What is that a response to? my claim that Poincaré beat Einstein? That’s not a relevant credential, and even if it were, I would not be moved by the claim unless it were a lot more precise. He might simply mean that Poincare took several papers over several years, while Einstein got it right in one try.
For Joshua’s purpose, priority disputes are not important. Most people who reject Poincaré′s 1905 paper as a complete theory accept his 1906 paper as a complete theory not influenced by Einstein.
In fact, I think that the whole concept of priority disputes is idiotic. Time is a crude proxy for influence. Columbus discovered America because it remained discovered. He changed history. Which leads to my last sentence: neither Einstein nor Poincaré′s papers on special relativity had any appreciable effect. They were considered minor commentary on Maxwell’s equations. The English considered them a cleaner version of FitzGerald’s theory of the aether. France was not interested in special relativity until after WW2. The Germans were more enthusiastic, but that might have been some kind of (extended) nationalism, not really a different comprehension.
I suppose that LG might mean that Poincaré′s theory was mathematically equivalent, but philosophically off, like the English theory I mentioned above. But that English theory claimed to be Einstein’s theory. Philosophical influences are difficult to follow, let alone predict.
What is that a response to? my claim that Poincaré beat Einstein?
Yes
That’s not a relevant credential,
Not only does he have very deep subject matter knowledge, he’s also studied the history in detail (as comes across to some degree in his Amazon review).
He might simply mean that Poincare took several papers over several years, while Einstein got it right in one try.
I don’t know what he had in mind, it’s possible that you and he are on the same page, I just thought I’d point you to the review because it seemed to be in some tension with your claim.
As for the rest of it, I don’t have comments right now –I was responding specifically to the Einstein / Poincare thing.
What is that a response to? my claim that Poincaré beat Einstein? That’s not a relevant credential, and even if it were, I would not be moved by the claim unless it were a lot more precise. He might simply mean that Poincare took several papers over several years, while Einstein got it right in one try.
For Joshua’s purpose, priority disputes are not important. Most people who reject Poincaré′s 1905 paper as a complete theory accept his 1906 paper as a complete theory not influenced by Einstein.
In fact, I think that the whole concept of priority disputes is idiotic. Time is a crude proxy for influence. Columbus discovered America because it remained discovered. He changed history. Which leads to my last sentence: neither Einstein nor Poincaré′s papers on special relativity had any appreciable effect. They were considered minor commentary on Maxwell’s equations. The English considered them a cleaner version of FitzGerald’s theory of the aether. France was not interested in special relativity until after WW2. The Germans were more enthusiastic, but that might have been some kind of (extended) nationalism, not really a different comprehension.
I suppose that LG might mean that Poincaré′s theory was mathematically equivalent, but philosophically off, like the English theory I mentioned above. But that English theory claimed to be Einstein’s theory. Philosophical influences are difficult to follow, let alone predict.
Yes
Not only does he have very deep subject matter knowledge, he’s also studied the history in detail (as comes across to some degree in his Amazon review).
I don’t know what he had in mind, it’s possible that you and he are on the same page, I just thought I’d point you to the review because it seemed to be in some tension with your claim.
As for the rest of it, I don’t have comments right now –I was responding specifically to the Einstein / Poincare thing.