DOCSLIB.ORG

China and Albert Einstein

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
China and Albert Einstein China and Albert Einstein China and Albert Einstein the reception of the physicist and his theory in china 1917–1979 Danian Hu harvard university press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England 2005 Copyright © 2005 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hu, Danian, 1962– China and Albert Einstein : the reception of the physicist and his theory in China 1917–1979 / Danian Hu. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-674-01538-X (alk. paper) 1. Einstein, Albert, 1879–1955—Influence. 2. Einstein, Albert, 1879–1955—Travel—China. 3. Relativity (Physics) 4. China—History— May Fourth Movement, 1919. I. Title. QC16.E5H79 2005 530.11'0951—dc22 2004059690 To my mother and father and my wife Contents Acknowledgments ix Abbreviations xiii Prologue 1 1 Western Physics Comes to China 5 2 China Embraces the Theory of Relativity 47 3 Six Pioneers of Relativity 86 4 From Eminent Physicist to the “Poor Philosopher” 130 5 Einstein: A Hero Reborn from the Criticism 152 Epilogue 182 Notes 191 Index 247 Acknowledgments My interest in Albert Einstein began in 1979 when I was a student at Qinghua High School in Beijing. With the centennial anniversary of Einstein’s birth in that year, many commemorative publications ap- peared in China. One book, A Collection of Translated Papers in Com- memoration of Einstein, in particular deeply impressed me and kindled in me a passion to understand Einstein’s life and works. One of the two editors of the book was Professor Xu Liangying, with whom I had the good fortune of studying while a graduate student. I am deeply grateful to Professors Xu and Dong Guangbi at the Chinese Academy of Sci- ences for introducing me to the historical studies of modern physics and for their continuous direction since 1987. Carroll Pursell and Alan Rocke offered me an opportunity to study with them in 1989 at Case Western Reserve University, where I also learned much from Kenneth Ledford, Miriam Levin, and Katherine Lynch. It was under Alan’s direction that I began to explore Einstein and his relativity in China, a subject that was originally suggested to me by Professor Horst Melcher in Potsdam, Germany. I offer my deep gratitude to Alan for his inspiring advice and generous support, and to Professor Melcher for his stimulating suggestion. For many years it had been my dream to study with famous Einstein scholars in the United States. That dream came true when I became a graduate student of Professor Martin J. Klein, the senior editor of The x Acknowledgments Collected Papers of Albert Einstein and an internationally renowned histo- rian of science at Yale University. Martin’s comments and advice were very helpful at every stage of this book’s research and writing, for which I owe Martin the deepest gratitude. This work has demonstrated how much I have learned from two of the best Sinologists, Beatrice S. Bartlett and Jonathan D. Spence. I was originally trained as an engineer, and my knowledge of Chinese history had been superficial and scanty. It is from them that I have learned more about and understood more deeply my own motherland. At Yale, I benefited from numerous scholars’ generous advice and support. In particular, I wish to thank Frederic L. Holmes, Daniel Kevles, John L. Heilbron, William Summers, Henry Turner, John Warner, Alan Chodos, Jack Sandweiss, Charles Sommerfield, Helen Siu, and Maria Trumpler. It is indispensable to have the assistance from the following university staff: Pat Johnson, Gina Canali, Pat DeMeola, Joanna Gorman, Ramona Moore, Susan Smith-Kemp, and the staff at Yale’s libraries (especially Clara Chen, Calvin Hsu, and Mary Holder). I thank Professor Erwin Hiebert of Harvard University, Dr. Daniel J. Kennefick of Einstein Papers, and two anonymous referees for their comments on an early manuscript. I am deeply grateful to Brett Berliner, Liu Xiwen, Yang Jian, Zhang Baichun, Randy Kidd, Chen Shunle, Qu Jing-cheng, Zhu Yuelin, Hu Mingjie, Duan Zhiyong, Wang Qirong, and Dai Wusan for their in- valuable assistance. Wei Yiling, daughter of the mathematician Wei Siluan, granted me an interview in Chengdu, Sichuan, and provided me many invaluable materials. Professors Yao Zhijian and Bai Suhua, two colleagues of Wei Siluan, also accepted requests for interviews. Dr. Ru-Ling Chou, daughter of the theoretical physicist Peiyuan Chou, kindly answered questions and provided many materials. Professor Tsao Chang told me much of his personal experience during the Cultural Revolution. I also thank the following individuals for their generous assistance: Tu Ting- quan of Tongji University Archives in Shanghai; D. Seemel at the Uni- versity Archives, Humboldt–University of Berlin; Zhang Baosheng at Beijing University Library; Cui Zongfu in Chengdu; Wang Qian and Xu Zhengbang in Wuhan; and Yan Jiazhen, Wang Yuyao, Yin Yong- qing, Wang Bing and Liu Bing in Beijing. Acknowledgments xi I thank the following libraries and archives for making their materials available: in Israel, Albert Einstein Archives in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; in China, National Beijing Library, Beijing University Libraries, the Library of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, Shanghai Municipal Library, Tongji University Library and Archives in Shanghai, Sichuan University Library and Archives in Chengdu; in Germany, the University Archives, Humboldt–University of Berlin; in the United States, the Duplicated Einstein’s Archives in the Special Collections at Boston University, the Library of Congress, Niels Bohr Library at the American Institute of Physics, Yale Univer- sity Libraries and Archives, Harvard-Yenching Library at Harvard University, Cornell University Libraries and Archives, California Insti- tute of Technology Libraries and Archives, and the East-Asian Library at the University of California–Los Angeles. Financial support from the following enabled me to complete this project: John Clarke Slater Fellowship from American Philosophical Society, Enders Fellowship and Research Grant from the Graduate School, Cheng-Lee dissertation research fellowship and grant from the Council for East Asian Studies, Sigerist Funds from the Program of History of Medicine and Science, John Perry Miller Research Fund from the Graduate School, the University Dissertation Fellowship from Yale University, the Pacific Cultural Foundation, and the Center for History of Physics of American Institute of Physics. I am grateful to James F. Watts, Dean of the Division of Humanities and the Arts, and to the History Department and the Asian Studies Program at the City College of New York for reducing my teaching load so that I could finish revising the manuscript. I also acknowledge the warm interest and support of Michael Fisher and his assistant Sara Davis at Harvard University Press. Last, but not least, I thank Tonnya Norwood and Diane Riley for their careful and effective editorial work. I dedicate this book to my parents, Zou Wan and Hu Ding, whose love and support made this accomplishment possible. I thank my elder brother Dayuan for his dedicated support. I thank my parents-in-law, Ren Qiuping and Zou Pei, for their teaching and for their faith in me. I thank my children, Victor and Agnes, for the tremendous joy they gave me during the years working on this project. My wife, Ying Zou, has supported me in pursuing my personal inter- est in the history of science for nearly twenty years. We struggled to- xii Acknowledgments gether in Beijing, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New Haven, Baltimore, and now New York City. With heroic patience and resolution, she not only helped me make steady progress in my study, but also raised two won- derful children. No words can fully express my deep gratitude to her, to whom this book is dedicated as well. Abbreviations AEP Albert Einstein Papers, Special Collections, Mugar Library, Boston University. Photocopy BDRK Beijing daxue rikan (Peking University Daily), Beijing CB Chen bao (Chenbao Daily), Beijing CBFK Chen bao fukan (Chenbao Daily Supplement), Beijing CHOC The Cambridge History of China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992) DFZZ Dongfang zazhi (The Eastern Miscellany) DSB Charles C. Gillispie, ed., The Dictionary of Scientific Biography, 15 vols. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1970–1980) FDXB-ZKB Fudan xuebao: ziran kexue ban (Journal of Fudan: Natural Science Edition), Shanghai GZ Gaizao (La Rekonstruo), Beijing HSPS Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences HSPBS Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences KX Kexue (Science), Shanghai MGRB Minguo ribao (Republic of China Daily), Shanghai RMRB Renmin ribao (People’s Daily), Beijing SNZG Shaonian zhongguo (Young China), Shanghai Wuli Wuli (Physics), Beijing XY Xueyi (Science and Arts), Shanghai ZBTX Ziran bianzhengfa tongxun ( Journal of Dialectics of Nature), Beijing ZBYT Ziran bianzhengfa yanjiu tongxun (Bulletin for the Study of Natural Dialectics), Beijing ZBZZ Ziran bianzhengfa zazhi ( Journal of Natural Dialectics), Shanghai ZJXS Zhongguo jindai xuezhi shiliao (Historical Materials of Modern Chinese School System) xiv Abbreviations ZJKJS Dong Guangbi, ed., Zhongguo jinxiandai kexue jishu shi (A History of Modern Chinese Science and Technology) (Changsha, Hunan: Hunan Education Press, 1997) ZKS Zhongguo keji shiliao (China Historical Materials of Science and Tech- nology), Beijing ZKY Ziran kexueshi yanjiu (Studies in the History of Natural Sciences), Beijing ZXKZ Zhongguo xiandai kexuejia zhuanji (Biographies of Modern Chinese Scientists), 6 vols., ed. Zhongguo xiandai kexue jia zhuan ji bianji zu (Biographies of Modern Chinese Scientists Editorial Group) (Beijing: Kexue chubanshe [Science Press], 1991–94) Prologue It was one o’clock in the afternoon on August 18, 2002. Outside the Beijing International Conference Center, hundreds of fans were wait- ing in a line about three hundred meters long, so long that it snaked around the building. What were they waiting for? A popular concert? An exciting sports game? Neither. They were there two hours early to grab better seats for a scientific speech on the “M Theory,” a new space-time theory about the universe.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Confession, Redemption, and Death: Liu Xiaobo and the Protest Movement of 1989
    Confession, Redemption, and Death: Liu Xiaobo and the Protest Movement of 1989 Geremie Barmé1 There should be room for my extremism; I certainly don’t demand of others that they be like me... I’m pessimistic about mankind in general, but my pessimism does not allow for escape. Even though I might be faced with nothing but a series of tragedies, I will still struggle, still show my opposition. This is why I like Nietzsche and dislike Schopenhauer. Liu Xiaobo, November 19882 I FROM 1988 to early 1989, it was a common sentiment in Beijing that China was in crisis. Economic reform was faltering due to the lack of a coherent program of change or a unified approach to reforms among Chinese leaders and ambitious plans to free prices resulted in widespread panic over inflation; the question of political succession to Deng Xiaoping had taken alarming precedence once more as it became clear that Zhao Ziyang was under attack; nepotism was rife within the Party and corporate economy; egregious corruption and inflation added to dissatisfaction with educational policies and the feeling of hopelessness among intellectuals and university students who had profited little from the reforms; and the general state of cultural malaise and social ills combined to create a sense of impending doom. On top of this, the government seemed unwilling or incapable of attempting to find any new solutions to these problems. It enlisted once more the aid of propaganda, empty slogans, and rhetoric to stave off the mounting crisis. University students in Beijing appeared to be particularly heavy casualties of the general malaise.
    [Show full text]
  • Knowledge Control and Social Contestation in China's
    Science in Movements This book analyzes and compares the origins, evolutionary patterns and consequences of different science and technology controversies in China, including hydropower resistance, disputes surrounding genetically modified organisms and the nuclear power debate. The examination combines social movement theories, communication studies, and science and technology studies. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, the book provides an insight into the interwoven relationship between social and political controls and knowledge monopoly, and looks into a central issue neglected by previous science communication studies: why have different con- troversies shown divergent patterns despite similar social and political contexts? It is revealed that the media environment, political opportunity structures, knowledge-control regimes and activists’ strategies have jointly triggered, nur- tured and sustained these controversies and led to the development of different patterns. Based on these observations, the author also discusses the significance of science communication studies in promoting China’ssocialtransformation and further explores the feasible approach to a more generic framework to understand science controversies across the world. The book will be of value to academics of science communication, science and technology studies, political science studies and sociology, as well as general readers interested in China’s science controversies and social movements. Hepeng Jia is a professor of communication at Soochow University, Suzhou, China. He has worked as a leading science journalist for 20 years and is also a pioneering researcher in the field of science journalism and communication in China. Chinese Perspectives on Journalism and Communication Series Editor: Wenshan Jia is a professor of communication at Shandong University and Chapman University. With the increasing impact of China on global affairs, Chinese perspectives on journalism and communication are on the growing global demand.
    [Show full text]
  • Wei Jingsheng and the Democracy Movement in Post-Mao China Merle David Kellerhals Jr
    Old Dominion University ODU Digital Commons Institute for the Humanities Theses Institute for the Humanities Summer 1998 Wei Jingsheng and the Democracy Movement in Post-Mao China Merle David Kellerhals Jr. Old Dominion University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/humanities_etds Part of the Asian History Commons, and the Political History Commons Recommended Citation Kellerhals, Merle D.. "Wei Jingsheng and the Democracy Movement in Post-Mao China" (1998). Master of Arts (MA), thesis, Humanities, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/7pt4-vv58 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/humanities_etds/13 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Institute for the Humanities at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Institute for the Humanities Theses by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WEI JINGSHENG AND THE DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT IN POST-MAO CHINA by Merle David Kellerhals, Jr B A. May 1995, College of Charleston A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Old Dominion University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS HUMANITIES OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY August 1998 Approved by: Jin Qiu (Director) hen Jie (Member) David Putney (Member) Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 1391982 Copyright 1999 by Kellerhals/ Merle David, Jr. All rights reserved. UMI Microform 1391982 Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.
    [Show full text]
  • CONTEMPORARY CHINA: a BOOK LIST (Winter 1999 — FIRST ON-LINE EDITION, MS Word, L&R Margins 0.9") by Lynn White
    PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: Woodrow Wilson School, Politics Department, East Asian Studies Program CONTEMPORARY CHINA: A BOOK LIST (Winter 1999 — FIRST ON-LINE EDITION, MS Word, L&R margins 0.9") by Lynn White This list of items in English has several purposes: --to help advise students' course essays, junior papers, policy workshops, and senior theses about contemporary China; --to supplement the required reading lists of the seminars WWS 576a/Pol. 536 on "Chinese Development" and Pol. 535 on "Chinese Politics," as well as the undergraduate lecture course, Pol. 362; --to provide graduate students with a list that can help their study for comprehensive exams in Chinese politics; a few of the compiler's favorite books are starred on the list, but not too much should be made of this, because some such books may be too old for students' purposes or the subjects may not be central to present interests; --to supplement a bibliography of all Asian serials in the Princeton Libraries that was compiled long ago by Frances Chen and Maureen Donovan. Students with specific research topics should definitely meet Laird Klingler, who is WWS Librarian and the world's most constructive wizard. This list cannot cover articles, but computer databases can. Rosemary Little and Mary George at Firestone are also enormously helpful. Especially for materials in Chinese, so is Martin Heijdra in Gest Library (Palmer Hall; enter up the staircase near the "hyphen" with Jones Hall). Other local resources are at institutes run by Chen Yizi and Liu Binyan (for current numbers, ask at EAS, 8-4276). Professional bibliographers are the most neglected major academic resource at Princeton.
    [Show full text]
  • Theory Attached to Practice Chinese Debates Over Basic Research from Thought Remolding to the Bomb, 1949–1966
    David Kaldewey and Désirée Schauz (eds.), Basic and Applied Research: The Language of Science Policy in the Twentieth Century (New York: Berghahn Books, 2018), 228-247. C hapter 8 Theory Attached to Practice Chinese Debates over Basic Research from Thought Remolding to the Bomb, 1949–1966 Zuoyue Wang ላሌ In 1963, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), which had come under re- peated political attacks in the past for pursuing impractical “theory in detach- ment from practice,” sought to take advantage of an interlude of ideological liberalization by codifying the optimum proportions of its various programs. The Academy formulated a set of “work regulations” governing four types of research, which it would engage in during the coming decade: “15–20 percent basic research, 35–45 percent applied basic research, 30–40 percent applied research, and 5–10 percent extension research.”1 Both the contents of the above policy pronouncement and the fact that it was made at all refl ected the central position of the debate over basic and applied research—in its various semantic guises—in the politics of science and technology policy of the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C.) under Communist leader Mao Zedong both before and after 1963.The objective of this chapter is to use the basic/applied debate to explore the interactions of historical forces at work in shaping Chinese science and technology policy during the Mao era, which started with the founding of the P.R.C. in 1949 and ended with his death and the termination of the Cultural Revolution in 1976.
    [Show full text]
  • Transnational Mathematics and Movements: Shiing- Shen Chern, Hua Luogeng, and the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study from World War II to the Cold War1
    Chinese Annals of History of Science and Technology 3 (2), 118–165 (2019) doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1461.2019.02118 Transnational Mathematics and Movements: Shiing- shen Chern, Hua Luogeng, and the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study from World War II to the Cold War1 Zuoyue Wang 王作跃,2 Guo Jinhai 郭金海3 (California State Polytechnic University, Pomona 91768, US; Institute for the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China) Abstract: This paper reconstructs, based on American and Chinese primary sources, the visits of Chinese mathematicians Shiing-shen Chern 陈省身 (Chen Xingshen) and Hua Luogeng 华罗庚 (Loo-Keng Hua)4 to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton in the United States in the 1940s, especially their interactions with Oswald Veblen and Hermann Weyl, two leading mathematicians at the IAS. It argues that Chern’s and Hua’s motivations and choices in regard to their transnational movements between China and the US were more nuanced and multifaceted than what is presented in existing accounts, and that socio-political factors combined with professional-personal ones to shape their decisions. The paper further uses their experiences to demonstrate the importance of transnational scientific interactions for the development of science in China, the US, and elsewhere in the twentieth century. Keywords: Shiing-shen Chern, Chen Xingshen, Hua Luogeng, Loo-Keng Hua, Institute for 1 This article was copy-edited by Charlie Zaharoff. 2 Research interests: History of science and technology in the United States, China, and transnational contexts in the twentieth century. He is currently writing a book on the history of American-educated Chinese scientists and China-US scientific relations.
    [Show full text]
  • Jiang Zemin and the Falun Gong Crackdown: a Bibliography Michael J
    International Journal of Legal Information the Official Journal of the International Association of Law Libraries Volume 34 Article 9 Issue 3 Winter 2006 1-1-2006 A King Who Devours His People: Jiang Zemin and the Falun Gong Crackdown: A Bibliography Michael J. Greenlee University of Idaho College of Law Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/ijli The International Journal of Legal Information is produced by The nI ternational Association of Law Libraries. Recommended Citation Greenlee, Michael J. (2006) "A King Who Devours His People: Jiang Zemin and the Falun Gong Crackdown: A Bibliography," International Journal of Legal Information: Vol. 34: Iss. 3, Article 9. Available at: http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/ijli/vol34/iss3/9 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Scholarship@Cornell Law: A Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Journal of Legal Information by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Cornell Law: A Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A King Who Devours His People+: Jiang Zemin and the Falun Gong Crackdown: A Bibliography MICHAEL J. GREENLEE∗ Introduction In July 1999, the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began an official crackdown against the qigong cultivation1 group known as Falun Gong.2 Intended to quickly contain and eliminate what the PRC considers an evil or heretical cult (xiejiao), the suppression has instead created the longest sustained and, since the Tiananmen Square protests of June 1989, most widely known human rights protest conducted in the PRC.
    [Show full text]
  • Joint Institute for Nuclear Research International Intergovernmental Organization
    Joint Institute for Nuclear Research International Intergovernmental Organization The Scienсe Policy of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research .A issakianS Director I. JOINT INSTITUTE for NUCLEAR RESEARCH Albania Bulgaria China Czechoslovakia GDR Hungary D.P.R.Korea Mongolia Poland Romania USSR Vietnam The agreement on the establishment of JINR was signed on 26 March 1956 in Moscow 2006 European School on HEP 2 I. Founders V.Veksler I.Frank G.Flerov M.Meshcheryakov A.Baldin V.Dzhelepov N.Bogoliubov, D.Blokhintsev B.Pontecorvo H.Hulubei Wang Ganchang L.Infeld H.Niewodniczanski L.Janossy G.Najakov 3 I. 4 I. Governing Bodies & Structure Committee of Plenipotentiaries Scientific Council Directorate Finance Committee PAC for Particle Physics Science & Technology Council PAC for Nuclear Physics 7 Laboratories PAC for Condensed University Centre Matter Physics Office of Administration 2006 European School on HEP 5 J I. J JINR in figures I I N N R R JINR’s staff members ~ 5500 researchers ~ 1300 including from the Member States ~ 500 (but Russia) DD Doctors and PhD ~ 1000 uu bb nn a a 6 II. Scientific & Innovative Activities 7 II. JINR’s Science Policy Today and Tomorrow In 2006 the JINR Scientific Council approved the Road Map of the Institute’s strategic development for the next 10-15 years Special Economic Zone UC, DIAS-TH Technopark “Dubna” International Univ. ”Dubna” 8 II. The elaborated Road Map determined three major research directions at JINR: - high energy physics - nuclear physics - condensed matter physics Main Supporting Activities: Theory of PP, NP, CMP Networking and computing Physics methods Training of young staff 9 JINR’s research niche offered II.
    [Show full text]
  • Politiker, Parteivorsitzender Communist Party of Australia Biographie 1955-1956 Ein Australisches Studienteam Unter Laurence Aarons Reist in China
    Report Title - p. 1 of 104 Report Title Aarons, Laurence = Aarons, Laurie (Sydney 1917-2005 Sydney) : Politiker, Parteivorsitzender Communist Party of Australia Biographie 1955-1956 Ein australisches Studienteam unter Laurence Aarons reist in China. [StraL2:S. 201] 1958 Laurence Aarons besucht Beijing. [StraL2:S. 227] Albinski, Henry = Albinski, Henry Stephen (1931-2003 Sydney) : Professor University of Sydney, University of Melbourne, Curtin University Bibliographie : Autor Albinski, Henry S. Australian policies and attitudes towards China. (Princeton : Princeton University Press, 1965). [WC] Allgrove, John (um 1966) : Australischer Diplomat Biographie 1966 John Allgrove ist australischer Handelskommissar in Hong Kong. [ChiAus3] Alston, Richard = Alston, Richard Kenneth Robert (Perth 1941-) : Politiker, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts Biographie 2000 Sun Jiazheng besucht Canberra und trifft Richard Alston. [Tho2] 2000 Richard Alston besucht Shanghai um über ein online Handels-System zu diskutieren, Xi’an und Beijing. Er trifft Wu Bangguo in Beijing. [Tho2] 2000 Eine chinesische kulturelle Regierungs-Delegation unter Sun Jiazheng besucht Australien. Er trifft Richard Alston, Peter McGauran und Zhou Wenchong. [ChiAus] Ambrose, David (um 1988) : Australischer Diplomat Biographie 1985-1988 David Ambrose ist Botschafter der australischen Botschaft in Beijing. [Int] 1997-2000 David Ambrose ist Generalkonsul des australischen Generalkonsulats in Shanghai. [ChiAus4] Anderson, John Duncan = Anderson, John (Sydney
    [Show full text]
  • Field Versus Flow
    Applied Physics Research; Vol. 9, No. 2; 2017 ISSN 1916-9639 E-ISSN 1916-9647 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education Redefining Gravity: Field versus Flow 1 Mehmet Bora Cilek 1 PFR Varyap Meridian E148, 34746 Turkey Correspondence: M. Bora Cilek, PFR Varyap Meridian E148, 34746 Turkey. E-mail: [email protected] Received: March 16, 2017 Accepted: March 26, 2017 Online Published: March 31, 2017 doi:10.5539/apr.v9n2p87 URL: https://doi.org/10.5539/apr.v9n2p87 Abstract General Theory of Relativity constitutes the framework for our understanding of the universe, with an emphasis on gravity. Many of Einstein’s predictions have been verified experimentally but General and Special Theories of Relativity contain several anomalies and paradoxes, yet to be answered. Also, there are serious conflicts with Quantum Mechanics; gravity being the weakest and least understood force, is a major problem. Supported by clear experimental evidence, it is theorised that gravity is not a field or spacetime curvature effect, but rather has a flow mechanism. This is not an alternative theory of gravity with an alternative metric. Established laws and equations from Newton and Einstein are essentially left unchanged. However, spacetime curvature is replaced with flow, producing a refined and compatible theory. Keywords: Gravity; Relativity; Fluid Universe; Gravitation; Interferometry; Aether; Vertical Michelson-Morley Experiment 1. Introduction The question of gravity was always a major concern for science throughout the history. First detailed analysis was carried out by Isaac Newton in 17th century, exposing mathematical relations governing gravitation and motion (Newton, 1687). However Newton himself accepted that he did not know what exactly caused gravity and was puzzled by the possibility of action/force over a distance.
    [Show full text]
  • Shs-17-2018-14.Pdf
    Science beyond borders Nobukata Nagasawa ORCID 0000-0002-9658-7680 Emeritus Professor of University of Tokyo [email protected] On social and psychological aspects of a negligible reception of Natanson’s article of 1911 in the early history of quantum statistics Abstract Possible reasons are studied why Ladislas (Władysław) Natanson’s paper on the statistical theory of radiation, published in 1911 both in English and in the German translation, was not cited properly in the early history of quantum statistics by outstanding scientists, such as Arnold Sommerfeld, Paul Ehrenfest, Satyendra Nath Bose and Albert Einstein. The social and psychological aspects are discussed as back- ground to many so far discussions on the academic evaluation of his theory. In order to avoid in the future such Natansonian cases of very limited reception of valuable scientific works, it is pro- posed to introduce a digital tag in which all the information of PUBLICATION e-ISSN 2543-702X INFO ISSN 2451-3202 DIAMOND OPEN ACCESS CITATION Nagasawa, Nobukata 2018: On social and psychological aspects of a negligible reception of Natanson’s article of 1911 in the early history of quantum statistics. Studia Historiae Scientiarum 17, pp. 391–419. Available online: https://doi.org/10.4467/2543702XSHS.18.014.9334. ARCHIVE RECEIVED: 13.06.2017 LICENSE POLICY ACCEPTED: 12.09.2018 Green SHERPA / PUBLISHED ONLINE: 12.12.2018 RoMEO Colour WWW http://www.ejournals.eu/sj/index.php/SHS/; http://pau.krakow.pl/Studia-Historiae-Scientiarum/ Nobukata Nagasawa On social and psychological aspects of a negligible reception... relevant papers published so far should be automatically accu- mulated and updated.
    [Show full text]
  • The Interaction Between Scientists and Policy-Makers. Case Study of 863 Plan of China
    SISSA – International School for Advanced Studies Journal of Science Communication ISSN 1824 – 2049 http://jcom.sissa.it/ Comment BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN SCIENCE AND POLICY: THE IMPORTANCE OF MUTUAL RESPECT, TRUST AND THE ROLE OF MEDIATORS Exploring work: the interaction between scientists and policy-makers. Case study of 863 Plan of China Wen Ke ABSTRACT: Improving communications between scientists and policy makers have being received more and more attention in China. Based on negotiation-boundary work theory (Jasanoff, 1990), this paper presents an analysis of the interface between scientists and policy makers by drawing on the Strategic High-tech Research and Development Program of China (863 Program). The analysis indicates, first, that it is very important of science advice in China, the negotiation and the consensus between scientists and policy makers is vital for policy making; second, that it is dangerous to rely on Technocracy in China, the policy makers give up the discretion while influence experts’ decisions by controlling the consist of scientist advisory committee, which directly result in politicalizing academic research. For scientists and policy makers in China, they should redefine their respective authority boundary, and make the interaction process open and transparent. Introduction Today, as science and technology gradually become the driver for economic development and social impetus, they also have an impact on most core government functions,1 which resulted in the use of scientific consultations in policy-making. Therefore, interactions between scientists and policy-makers are getting more remarkable, especially in policy-making of public fields, like medicine, health, energy- saving, climate change, etc.2 Generally speaking, the interaction between scientists and policy makers to a large possibility depends on a country’s political context.3,4,5 Nations with dispersed and pluralistic power, such as US, have networking-style scientific consultations.
    [Show full text]