A Student's Guide to Einstein's Major Papers

by Robert E Kennedy

Overview

Our understanding of the physical universe underwent a revolution in the early twentieth century - evolving from the classical physics of Newton, Galileo, and Maxwell to the modern physics of relativity and quantum mechanics.

The dominant figure in this revolutionary change was Albert Einstein. In a single year, 1905, Einstein produced breakthrough works in three areas of physics: on the size and the effects of atoms; on the quantization of the electromagnetic field; and on the special theory of relativity. In 1916 he produced a fourth breakthrough work, the general theory of relativity.

A Student's Guide to Einstein's Major Papers focuses on Einstein's contributions, setting his major works into their historical context, and then takes the reader through the details of each paper, including the mathematics.

This book helps the reader appreciate the simplicity and insightfulness of Einstein's ideas and how revolutionary his work was, and locate it in the evolution of scientific thought begun by the ancient Greek natural philosophers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199694037
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/02/2012
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.80(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Dr. Kennedy received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Notre Dame in 1966, and since 1966 has been a professor in the Department of Physics at Creighton University. Dr. Kennedy has taught physics at Creighton University for over forty years, and has developed a number of courses based on the works of Albert Einstein, beginning in the 1970s with a request from the college to develop a "non-threatening" science course for the non-science majors. In 2008 Creighton University awarded to Dr. Kennedy the designation of Professor Emeritus and of Dean Emeritus.

Table of Contents

1. Setting the Stage for 19052. Radiation and the Quanta3. The Atom and Brownian Motion4. The Special Theory of Relativity5. The General Theory of Relativity6. Einstein and the Evolution of Quantum Mechanics7. Epilogue

Editorial Reviews

"For instructors who choose to expose their students to Einstein's scientific articles, Robert E. Kennedy's A Student's Guide to Einstein's Major Papers will be a welcome supplement." — Physics Today

From the Publisher