

Ideas of Hermann Minkowski, by Text

[German, 1864 - 1909, Taught mathematics at several German Universities.]

1908 Space and Time
Intro p.297 Space alone, and time alone, will fade away, and only their union has an independent reality
     From: Hermann Minkowski (Space and Time [1908], Intro)
     A reaction: Notice the qualification that it is a 'kind of' union. Deep confusion arises from exaggerating the analogy between space and time. Craig Bourne remarks (2006:157) that this shows independence of measurement, not of reality