▁devoted ▁years ▁of ▁long , ▁complicated ▁work ▁to ▁arrive ▁at ▁the ▁same ▁mathematical ▁formal ism . ▁Before ▁ 1 9 0 5 ▁Lor ent z ▁and ▁Po inc ar é ▁had ▁adopted ▁these ▁same ▁principles , ▁as ▁necessary ▁to ▁achieve ▁their ▁final ▁results , ▁but ▁didn ' t ▁recognize ▁that ▁they ▁were ▁also ▁sufficient ▁in ▁the ▁sense ▁that ▁there ▁was ▁no ▁immediate ▁logical ▁need ▁to ▁assume ▁the ▁existence ▁of ▁a ▁station ary ▁a ether ▁in ▁order ▁to ▁arrive ▁at ▁the ▁Lor ent z ▁transformations . ▁Another ▁reason ▁for ▁Ein stein ' s ▁early ▁re jection ▁of ▁the ▁a ether ▁in ▁any ▁form ▁( which ▁he ▁later ▁partially ▁ret ract ed ) ▁may ▁have ▁been ▁related ▁to ▁his ▁work ▁on ▁quantum ▁physics . ▁Ein stein ▁discovered ▁that ▁light ▁can ▁also ▁be ▁described ▁( at ▁least ▁he ur ist ically ) ▁as ▁a ▁kind ▁of ▁particle , ▁so ▁the ▁a ether ▁as ▁the ▁medium ▁for ▁elect romagnet ic ▁" w aves " ▁( which ▁was ▁highly ▁important ▁for ▁Lor ent z ▁and ▁Po inc ar é ) ▁no ▁longer ▁fitted ▁into ▁his ▁concept ual ▁scheme . ▁ ▁It ' s ▁notable ▁that ▁Ein stein ' s ▁paper ▁contains ▁no ▁direct ▁references ▁to ▁other ▁papers . ▁However , ▁many ▁histor ians ▁of ▁science ▁like ▁Hol ton , ▁Miller , ▁St ach el , ▁have ▁tried ▁to ▁find ▁out ▁possible ▁influ ences ▁on ▁Ein stein . ▁He ▁stated ▁that ▁his ▁thinking ▁was ▁influenced ▁by ▁the ▁empir ic ist ▁philosoph ers ▁David ▁H ume ▁and ▁Ernst ▁Mach .