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arXiv · 2509.09361

Convergences and Divergences: Einstein, Poincaré, and Special Relativity

Galina Weinstein
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Abstract

Jean-Marc Ginoux's recent book, "Poincaré, Einstein and the Discovery of Special Relativity: An End to the Controversy" (2024), seeks to close the debate over the respective roles of Poincaré and Einstein. Yet what is presented as an "end" may instead invite a more careful analysis of how similar equations can conceal divergent conceptions. The aim here is not to rehearse priority disputes but to show how Einstein's ether-free, principle-based kinematics marked out a path that, unlike its contemporaries, became the canonical form of special relativity. To this end, I reconstruct side by side the 1905 derivations of Poincaré and Einstein, tracing their similarities and, more importantly, their differences. This paper reconstructs, in a novel way, the 1905 derivations of Einstein and Poincaré, highlighting their contrasting paths.

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Galina Weinstein. 2025-09-11. Convergences and Divergences: Einstein, Poincaré, and Special Relativity. https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.09361

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