarism would be just Poincaré and Lorentz?
Cheers, Wolfgang
___________________________________________________________________
APPENDIX:
Translated extracts from Poincaré, June 1905:
"... It seems that this impossibility of determining the absolute
motion is a general law of nature.
An explanation has been proposed by Lorentz who introduced the
hypothesis of a contraction of all objects in direction of the
motion; ... Lorentz tried to complete and modify his hypothesis
in order to make it consistent with the postulate of the full
impossibility of determining the absolute motion. ...
The essential point, established by Lorentz, is that the equations
of the e.m. field do not change under a certain transformation
(which I'll call Lorentz transformation) and ...
... These transformations, ..., must form a group; however, for
this to be so, it is necessary that l = 1; hence we are led to
assume that l = 1 and this is a consequence which Lorentz had
found by a different way. ...
Lorentz was also led to assume that the moving electron takes the
form of a compressed ellipsoid; ...
... and at the same time [one gets] a possible explanation of the
electron contraction, in assuming that the electron, deformable
and compressible, is subject to a kind of exterior constant
pressure whose effect [travail] is proportional to the variations
in volume. ...
But that is not enough: Lorentz considered it necessary to
complete his hypothesis by assuming that all forces, of any
origin, are affected in the same way by a translation as the e.m.
forces and that therefore the effect of a Lorentz transformation
is once again defined by the equations (4)."
The originals of the translated extracts:
"... Il semble que cette impossibilité de démontrer le mouvement
absolu soit une loi générale de la nature.
Une explication a été proposée par Lorentz, qui a introduit
l'hypothèse d'une contraction de tous les corps dans le sens du
mouvement terrestre; ... Lorentz a cherché à compléter et à
modifier son hypothèse de facon à la mettre en concordance avec
le postulat de l'impossibilité complète de la détermination du
mouvement absolu. ...
Le point essentiel, établi par Lorentz, c'est que les équations
du champs électromagnétique ne sont pas altérées par une certaine
transformation (que j'appelerai du nom de Lorentz) et ...
... L'ensemble de toutes ces transformations, ... , doit former
groupe; mais, pour qu'il en soit ainsi, if faut que l = 1; on est
donc conduit à supposer l = 1 et c'est là une conséquence que
Lorentz avait obtenue par une autre voie. ...
Lorentz est amené également à supposer que l'électron en mouvement
prends la forme d'un ellipsoide aplati; ...
Mais avec l'hypothèse de Lorentz, l'accord entre les formules
ne se fait pas tout seul; on l'obtient, et en même temps une
explication possible de la contraction de l'électron, en supposant
que l'électron, déformable et compressible, est soumis à une sorte
de pression constante extérieure dont le travail est proportionnel
aux variations du volume.
Mais ce n'est pas tout: Lorentz, dans l'Ouvrage cité, a jugé
nécessaire de compléter son hypothèse en supposant que toutes les
forces, quelle qu'en soit l'origine, soient affectées, par une
translation, de la même manière que les forces électromagnétiques,
et que, par conséquent, l'effet produit sur leurs composantes
par la transformation de Lorentz est encore défini par les
équations (4)."