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AGPhil: Arbeitsgruppe Philosophie der Physik

AGPhil 5: Rods, Clocks, Space and Energy in General Relativity

AGPhil 5.1: Hauptvortrag

Mittwoch, 18. März 2015, 15:00–15:45, A 060

"What is truth?" Einstein on Rods and Clocks in Relativity Theory — •Marco Giovanelli — FORUM SCIENTIARUM Doblerstraße 33 72074 Tübingen

The talk offers a historical overview of Einstein's vacillating attitude towards the role, indispensable or provisional, that rods and clocks play in both special and general relativity. The talk will document the context in which Einstein, at the beginning of 1917, first expressed concerns about the use of complicated material systems as measuring devices. It will consider the circumstances in which, in the 1920s, he felt the urgency to articulate his point of view in public writings, outlining a two-stage epistemological strategy, to which he remained faithful until the end of his life.

In particular it will be shown how Einstein expressed early on the conviction that in relativity theory one seems to be entitled to expect an explanation of how the measuring instruments work, without calling on other branches of physics. However, he was aware of the fact that this epistemological requirement calls into question the very relationship between a theory and the material devices that serve to verify it. Thus, Einstein's plea for a dynamical explanation of rods and clocks should be understood against the background of a truly philosophical question, which - as Einstein himself put it - is nothing but "Pilate's famous question: 'What is truth?'