Aesthetic Comparison of Einstein's and Whitehead's Theories of Gravity
This article addresses both philosophers of science and process philosophers. It shows that the acceptance of Einstein's general theory of relativity by British physicists in the early 1920s, and their rejection of Whitehead's experimentally indistinguishable theory of gravity, was a matte...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Process Studies
[2016]
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| In: |
Process studies
Year: 2016, Volume: 45, Issue: 1, Pages: 33-46 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Einstein, Albert 1879-1955
/ Relativity theory
/ Whitehead, Alfred North 1861-1947
/ Gravitation theory
/ Aesthetics
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| IxTheo Classification: | TK Recent history VA Philosophy |
| Further subjects: | B
EINSTEIN, Albert, 1879-1955
B Gravitation B philosophy of science B Process Philosophy B Whitehead, Alfred North, 1861-1947 B Aesthetics B General relativity (Physics) |
| Summary: | This article addresses both philosophers of science and process philosophers. It shows that the acceptance of Einstein's general theory of relativity by British physicists in the early 1920s, and their rejection of Whitehead's experimentally indistinguishable theory of gravity, was a matter not only of empirical evaluation but also of aesthetic preference. To philosophers of science it offers a historical case study illustrating the entangled roles of empirical and aesthetic criteria in theory evaluation. To process philosophers it offers an answer to the question of why Whitehead's alternative rendering of Einstein's general relativity has been neglected both by the majority of physicists, and by the majority of philosophers. |
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| ISSN: | 0360-6503 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Process studies
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