of the second edition of A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity, Whittaker credited Henri Poincaré and Hendrik Lorentz for developing the theory; he attributed to Einstein's special relativity paper relatively little importance, saying it "set forth the relativity theory of Poincaré and Lorentz with some amplifications, and which attracted much attention". Max Born, a friend of Whittaker's, wrote to Einstein expressing his concern about the book's publication and wrote a rebuttal in his 1956 book. The controversy was also mentioned in one of Whittaker's obituaries by Gerald James Whitrow, who said that he had written Whittaker a letter explaining how the latter's views "did not do justice to the originality of Einstein's philosophy", but remarked that he understood why Whittaker felt the need to correct the popular misconception that Einstein's contribution was unique. Max Born's rebuttal, published in his 1956 book, also argues that while the contributions of Lorentz and Poincaré should not be overlooked, it was the postulates and philosophy of Einstein's theory that "distinguishes Einstein’s work from his predecessors and gives us the right to speak of Einstein’s theory of relativity, in spite of Whittaker’s different opinion". Though the dispute has lasted decades, most scholars have rejected Whittaker's arguments and scientific consensus has continued to hold that special relativity was Einstein's development. Philosophy Whittaker's views on philosophy was analysed by James Robert McConnell for the Whittaker Memorial Volume of the Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society. McConnell noted that Whittaker's research into the connections between physics and philosophy were spread across approximately forty publications. Whittaker's worldview was classified as neo-Cartesianism in the volume, a philosophy described as being "founded on the principle that the search for a universal science should be modelled on the procedure of physicomathematicians." McConnell notes several of Whittaker's original contributions to René Descartes' philosophical system, but goes on to sum up the work by saying that while he admired Whittaker's attempt at the problem, he was not satisfied with the many transitions between mathematics, aesthetics, ethics. He stated that "If the transitions from mathematics to moral values are not firmly established, Whittaker's attempt does not succeed in remedying the defects of Descartes' solution." Whittaker published work in several other areas of philosophy, including research on Eddington's principle, a conjecture by Arthur Eddington that all quantitative propositions in physics can be derived from qualitative assertions. In addition to publishing Eddington's Fundamental Theory,