Abstract

It is proved herein that the metric in the so-called 'isotropic coordinates' for Einstein's gravitational field is a particular case of an infinite class of equivalent metrics. Furthermore, the usual interpretation of the coordinates is erroneous, because in the usual form given in the literature, the alleged coordinate length ??(dx² + dy² + dz²) is not a coordinate length. This arises from the fact that the geometrical relations between the components of the metric tensor are invariant and therefore bear the same relations in the isotropic system as those of the metric in standard Schwarzschild coordinates.