The Reinvention of General Relativity: A Historiographical Framework for Assessing One Hundred Years of Curved Space-time

Blum, Alexander S.; Lalli, Roberto; Renn, Jürgen

doi:10.1086/683425

Cited by 43 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…A closer look at the main research projects of the period related to the general theory of relativity shows that they were mostly aimed at going beyond general relativity from different perspectives: through the search for unified field theories of gravitation and electromagnetism (pursued most notably by Einstein himself); through the attempts to incorporate general relativity into the framework of quantum theory; and by developing a theory of physical cosmology [5].…”

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“…In our recent historical investigation on the causes underlying the status of the research field of general relativity in the so-called "low-water-mark" period, we focused on the way in which general relativity retained its singular position, despite manifold attempts to modify and replace it with more encompassing theories. A closer look at the main research projects of the period related to the general theory of relativity shows that they were mostly aimed at going beyond general relativity from different perspectives: through the search for unified field theories of gravitation and electromagnetism (pursued most notably by Einstein himself); through the attempts to incorporate general relativity into the framework of quantum theory; and by developing a theory of physical cosmology [5].…”

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The renaissance of General Relativity: How and why it happened

2016

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After an initial burst of excitement about its extraordinary implications for our concept of space and time, the theory of general relativity underwent a thirty-year period of stagnation, during which only a few specialists worked on it, achieving little progress. In the aftermath of World War II, however, general relativity gradually re-entered the mainstream of physics, attracting an increasing number of practitioners and becoming the basis for the current standard theory of gravitation and cosmology-a process Clifford Will baptized the Renaissance of General Relativity. The recent detection of gravitational radiation by the LIGO experiment can be seen as one of the most outstanding achievements in this long-lasting historical process. In the paper, we present a new multifaceted historical perspective on the causes and characteristics of the Renaissance of General Relativity, focusing in particular on the case of gravitational radiation in order to illustrate this complex and far-reaching process.The year 2015 marked the centenary of Einstein's final formulation of the gravitational equation that bears his name, the cornerstone of the general theory of relativity. Almost exactly one hundred years after the theory's inception, the direct detection of gravitational waves through a large-scale experiment operated by the multinational LIGO Collaboration has confirmed one of its most elusive predictions. With this momentous achievement, general relativity has once again strengthened its position as the standard theory of gravitational phenomena and the basis of cosmological models, in spite of the still unresolved difficulties in reconciling Einstein's theory with quantum mechanics.The central position the theory continues to hold in our description of the physical world might not seem all that surprising, given its immediate spectacular confirmation (Eddington's solar eclipse expedition of 1919) and Einstein's subsequent rise to scientific superstardom. However, historical investigations have revealed that matters appeared quite different after the initial hype and before the current age of spectacular experimental and observational confirmations. In the early years after its formulation, the epistemic status of general relativity theory was highly uncertain in many respects, from the understanding of its physical implications to the interpretation of the impact of a choice of coordinate system on the result obtained. A perfect example of the uncertainty concerning the epistemic status of the theory is the early debate on the nature and existence of gravitational waves within the framework of general relativity. The 1916 correspondence between Einstein and the astronomers Karl Schwarzschild and Willem de Sitter reveals how confused the connections between the theory and its physical consequences were in the months following the formulation of the theory. Thanks to these epistolary exchanges, Einstein passed from believing that his gravitational theory implied the non-existence of gravitational waves to demonstrati...

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The renaissance of General Relativity: How and why it happened

2016

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“…It is possible to classify the branches of theoretical physics research related to general relativity in three different categories: (i) the extension of the theory towards the formulation of a unified field theory; (ii) the application of general relativity to a theory of the Universe, that is, cosmology; and (iii) more marginally, attempts at quantizing Einstein's gravitational equation. 18 Robertson made important contributions only to relativistic cosmology, but he acted as a referee for all the above-mentioned research fields. Since 1930 his advice was regularly requested to judge the submitted manuscripts in these research fields, as if Robertson were the main authority within the APS.…”

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‘Dirty work’, but someone has to do it: Howard P. Robertson and the refereeing practices of Physical Review in the 1930s

Lalli

2016

Notes Rec.

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In the 1930s the mathematical physicist Howard P. Robertson was the main referee of the journal Physical Review for papers concerning general relativity and related subjects. The rich correspondence between Robertson and the editors of the journal enables a historical investigation of the refereeing process of Physical Review at the time that it was becoming one of the most influential physics periodicals in the world. By focusing on this case study, the paper investigates two complementary aspects of the evolution of the refereeing process: first, the historical evolution of the refereeing practices in connection with broader contextual changes, and second, the attempts to define the activity of the referee, including the epistemic virtues required and the journal's functions according to the participants' categories. By exploring the tension between Robertson's idealized picture about how the referee should behave and the desire to promote his intellectual agenda, I show that the evaluation criteria that Robertson employed were contextually dependent and I argue that, in the 1930s, through his reports the referee had an enormous power in defining what direction future research should take.

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“…The change in thinking about the possibilities of probes of gravity physics that led to the experimental establishment of general relativity is part of what Will (1986) termed the renaissance of general relativity, and Blum et al (2015) termed its reinvention. Both names are appropriate for the subject as a whole, but on the empirical side the connotation of revival is inappropriate, because not a lot had happened earlier.…”

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Robert Dicke and the naissance of experimental gravity physics, 1957–1967

Peebles

2016

EPJ H

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The experimental study of gravity became much more active in the late 1950s, a change pronounced enough be termed the birth, or naissance, of experimental gravity physics. I present a review of developments in this subject since 1915, through the broad range of new approaches that commenced in the late 1950s, and up to the transition of experimental gravity physics to what might be termed a normal and accepted part of physical science in the late 1960s. This review shows the importance of advances in technology, here as in all branches of natural science. The role of contingency is illustrated by Robert Dicke's decision in the mid-1950s to change directions in mid-career, to lead a research group dedicated to the experimental study of gravity. The review also shows the power of nonempirical evidence. Some in the 1950s felt that general relativity theory is so logically sound as to be scarcely worth the testing. But Dicke and others argued that a poorly tested theory is only that, and that other nonempirical arguments, based on Mach's Principle and Dirac's Large Numbers hypothesis, suggested it would be worth looking for a better theory of gravity. I conclude by offering lessons from this history, some peculiar to the study of gravity physics during the naissance, some of more general relevance. The central lesson, which is familiar but not always well advertised, is that physical theories can be empirically established, sometimes with surprising results.

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The Reinvention of General Relativity: A Historiographical Framework for Assessing One Hundred Years of Curved Space-time

Cited by 43 publications

References 46 publications

The renaissance of General Relativity: How and why it happened

The renaissance of General Relativity: How and why it happened

‘Dirty work’, but someone has to do it: Howard P. Robertson and the refereeing practices of Physical Review in the 1930s

Robert Dicke and the naissance of experimental gravity physics, 1957–1967

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