Relativity The Special and the General Theory

by Einstein, Albert; Calder, Nigel

• ISBN13: 9780143039822
• ISBN10: 0143039822
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-07-25
• Publisher: Penguin Classics

Summary

When Relativity was published in German in 1916, Albert Einstein's name was scarcely known outside the physics institutes. With the general theory of relativity Einstein provided the physics community a brand-new theory of gravity, a new understanding of the properties of velocity and light, and promised a new perspective on the cosmos as a whole. At the time, World War I was raging and English-speaking countries scorned all things German, so it wasn't until British astronomers observed several stars shifting in the sky that Einstein's theory was proven to the greater public, leading even more readers to this accessible overview of his groundbreaking theory of light, space, and time. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Albert Einstein (1879-û1955), one of the greatest thinkers of the twentieth century, was born in Ulm, Germany, to German-Jewish parents. He published his first great theories in Switzerland in the early 1900s while working as a patent clerk.

Nigel Calder, educated as a physicist at Cambridge University, began his full-time writing career on the original staff of New Scientist magazine. His most recent book is the bestselling Einstein-'s Universe.

Table of Contents

Introduction by Nigel Calder	vii
Suggestions for Further Reading	xxix
Preface by Albert Einstein	3	(4)
PART I The Special Theory of Relativity
1. Physical Meaning of Geometrical Propositions	7	(3)
2. The System of Co-ordinates	10	(3)
3. Space and Time in Classical Mechanics	13	(2)
4. The Galileian System of Co-ordinates	15	(1)
5. The Principle of Relativity (in the Restricted Sense)	16	(3)
6. The Theorem of the Addition of Velocities Employed in Classical Mechanics	19	(1)
7. The Apparent Incompatibility of the Law of Propagation of Light with the Principle of Relativity	20	(3)
8. On the Idea of Time in Physics	23	(3)
9. The Relativity of Simultaneity	26	(3)
10. On the Relativity of the Conception of Distance	29	(2)
11. The Lorentz Transformation	31	(5)
12. The Behaviour of Measuring-Rods and Clocks in Motion	36	(2)
13. Theorem of the Addition of the Velocities. The Experiment of Fizeau	38	(4)
14. The Heuristic Value of the Theory of Relativity	42	(2)
15. General Results of the Theory	44	(4)
16. Experience and the Special Theory of Relativity	48	(4)
17. Minkowski's Four-Dimensional Space	52	(5)
PART II The General Theory of Relativity
18. Special and General Principle of Relativity	57	(3)
19. The Gravitational Field	60	(3)
20. The Equality of Inertial and Gravitational Mass as an Argument for the General Postulate of Relativity	63	(4)
21. In What Respects Are the Foundations of Classical Mechanics and of the Special Theory of Relativity Unsatisfactory?	67	(2)
22. A Few Inferences from the General Principle of Relativity	69	(4)
23. Behaviour of Clocks and Measuring-Rods on a Rotating Body of Reference	73	(3)
24. Euclidean and Non-Euclidean Continuum	76	(3)
25. Gaussian Co-ordinates	79	(4)
26. The Space-Time Continuum of the Special Theory of Relativity Considered as a Euclidean Continuum	83	(2)
27. The Space-Time Continuum of the General Theory of Relativity Is Not a Euclidean Continuum	85	(3)
28. Exact Formulation of the General Principle of Relativity	88	(3)
29. The Solution of the Problem of Gravitation on the Basis of the General Principle of Relativity	91	(6)
PART III Considerations on the Universe as a Whole
30. Cosmological Difficulties of Newton's Theory	97	(2)
31. The Possibility of a "Finite" and Yet "Unbounded" Universe	99	(4)
32. The Structure of Space According to the General Theory of Relativity	103	(2)
APPENDICES
1. Simple Derivation of the Lorentz Transformation	105	(6)
2. Minkowski's Four-Dimensional Space ("World")	111	(2)
3. The Experimental Confirmation of the General Theory of Relativity	113	(10)
(a) Motion of the Perihelion of Mercury	114	(2)
(b) Deflection of Light by a Gravitational Field	116	(2)
(c) Displacement of Spectral Lines towards the Red	118	(5)
Index	123