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Some Topics for Philosophical Inquiry Concerning the Theories of Mathematical Geometrodynamics and of Physical Geometrodynamics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2022

Charles W. Misner
Charles W. Misner*
Affiliation:
University of Maryland
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Extract

John Wheeler is the effective owner of the trade mark ‘geometrodynamics’, since he coined the word, so we look to him for the definition. In his introduction, Professor Grünbaum has quoted a number of things from Wheeler. I would like to point out that in recent papers Wheeler refers to “Einstein's standard battle-tested 1915 geometrodynamics.” Wheeler therefore takes geometrodynamics as simply another name for standard general relativity. I think there is no doubt that he intends to exclude aberrations, such as the cosmological constant or the scalar-tensor (Brans-Dicke) theory of gravity. The central feature, in this view, is that geometry is part of physics. Geometry may even be such a blindingly beautiful part of physics as to nearly eclipse everything else. But there is no assertion (although also no denial) that all of physics is geometry. The coupled Einstein-Maxwell equations are a standard basis for current discussions of geometrodynamics.

Type
Part I Symposium: Space, Time, and Matter: The Foundations of Geometrodynamics
Information
PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association , Volume 1972 , 1972 , pp. 7 - 29
Copyright
Copyright © 1974 by D. Reidel Publishing Company

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References

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