In physics, Whitehead's thought has had some influence. He articulated a view that might perhaps be regarded as dual to Einstein's general relativity, see Whitehead's theory of gravitation. It has been severely criticized. Yutaka Tanaka, who suggests that the gravitational constant disagrees with experimental findings, proposes that Einstein's work does not actually refute Whitehead's formulation. Whitehead's view has now been rendered obsolete, with the discovery of gravitational waves. They are phenonena observed locally that largely violate the kind of local flatness of space that Whitehead assumes. Consequently, Whitehead's cosmology must be regarded as a local approximation, and his assumption of a uniform spatio-temporal geometry, Minkowskian in particular, as an often-locally-adequate approximation. An exact replacement of Whitehead's cosmology would need to admit a Riemannian geometry. Also, although Whitehead himself gave only secondary consideration to quantum theory, his metaphysics of processes has proved attractive to some physicists in that field. Henry Stapp and David Bohm are among those whose work has been influenced by Whitehead. COUNT 5
QSN1 How was Whitehead's theory of gravitation received? ANS1 It has been severely criticized QSN2 What physicists in the field of quantum theory have been influenced by Whitehead? ANS2 Henry Stapp and David Bohm QSN3 What affect  did the discovery of gravitational waves have on Whitehead's theory? ANS3 Whitehead's view has now been rendered obsolete, with the discovery of gravitational waves QSN4 What are gravitational waves? ANS4 phenonena observed locally that largely violate the kind of local flatness of space that Whitehead assumes QSN5 How must Whiteheads cosmology now be considered? ANS5 Whitehead's cosmology must be regarded as a local approximation