14/07/2020

Even Albert Einstein wasn't immune to scientific errors.

Foto: Wikimedia Commons/Wikipedia

In a context where science represents a great asset for humanity, concentrating expectations for the solution to the new coronavirus pandemic, it is not surprising that precise and immediate answers are demanded of it. But it is important to remember that not even the brilliant Albert Einstein (1879-1955) emerged unscathed from scientific errors in his academic career. In an article published on The Conversation website in June, Professor Emeritus François Vannucci of the University of Paris meticulously examines the main mistakes of the German theoretical physicist in the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics.

Scientific research lies in the relationship between phenomena we observe in nature and representations of this reality, formulated by theories in mathematical language. After verifying all the consequences derived from a theory, it is validated. "But these advances depend on human intelligence which, despite everything, retains its beliefs and prejudices, which can affect the progress of science, even among the most privileged minds," Vannucci points out.

In his general theory of relativity, one of his best-known works, Einstein wrote the equation that describes the evolution of the Universe as a function of time. To avoid contradicting the idea of a static Universe, a dominant thought in Europe at the time, Einstein introduced a cosmological constant into his equations that froze the state of the cosmos.

But historical evidence contradicted the notion of the immutability of the Universe. In 1054, the Chinese noticed a light in the sky for several weeks. It was a supernova, that is, a dying star. When Edwin Hubble demonstrated that the Universe was expanding, in 1929, Einstein admitted his mistake and said he had made "his greatest blunder".

The discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect, fundamental to the establishment of quantum theory, earned Einstein the 1921 Nobel Prize. However, influenced by Greek philosophy, which believed that pure thought was capable of encompassing all of reality, the physicist rejected an important precept of quantum mechanics: its randomness.

Not accepting this elementary indeterminism and, more specifically, chance, Einstein stated at the time that "God does not play dice with the Universe." He then proposed the existence of hidden variables, of undiscovered magnitudes beyond mass, charge, and spin, which physicists use to describe particles. But experience did not prove him right.

“The progress of ideas is nurtured by what we call intuition. It is a kind of leap in knowledge that goes beyond pure rationality. The boundary between the objective and the subjective is no longer completely fixed,” states the author of the article. For Vannuchi, “intuition manifests itself randomly, but this chance is shaped by each person's experience, culture, and knowledge.”

Einstein's mistakes do not represent any deficiency on his part, or in the scientific method; on the contrary, they reflect the vitality of science, always in search of truth: steps in the wrong direction often result in remarkable advances.

Source: The Conversation and BBC Brazil