source file: mills2.txt Date: Tue, 11 Mar 1997 16:47:59 -0800 Subject: OT: Einstein & Ether From: "Eric S. Tiedemann" John Chalmers discourseth: > Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 18:08:13 -0800 (PST) > From: John Chalmers > > RE ether: Whether Einstein or other theorists still needed the > concept of the ether in 1920 is irrelevant to physics today. > The concept is not needed for current theories. In his address of that year, Einstein traced the history of the concept and suggested how the term might resonably be applied to the metrical properties of space-time as modeled in the general theory of relativity (which physicists still use all the time). As Gary Morrison said, he did *not* talk about `ether' as an undulatory medium for light. Einstein's `ether' is, however, the medium of gravity waves. :) > He made essentially no contribution to physics after General > Relativity. How 'bout the Einstein-Bose statistics, to name only the most prominent of his lasting post-1920 contributions. -est Received: from ns.ezh.nl [137.174.112.59] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Wed, 12 Mar 1997 02:54 +0100 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA02421; Wed, 12 Mar 1997 02:53:59 +0100 Received: from ella.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA02419 Received: from by ella.mills.edu via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/930416.SGI) id RAA25354; Tue, 11 Mar 1997 17:52:12 -0800 Date: Tue, 11 Mar 1997 17:52:12 -0800 Message-Id: <199703112048_MC2-1270-A4F2@compuserve.com> Errors-To: madole@mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@ella.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@ella.mills.edu