What Happened To The Principle Of Relativity?

Harry Ricker

In his book Science and Hypothesis, first published in French in 1902, Poincare gives to the principle of relativity the status of a unifying principle in both mathematics and physics. It is an important theme of the book, which unifies this collection of essays. At the end of the book, Poincare discusses how this principle is rendered safe in Lorentz’s theory of electro-dynamics. It is certain that Einstein drank deeply from the waters of Poincare’s book and fully embraced the ideas contained in Poincare’s Principle Of Relativity.

How I Became a Dissident Peeling Potatoes

Toshiyasu Abe

While I was working there, I sometimes had to go down to the basement and peel potatoes alone, in a dark, cold, and wet room. At first, I didn’t like this dungeon-like place, especially when it was icy cold and snowing outside. But I found that because my task was easy, and there was no one around to bother me, I could spend lots of time thinking about physics, while peeling those potatoes. At the time, I was reading a book about Einstein’s Relativity Theory.

Anti-Kuhn Paradigm

Glenn Borchardt

Thomas Kuhn generally is a hero among dissidents. Along with his explication of what it all meant, his invention of the word “paradigm” was his greatest achievement. A paradigm forms the body of data, assumptions, and interpretations guiding a discipline during a particular period. A paradigm cannot be overthrown by anyone whose livelihood depends on it—only outsiders need apply for that infrequent function.