pmb_phy
Jun26-08, 06:26 PM
Sorry for the delay in retrieving this. I believe that I had told someone that Eddington made a certain comment regarding GR "as a attempt to explain gravity" but didn't have the quote handy. I just found it so I thought I'd post it for the person who I mentioned it to. I forgot who that was so perhaps this is a mistake. :)
The quote is by A.S. Eddington and is found in Nature, March 14, 1918, page 36.
The purpose of Einstein's new theory has often been misunderstood, and it is criticized as a attempt to explain gravity. The theory does not offer any explanation of gravitation; that lies outside its scope, and does not even hint at a possible mechanism. It is true that we have introduced a definite hypothesis as to the relation between gravity and a distortion in space; but if that explains anything, it explains not gravitation, but space, i.e. the scaffolding constructed from our measures.
Best wishes
Pete
The quote is by A.S. Eddington and is found in Nature, March 14, 1918, page 36.
The purpose of Einstein's new theory has often been misunderstood, and it is criticized as a attempt to explain gravity. The theory does not offer any explanation of gravitation; that lies outside its scope, and does not even hint at a possible mechanism. It is true that we have introduced a definite hypothesis as to the relation between gravity and a distortion in space; but if that explains anything, it explains not gravitation, but space, i.e. the scaffolding constructed from our measures.
Best wishes
Pete