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Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781531239534 |
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Publisher: | Krill Press |
Publication date: | 03/01/2016 |
Sold by: | PUBLISHDRIVE KFT |
Format: | eBook |
Pages: | 126 |
File size: | 447 KB |
About the Author
It's All Relative
Around 1950, Hayward Cirker, Founder and President of Dover Publications, wrote to Einstein and asked his approval to proceed with a Dover paperback reprint of the 1923 collection of original papers on relativity by Einstein himself and others (H. A. Lorentz, H. Weyl, and H. Minkowski), which had originally been published in England. Einstein was reluctant, wondering how much interest there could possibly be in this relic of his work from 30 or more years earlier. Cirker persisted, and Einstein finally agreed — the Dover edition of The Theory of Relativity has been in print ever since and has been followed by many other Dover books on relativity.
The papers reprinted in this original collection will always be for the serious student the cornerstone of their Einstein library: Michelson's Interference Experiment (H. A. Lorentz); Electromagnetic Phenomena in a System Moving with any Velocity Less Than That of Light (H.A. Lorentz); On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies (A. Einstein); Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon its Energy Content? (A. Einstein); Space and Time (H. Minkowksi with notes by A. Sommerfeld); On the Influence of Gravitation on the Propagation of Light (A. Einstein); and The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity (A. Einstein) found on pages 109–164 of this text; Hamilton's Principle and The General Theory of Relativity (A. Einstein); Cosmological Considerations on the General Theory of Relativity (A. Einstein); Do Gravitational Fields Play an Essential Part in the Structure of the Elementary Particles of Matter? (A. Einstein); and Gravitation and Electricity (H. Weyl).
In the Author's Own Words:
"How can it be that mathematics, being after all a product of human thought independent of experience, is so admirably adapted to the objects of reality?"
"What nature demands from us is not a quantum theory or a wave theory; rather, nature demands from us a synthesis of these two views which thus far has exceeded the mental powers of physicists."
"Do not be troubled by your difficulties with Mathematics, I can assure you mine are much greater." — Albert Einstein
Critical Acclaim for The Theory of Relativity:
"This book constitutes an indispensable part of a library on relativity." — Nature
Table of Contents
Introduction viii
Preface xiii
The Special Theory of Relativity
Physical Meaning of Geometrical Propositions 15
The System of Co-ordinates 17
Space and Time in Classical Mechanics 20
The Galilean System of Co-ordinates 22
The Principle of Relativity in the Restricted Sense 23
The Theorem of the Addition of Velocities Employed in Classical Mechanics 25
The Apparent Incompatibility of the Law of Propagation of Light with the Principle of Relativity 26
On the Idea of Time in Physics 28
The Relativity of Simultaneity 31
On the Relativity of the Conception of Distance 33
The Lorentz Transformation 34
The Behaviour of Measuring-Rods and Clocks in Motion 38
Theorem of the Addition of Velocities. The Experiment of Fizeau 40
The Heuristic Value of the Theory of Relativity 43
General Results of the Theory 44
Experience and the Special Theory of Relativity 48
Minkowski's Four-Dimensional Space 52
The General Theory of Relativity
Special and General Principle of Relativity 55
The Gravitational Field 58
The Equality of Inertial andGravitational Mass as an Argument for the General Postulate of Relativity 60
In What Respects Are the Foundations of Classical Mechanics and of the Special Theory of Relativity Unsatisfactory? 63
A Few Inferences from the General Principle of Relativity 65
Behaviour of Clocks and Measuring-Rods on a Rotating Body of Reference 68
Euclidean and Non-Euclidean Continuum 71
Gaussian Co-ordinates 74
The Space-Time Continuum of the Special Theory of Relativity Considered as a Euclidean Continuum 77
The Space-Time Continuum of the General Theory of Relativity Is Not a Euclidean Continuum 79
Exact Formulation of the General Principle of Relativity 81
The Solution of the Problem of Gravitation on the Basis of the General Principle of Relativity 83
Considerations on the Universe as a Whole
Cosmological Difficulties of Newton's Theory 87
The Possibility of a "Finite" and yet "Unbounded" Universe 89
The Structure of Space According to the General Theory of Relativity 92
Appendixes
Simple Derivation of the Lorentz Transformation (Supplementary to Section 11) 95
Minkowski's Four-Dimensional Space ("World") (Supplementary to Section 17) 99
The Experimental Confirmation of the General Theory of Relativity 101