Matvei Bronstein’s 1935 work on quantum gravity, the first in-depth study of the problem, is analyzed in the context of the history of physics and the scientist’s career. Bronstein’s analysis of field measurability revealed ’an essential difference between quantum electrodynamics and the quantum theory of the gravitational field’ and showed that general relativity and quantum theory are fundamentally difficult to unify. Featured in the story are Planck, Einstein, Heisenberg, Pauli, Rosenfeld, Landau, and Bohr. The methodological uniqueness of the quantum gravity problem is discussed.

PACS: 01.65.+g, 03.65.Ta, 04.60.−m (all) DOI: 10.1070/PU2005v048n10ABEH005820 URL: https://ufn.ru/en/articles/2005/10/d/ 000235238900004 2005PhyU...48.1039G Citation: Gorelik G E "Matvei Bronstein and quantum gravity: 70th anniversary of the unsolved problem" Phys. Usp. 48 1039–1053 (2005) BibTexBibNote ® (generic)BibNote ® (RIS)MedlineRefWorks Оригинал: Горелик Г Е «Матвей Бронштейн и квантовая гравитация. К 70-летию нерешенной проблемы» УФН 175 1093–1108 (2005); DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.0175.200510h.1093 M.P. Bronshtein is author of Physics-Uspekhi