source file: mills2.txt Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 10:34:12 -0800 Subject: What Einstein believed (Paul E) From: Manuel.Op.de.Coul@ezh.nl (Manuel Op de Coul) From: PAULE Einstein has been called "the last classical physicist." He pushed a 19th century viewpoint as far as it could go in explaining the world. He espoused a "principle of reality" that he thought would govern any physical theory. After Einstein's death, John Bell showed that quantum mechanics contradicts Einstein's principle of reality, and countless experiments have settled the question in favor of quantum mechanics. The two most important attempts at reconciling realism with physics have been Bohm's theory and the many-worlds interpretation. These theories leave dicussions of an ether far behind. Quantum field theory, aside from general relativity the most accurate scientific theory known, explains forces in terms of exchanges of particles and fields in terms of virtual particles continually coming into and out of existence. In some cases, such as the strong nuclear force, the intermediary particles themselves are subject to the very forces they mediate, making mathematical understanding very difficult; computer simulations are currently the best way of understanding the strong nuclear force. The concept of an ether is again left far behind, even in the most "realist" ways of discussing the subject matter such as Feynman's. Any attempt at a new physical theory must deal with all these issues and explain the phenomena better and more accurately than existing theories. Although there is nothing wrong with speculation and imagination, especially for musical inspiration, a critique of modern physical theory cannot begin without a solid understanding of what we have learned in the last century. Ray Tomes' discussions are guided by a distinctly 19th century understanding (I could provide ample evidence but don't want to start a thread here). This view of the world is eminently comfortable and is held by nearly every student of physics at one time or another. Upon learning of the discoveries of modern physics, the student is almost invariably overtaken by feelings of shock and disbelief, and attempts to distort the evidence to fit the classical understanding. This was the reaction of most of the scientific community, including Einstein, in the first few decades of this century. Physics and mathematics have made such tremendous advances in this century that the understanding of our political and moral leaders, artistic and literary figures, and most intellectuals have at best only begun to scratch the surface of what has been learned. Mostly there is misinformation, and not a few "scientists" and "science educators" are badly misinformed and propagate the misinformation. The quality of education has not kept pace with the advances in physics and mathematics, so most of us are left far behind. Feeling frustrated at this situation, many rebel; rather than studying physics so that they can construct better theories, the reactionaries spout very respectable-sounding 19th century dogma and claim that the establishment took a wrong turn in this century. It is an unhappy situation to have acquired such a firm and comprehensive understanding of the world and then have the rug pulled out from under your feet. Scientists considered the field of physics to be nearing a close at the end of the 19th century. But soon a few holes in the dam began to appear, and not long after the whole structure came toppling down. From the bricks that remained, Planck's radiation equation, the Lorentz transformations, etc., a new structure was erected that was bizarre by all accounts but beautiful nonetheless. The work done remains incomprehensible to anyone who has not dedicated all their intellectual resources to the subject for years at a time. The motivations for such dedication have dwindled tremendously as the short-term value of pure science is overshadowed by that of applied science, and the social respectability one obtains by dealing in increasingly abstract disciplines is near the bottom of the ladder. As a result, there are fewer and fewer capable teachers of physics and the ignorance of the public increases. So for now, back to music. -Paul E. Received: from ns.ezh.nl [137.174.112.59] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Fri, 14 Mar 1997 20:13 +0100 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA17904; Fri, 14 Mar 1997 20:13:10 +0100 Received: from ella.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA17900 Received: from by ella.mills.edu via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/930416.SGI) id LAA25538; Fri, 14 Mar 1997 11:11:18 -0800 Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 11:11:18 -0800 Message-Id: Errors-To: madole@mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@ella.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@ella.mills.edu