The aim of the chapter is to amend the received view on the general theory
of relativity (GTR) genesis and advancement by taking into account common scientific
practice of its functioning, the history of science data and certain philosophy of science
arguments. The inter-theoretical aspect of the GTR genesis as an instance of
perspicuous epistemological model of mature theory change that hinges upon ‘old’
theories encounter and interaction is scrutinized. I strengthen arguments in favour of
the tenet that the dynamic creation of GTR had been continually governed by internal
tensions between two research traditions, that of special relativity and Newton’s
gravity. The encounter of the traditions, their interpenetration and intertwinement
engendered the rival programmes of relativistic theory of gravity construction: the
programmes of Abraham and Nordstrӧm – on the one hand – and Einstein’s
programme – on the other. The encounter created the hybrid realm at first with an
irregular set of theoretical models. The rival approaches of Einstein, Abraham and
Nordström grew closer and eventually were transformed by Einstein into
complementary ‘mathematical’ and ‘physical’ strategies of a general synthetic research
programme that put forward the Entwurf and the GTR. Step by step, on eliminating the
contradictions between the models contrived, the hybrid set was put into order by
Einstein via the principle of equivalence. As in the STR case, Einstein was able to
freely juxtapose Nordstrӧm, Abraham’s and his own non-metric theoretical schemes
without reducing one to the others. It is contended that the main reason for the GTR
‘victory’ over the rival programmes of Abraham and Nordström was a synthetic
character of Einstein’s programme. Einstein’s programme did supersede the rival ones
because it did ingeniously assimilate some ideas of the Nordström programme as well
as some presuppositions of the programme of Abraham. Einstein had put forward as a
basic synthetic principle the principle of equivalence that radically differed from that of
rival approaches by its open, flexible and regulative character. As a result of
reconciling and amalgamating the ‘physical’ and ‘mathematical’ approaches, embodied
in Abraham, Einstein and Nordström’s crossbred theoretical models , Einstein was able
to explain the anomalous motion of Mercury.
Keywords: Abraham, Besso, Cartan, Christoffel, Einstein, Entwurf, Fokker,
General relativity, Grossmann, Hybrid models, Laue, Levi-Civita, Maxwell, Mie,
Minkowski, Neo-Kantian epistemology, Nonmetric theories, Nordström,
Perihelion of Mercury, Planck, Principle of equivalence, Renn, Riemann, Special
