Word of the Week: Mathematical Invariance

Definition:  In Einstein’s use of the word, mathematical invariance established a genuine ontology in which the subject grips with objective structures and intrinsic intelligibility of the universe.

More about the word:  Throughout Einstein’s work, the mechanistic universe proved unsatisfactory.  This was made evident after the discovery of the electromagnetic field and the failure of Newtonian physics to account for it in mechanistic concepts.  Then came the discovery of four-dimensional geometry and with it the realization that the geometrical structures of Newtonian physics could not be detached from changes in space and time with which field theory operated.