Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-03

The theory Of gravitation, which until
then had not advanced beyond Newton,
was thus brought within Faradays con-
ception of the field in a necessary man
ner-that is, without any essential arbi-
trariness in the selection of the field
laws. At the same time gravitation and
inertia we're fused into an essential
identity. The confirmation which this
theory has received in recent years
through the measurement of the deflec-
ton of light rays in a graVtational
field and the spectroscopic examination
of binary stars is we'll known.
The characteristics which especially
distinguish the general theory OF reia,
stage of the theory, the unitary field
theory from other physical theories are
the degree of formal speculation, the
slender ampircal basis. the boldness in
theoretical construction and, finally,
the fundamental reliance on the uni
formity of the secrets of natural law
and their accessibility to the speculative
intellect. It is this feature which ap-
pears as weakness to physicists VINO
incline toward realism or positlvlSm,
but Is especially attractive-nay, fascl-
nating-to the speculative mathematical
mind. Meyerson in his brilliant studies
on the theory of knowledge justly draws
"A comparison of the intellectual atti-
tude of the relatively theoretic!an with
that of Descartes. or even of Hegel,
without thereby implying the censure
which physicist would read into this.
However that may be, in the end ex-
perience is the only competent judge.
Yet in the meantime one thing may
be said in defense of the theory. Ad-
vance in scientific knowledge must
bring about the result that an increase
in formal simplicity can only be won
at the cost of an increased dis
lance or gap between the funda-
mental hypothesis of the theory on the
one hand and the directly observed facts
on the other hand. Theory Is compelled
to pass more and more from the induc-
tive to the deductive method, even
though the most important demand to
be made of every scientific theory Will
always remain, that 1t must mt the
facts
We now reach the difficult task Of
giving to the reader an idea OF the
methods used in the mathematical
construction which led to the general
theory of relatively and to the new
unitary field theory.
The Problem Stated.
The general problem is: Which are
the simplest formal structures that can
be attributed to a four dimensional con-
tinuum and which are the simplest laws
that may be conceived to govern these
structures? We then look for the math-
ematical expression of the physical fields
in these formal structures and for the
field laws of physics-already known to
certain approximation from earlier
researches-in the simplest laws gov
erning this structure.
The conceptions which are used in
this connection can be explained Just
as we'll in two dimensional continuum
Ca surface) as In the four dimensional
continuum of space and time. Imagine
piece of paper ruled in millimeter
squares. What does it mean If I say
that the printed surface is two-dimen-
sional? If at any point P Is marked
on the paper one can define its position
by using two numbers. Thus, starting
from the bottom left-hand corner, move
a pointer toward the right until the
lower end of the vertical through the
point P is reached. Suppose that in
doing this one has passed the lower
ends of X vertical (millinneter) lines.