Part 1 (1/2)

The Einstein Theory of Relativity.

by H.A. Lorentz.

NOTE

Whether it is true or not that not more than twelve persons in all the world are able to understand Einstein's Theory, it is nevertheless a fact that there is a constant demand for information about this much-debated topic of relativity. The books published on the subject are so technical that only a person trained in pure physics and higher mathematics is able to fully understand them. In order to make a popular explanation of this far-reaching theory available, the present book is published.

Professor Lorentz is credited by Einstein with sharing the development of his theory. He is doubtless better able than any other man--except the author himself--to explain this scientific discovery.

The publishers wish to acknowledge their indebtedness to the New York Times, The Review of Reviews and The Athenaeum for courteous permission to reprint articles from their pages. Professor Lorentz's article appeared originally in The Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant of November 19, 1919.

INTRODUCTION

The action of the Royal Society at its meeting in London on November 6, in recognizing Dr. Albert Einstein's ”theory of relativity”

has caused a great stir in scientific circles on both sides of the Atlantic. Dr. Einstein propounded his theory nearly fifteen years ago. The present revival of interest in it is due to the remarkable confirmation which it received in the report of the observations made during the sun's eclipse of last May to determine whether rays of light pa.s.sing close to the sun are deflected from their course.

The actual deflection of the rays that was discovered by the astronomers was precisely what had been predicted theoretically by Einstein many years since. This striking confirmation has led certain German scientists to a.s.sert that no scientific discovery of such importance has been made since Newton's theory of gravitation was promulgated. This suggestion, however, was put aside by Dr. Einstein himself when he was interviewed by a correspondent of the New York Times at his home in Berlin. To this correspondent he expressed the difference between his conception and the law of gravitation in the following terms:

”Please imagine the earth removed, and in its place suspended a box as big as a room or a whole house, and inside a man naturally floating in the center, there being no force whatever pulling him. Imagine, further, this box being, by a rope or other contrivance, suddenly jerked to one side, which is scientifically termed 'difform motion', as opposed to 'uniform motion.' The person would then naturally reach bottom on the opposite side. The result would consequently be the same as if he obeyed Newton's law of gravitation, while, in fact, there is no gravitation exerted whatever, which proves that difform motion will in every case produce the same effects as gravitation.

”I have applied this new idea to every kind of difform motion and have thus developed mathematical formulas which I am convinced give more precise results than those based on Newton's theory. Newton's formulas, however, are such close approximations that it was difficult to find by observation any obvious disagreement with experience.”

Dr. Einstein, it must be remembered, is a physicist and not an astronomer. He developed his theory as a mathematical formula. The confirmation of it came from the astronomers. As he himself says, the crucial test was supplied by the last total solar eclipse. Observations then proved that the rays of fixed stars, having to pa.s.s close to the sun to reach the earth, were deflected the exact amount demanded by Einstein's formulas. The deflection was also in the direction predicted by him.

The question must have occurred to many, what has all this to do with relativity? When this query was propounded by the Times correspondent to Dr. Einstein he replied as follows:

”The term relativity refers to time and s.p.a.ce. According to Galileo and Newton, time and s.p.a.ce were absolute ent.i.ties, and the moving systems of the universe were dependent on this absolute time and s.p.a.ce. On this conception was built the science of mechanics. The resulting formulas sufficed for all motions of a slow nature; it was found, however, that they would not conform to the rapid motions apparent in electrodynamics.

”This led the Dutch professor, Lorentz, and myself to develop the theory of special relativity. Briefly, it discards absolute time and s.p.a.ce and makes them in every instance relative to moving systems. By this theory all phenomena in electrodynamics, as well as mechanics, hitherto irreducible by the old formulae--and there are mult.i.tudes--were satisfactorily explained.

”Till now it was believed that time and s.p.a.ce existed by themselves, even if there was nothing else--no sun, no earth, no stars--while now we know that time and s.p.a.ce are not the vessel for the universe, but could not exist at all if there were no contents, namely, no sun, earth and other celestial bodies.

”This special relativity, forming the first part of my theory, relates to all systems moving with uniform motion; that is, moving in a straight line with equal velocity.

”Gradually I was led to the idea, seeming a very paradox in science, that it might apply equally to all moving systems, even of difform motion, and thus I developed the conception of general relativity which forms the second part of my theory.”

As summarized by an American astronomer, Professor Henry Norris Russell, of Princeton, in the Scientific American for November 29, Einstein's contribution amounts to this:

”The central fact which has been proved--and which is of great interest and importance--is that the natural phenomena involving gravitation and inertia (such as the motions of the planets) and the phenomena involving electricity and magnetism (including the motion of light) are not independent of one another, but are intimately related, so that both sets of phenomena should be regarded as parts of one vast system, embracing all Nature. The relation of the two is, however, of such a character that it is perceptible only in a very few instances, and then only to refined observations.”

Already before the war, Einstein had immense fame among physicists, and among all who are interested in the philosophy of science, because of his principle of relativity.

Clerk Maxwell had shown that light is electro-magnetic, and had reduced the whole theory of electro-magnetism to a small number of equations, which are fundamental in all subsequent work. But these equations were entangled with the hypothesis of the ether, and with the notion of motion relative to the ether. Since the ether was supposed to be at rest, such motion was indistinguishable from absolute motion. The motion of the earth relatively to the ether should have been different at different points of its...o...b..t, and measurable phenomena should have resulted from this difference. But none did, and all attempts to detect effects of motions relative to the ether failed. The theory of relativity succeeded in accounting for this fact. But it was necessary incidentally to throw over the one universal time, and subst.i.tute local times attached to moving bodies and varying according to their motion. The equations on which the theory of relativity is based are due to Lorentz, but Einstein connected them with his general principle, namely, that there must be nothing, in observable phenomena, which could be attributed to absolute motion of the observer.

In orthodox Newtonian dynamics the principle of relativity had a simpler form, which did not require the subst.i.tution of local time for general time. But it now appeared that Newtonian dynamics is only valid when we confine ourselves to velocities much less than that of light. The whole Galileo-Newton system thus sank to the level of a first approximation, becoming progressively less exact as the velocities concerned approached that of light.