SANITY IN EINSTEINIANA'S SCHISOPHRENIC WORLD

Alberto Martinez knows the sad truth about Albert Einstein and Walther
Ritz:

http://www.utexas.edu/know/2011/06/06/science_secrets/
Alberto Martinez: "As for Einstein, writers have contrived reasons why
he made his theory of relativity: that his wife was his secret
coworker, that he was influenced by patent applications, modern art or
mystical beliefs about God. But no, these are all just myths.
Surprisingly, there's more evidence that Einstein was influenced by,
of all things, developmental psychology."

https://webspace.utexas.edu/aam829/1...tzEinstein.pdf
Alberto Martinez: "Einstein's theory garnered prestigious supporters
such as Planck, Sommerfeld, and Wien, who endorsed and protected it
from the attacks of others, while Ritz's theory acquired no
supporters. Ehrenfest and Tolman called for unambiguous empirical
evidence to test Ritz's emission theory, but neither spent any effort
in extending it, and soon they both epoused Einstein's theory
unreservedly, especially following de Sitter's work. For a few years
immediately following its publication, Ritz's theory may have seemed
to be an odd and complicated curiosity, in comparison to the leading
approaches in electrodynamics. Ritz, the one man who had both the
skill and the motivation to advance it, had died."

Pentcho Valev wrote:

https://webspace.utexas.edu/aam829/1...tzEinstein.pdf
"In sum, Einstein rejected the emission hypothesis prior to 1905 not
because of any direct empirical evidence against it, but because it
seemed to involve too many theoretical and mathematical complications.
By contrast, Ritz was impressed by the lack of empirical evidence
against the emission hypothesis, and he was not deterred by the
mathematical difficulties it involved. It seemed to Ritz far more
reasonable to assume, in the interest of the "economy" of scientific
concepts, that the speed of light depends on the speed of its source,
like any other projectile, rather than to assume or believe, with
Einstein, that its speed is independent of the motion of its source
even though it is not a wave in a medium; that nothing can go faster
than light; that the length and mass of any body varies with its
velocity; that there exist no rigid bodies; that duration and
simultaneity are relative concepts; that the basic parallelogram law
for the addition of velocities is not exactly valid; and so forth.
Ritz commented that "it is a curious thing, worthy of remark, that
only a few years ago one would have thought it sufficient to refute a
theory to show that it entails even one or another of these
consequences...."

Yet schizophrenia was to triumph over sanity: "Ritz est déjà trop
faible pour enseigner, et le poste est finalement donné à Einstein":

http://www.savs.ch/fr/component/docm...ire-de-la-savs
Walther Ritz, Une contribution valaisanne au développement de la
physique au début du XXe siècle
Catherine Pralong-Fauchère
"Sa dernière année de vie est prolifique du point de vue scientifique.
Sa réputation s'accroît et l'université de Zurich le considère comme
le meilleur parmi 9 candidats possibles pour sa nouvelle chaire de
physique théorique. Cependant, Ritz est déjà trop faible pour
enseigner, et le poste est finalement donné à Einstein. En avril, Ritz
reçoit la visite d'Henri Poincaré qui s'excuse au nom de l'Académie
des Sciences de Paris de ne pas lui avoir attribué 2 ans plus tôt le
Prix Vaillant, promettant que cette injustice serait réparée. Mais
cette aide arrive trop tard. Walther Ritz, atteint de tuberculose,
doit entrer à la clinique de Göttingen à la mi-mai; il y meurt 7
semaines plus tard, le 7 juillet 1909. Il a donc 31 ans."

Pentcho Valev

http://arc-tv.com/the-crisis-in-physics-and-its-cause/
"However, for the past century, theoretical physicists have been
sending a different message. They have rejected causality in favor of
chance, logic in favor of contradictions, and reality in favor of
fantasy. The science of physics is now riddled with claims that are as
absurd as those of any religious cult."

http://school.maths.uwa.edu.au/~mike/Trouble.doc
Mike Alder: "It is easy to see the consequences of the takeover by the
bureaucrats. Bureaucrats favour uniformity, it simplifies their lives.
They want rules to follow. They prefer the dead to the living. They
have taken over religions, the universities and now they are taking
over Science. And they are killing it in the process. The forms and
rituals remain, but the spirit is dead. The cold frozen corpse is so
much more appealing to the bureaucratic mind-set than the living
spirit of the quest for insight. Bureaucracies put a premium on the
old being in charge, which puts a stop to innovation. Something
perhaps will remain, but it will no longer attract the best minds.
This, essentially, is the Smolin position. He gives details and
examples of the death of Physics, although he, being American, is
optimistic that it can be reversed. I am not. (...) Developing ideas
and applying them is done by a certain kind of temperament in a
certain kind of setting, one where there is a good deal of personal
freedom and a willingness to take risks. No doubt we still have the
people. But the setting is gone and will not come back. Science is a
product of the renaissance and an entrepreneurial spirit. It will not
survive the triumph of bureacracy. Despite having the infrastructure,
China never developed Science. And soon the West won't have it
either."

http://www.wickedlocal.com/pembroke/...lton-Ratcliffe
Hilton Ratcliffe: "Physics is dying, being suffocated by meta-
mathematics, and physics departments at major universities with grand
histories in physical science are closing down for lack of interest.
It is a crisis in my view. (...) If, as in the case of GTR and later
with Big Bang Theory and Black Hole theory, the protagonists have
seductive charisma (which Einstein, Gamow, and Hawking, respectively,
had in abundance) then the theory, though not the least bit
understood, becomes the darling of the media. GTR and Big Bang Theory
are sacrosanct, and it's most certainly not because they make any
sense. In fact, they have become the measure by which we sanctify
nonsense."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/20.../22/schools.g2
"But instead of celebrating, physicists are in mourning after a report
showed a dramatic decline in the number of pupils studying physics at
school. The number taking A-level physics has dropped by 38% over the
past 15 years, a catastrophic meltdown that is set to continue over
the next few years. The report warns that a shortage of physics
teachers and a lack of interest from pupils could mean the end of
physics in state schools. Thereafter, physics would be restricted to
only those students who could afford to go to posh schools. Britain
was the home of Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday and Paul Dirac, and
Brits made world-class contributions to understanding gravity, quantum
physics and electromagnetism - and yet the British physicist is now
facing extinction. But so what? Physicists are not as cuddly as
pandas, so who cares if we disappear?"

http://blog.reycom.org/archives/109
"La crise des vocations est générale dans toutes les sciences dures.
En témoignent les articles récurrents de revues spécialisés telles que
Physics World, l'excellent journal de l'Institute of Physics, ou la
Recherche qui a longtemps conservé un lien fort avec la recherche
publique menée en France. Elles s'en sont émues parce que c'était à
leurs lecteurs potentiels que cette crise s'attaquait... Le tableau
noir des sciences est peut-être entrain de cesser d'accepter des
marques de craie blanche. Il restera simplement noir. Dans ce paysage
accablant, les journalistes scientifiques peuvent toujours continuer
de ramer comme le faisait la reine Rouge de Lewis Carol, qui courait
simplement pour se maintenir sur place... Le courant de la rivière de
la course à la rentabilité risque de se transformer en rapide,
entrainant tous les coureurs, sans exception, vers le trou noir de
l'oubli!"

Pentcho Valev