aches us however, that the special theory of relativity does not compel us to deny ether. We may assume the existence of an ether; only we must give up ascribing a definite state of motion to it.’ He tells the waiting world that general relativity says space is something, since ‘the recognition of the fact that “empty space” in its physical relation is neither homogeneous nor isotropic, compelling us to describe its state by ten functions … has, I think, finally disposed of the view that space is physically empty.’
In this way and at this place Einstein announces ‘Space is something!’—surely this is earth-shaking news? He is famous for changing his mind; often his last word is his best word. But this time hardly anybody notices. Even his long-time colleague Leopold Infeld would write in 1950 that Einstein’s special relativity destroyed ‘once and for all the concept of ether’. This myth is still taught to budding physicists today.
So it is that physicists who study experimental cosmology now measure the vast mass of space to three-decimal precision while others who study theories of physics in that same space—everything from particle physics to astronomy—pretend (indeed seem to believe) it is a void that has itself no mass at all.
Such is life in the silos. As American journalist Gillian Tett observes of silos that fragment the world of finance, they have good aspects as well as others that are bad and ugly. And as Edward O. Wilson writes in Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, ‘The most productive scientists … have no time to think about the big picture and see little profit in it.’
Maybe our message to physics grad students should be: If you let one silo hold your mind captive you will be uneducated; study other silos too and you may earn that Doctorate in Philosophy . . . and serve science better.
Einstein did not live in a silo. He brought a wide philosophic perspective to his study of What is space? Our minds still struggle to catch up with his ultimate conclusion: Space is not empty; space is full of something!
Maybe, just like he did, we could call it ether.
Image credit: Old Leiden, Lonely Planet, http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/europe/netherlands/leiden/