Old and New Questions in Physics (Excerpt)

Abstract

To discuss Einstein's principle of relativity here at G{ö}ttingen, where Minkowski was active, seems to me a particularly welcome task. The significance of this principle can be illuminated from several different angles. We will not speak here of the mathematical aspect of the question, which was given such a splendid treatment by Minkowski, and which was further developed by Abraham, Sommerfeld and others. Rather, after some epistemological remarks about the concepts of space and time, the physical phenomena that may contribute to an experimental test of the principle shall be discussed.