Einstein, Hilbert, and The Theory of Gravitation

Abstract

From 1907 to 1925, Albert Einstein dominated the development of the general relativity theory of gravitation. His own work on the theory of gravitation from 1912 to 1916 had the drama of high adventure. David Hilbert, fascinated by Einstein’s work on relativity and Gustav Mie’s work on electrodynamics, decided to construct a unified field theory of matter. In two communications to the Gottingen Academy (on 20 November 1915 and 23 December 1916), Hilbert developed his theory of the foundations of physics. In the first of these communications, he derived the field equations of gravitation and the conditions governing them. Hilbert’s work, although inspired by Einstein, was independent of and simultaneous with Einstein’s derivation of the field equations and, in certain essential respects, went beyond Einstein’s. Einstein, at that time, was very critical of the efforts of Mie, Hilbert and Weyl to construct a unified field theory of gravitation and electromagnetism. After 1925, such a programme became his primary mission.