Einstein’s Curved Space-Time and Scientific Revolution

Abstract

Both physicists and philosophers cite the theory-shift from flat to curved space-time formalism as revolutionary feature within Newton-Einstein theory-change. This essay argues against this that this conceptual change was ‘evolutionary’ and exhibits a high degree of continuity. The basic strategy of this essay is to employ the dynamical perspective of space-time developed by Harvey Brown, and Robert DiSalle, which selects the relationships between events – one specified by the laws of inertia at issue – as the essential elements within these two physical theoretical frameworks. This view turns our attention away from the structure of space-time to the dynamical laws, and also clarifies to what extent the theory-change is evolutionary.