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Einstein literally stated he was not influenced by the Michelson-Morley experiments, but it's a common myth that he was. "When Ι asked him how he had learned o
by LogicFailsMe 27d ago
Einstein literally stated he was not influenced by the Michelson-Morley experiments, but it's a common myth that he was.
"When Ι asked him how he had learned of the Michelson Morley experiment, he told me that he had become aware of it through writings of Η. Α. Lοrentz, but only after 1905 had it come to his attention! "Otherwise" he said, "I would have mentioned it in my paper!" indeed, Einstein's 1905 paper contains no mention of Μichelson's experiment or references to Lorentz's papers."
From https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/89375/did-einstein-know-about-the-michelson-morley-experiment https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/89375/did-einste...
Correcting a professor at MIT (head of the department alas) on this erroneous belief during a grad school interview cost me admission as he insisted otherwise and wouldn't back down. Ironically, one of my college professors was interviewed on NPR a week later and confirmed what I had stated.
Ask me what I think of checked out, tenured academics. Go ahead...
- atleastoptimal 27d agoThat may be true, but Lorentz specifically cited the MM experiments and was influenced by them, and Einstein cited and was influenced by Lorentz, so he was influenced, just one level removed. >https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-663-19510-8_1 https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-663-19510-8_...
- LogicFailsMe 27d agoWhich he only became aware of after the paper...
- atleastoptimal 27d agoIn this 1905 special relativity paper he mentions "the Lorentzian electrodynamics and optics of moving bodies" https://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/einstein/specrel/specrel.pdf https://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/einstein/specrel/specrel.pdf
- LogicFailsMe 27d agoAnd did you read the footnote on the first page? "The preceding memoir by Lorentz was not at this time known to the author."
- bomewish 27d agoIt may also have been a social test — ie the polite thing to do in that circumstance is to say “oh wow, I thought I knew that one, weird. I’ll have to look that up again thank you” even if you know 100% that you’re correct. Weird social expectation thing.
- LogicFailsMe 27d agoIt was the 1980s and that very well may have been what was going on, but if that's the game they're going to play then I have better places to play games. Ironically, I got several apologies from other MIT professors a few years later who ended up working with me on various things.