The Quest for a Unified Field Theory
The Quest for a Unified Field Theory
This chapter addresses the question of why general relativity was perceived to be an incomplete theory by many contemporary scientists, including Einstein himself. In the formative years, general relativity was often seen as a partial or incomplete theory to be generalized, encompassed, or superseded by an overarching unifying theory that would also explain the constitution of matter, typically by including gravity and electromagnetism. This chapter also discusses Einstein's essay, entitled “Generalization of Gravitation Theory,” which he added to the third edition of The Meaning of Relativity. This essay reflects Einstein's struggle in his search for a unified field theory, which in the last ten years of his life was based on the notion of a non-symmetric metric.
Keywords: general relativity, formative years, unified field theory, unifying theory, constitution of matter, Generalization of Gravitation theory, non-symmetric metric, Albert Einstein
Princeton Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.