Gravitational Field - Generally Accepted Fundamental Hypothesis

Generally Accepted Fundamental Hypothesis

Dr. Jesse L. Greenstein of the California Institute of Technology wrote:

The detection of gravitational waves bears directly on the question of whether there is any such thing as a "gravitational field," which can act as an independent entity. … this fundamental field hypothesis has been generally accepted without observational support. Such credulity among scientists occurs only in relation to the deepest and most fundamental hypotheses for which they lack the facility to think differently in a comparably detailed and consistent way. In the nineteenth century a similar attitude led to a general acceptance of the ether ….

Most scientists believe that the gravitational field and its gravitational waves are the physical interpretations of Einstein's equations of general relativity.

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