`  == Speculations as to why Poincaré didn't contest priority ==  I copy and paste from above: : Cleonis, please specify since you lost me here. Where two or three people propose the same theory at appriximately the same time, there is commonly a debate about priority of parts and/or the whole, but not about ``re-discovery``.    Ah, I see, then you and I had something different in mind.  About priority: as is stated in the article, Poincaré did not contest priority.  As to the why, my personal impression (given the information available to me, and I don't have all the information) my personal impression is that Poincaré judged that Einstein was prematurely confident.  I figure that as seen from a 1905 perspective: if it would turn out that it would be impossible to formulate a Lorentz-invariant theory of gravitation, then the approach of uncompromising implementation of the principle of relativity of inertial motion would prove to be a dead end. My understanding is that in the years after 1905 (and to this day), the scientific community judged that Einstein's choice of avenue to follow was the best one. That would explain why Poincaré didn't contest priority. If he judged Einstein's uncompromising attitude as a premature commitment, he wouldn't have wanted to be associated with it. Anyway, these considerations of mine are too speculative to be of value to the article. I fear that what I'm doing is not of good help to you, so I will try hard to keep a low profile. My intention is to support you.  |  `