The Curious History of Relativity
eBook - PDF

The Curious History of Relativity

How Einstein's Theory of Gravity Was Lost and Found Again

  1. English
  2. PDF
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

The Curious History of Relativity

How Einstein's Theory of Gravity Was Lost and Found Again

About this book

Black holes may obliterate most things that come near them, but they saved the theory of general relativity. Einstein's theory was quickly accepted as the true theory of gravity after its publication in 1915, but soon took a back seat in physics to quantum mechanics and languished for decades on the blackboards of mathematicians. Not until the existence of black holes by Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose in the 1960s, after Einstein's death, was the theory revived.


Almost one hundred years after general relativity replaced Newton's theory of gravitation, The Curious History of Relativity tells the story of both events surrounding general relativity and the techniques employed by Einstein and the relativists to construct, develop, and understand his almost impenetrable theory. Jean Eisenstaedt, one of the world's leading experts on the subject, also discusses the theory's place in the evolution of twentieth-century physics. He describes the main stages in the development of general relativity: its beginnings, its strange crossing of the desert during Einstein's lifetime while under heated criticism, and its new life from the 1960s on, when it became vital to the understanding of black holes and the observation of exotic objects, and, eventually, to the discovery of the accelerating universe. We witness Einstein's construction of his theory, as well as the work of his fascinated, discouraged, and enthusiastic colleagues--physicists, mathematicians, and astronomers.


Written with flair, The Curious History of Relativity poses--and answers--the difficult questions raised by Einstein's magnificent intellectual feat.

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Yes, you can access The Curious History of Relativity by Jean Eisenstaedt in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Science History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher
Princeton University Press
Year
2018
Print ISBN
9780691118659
eBook ISBN
9780691186757
Topic
History
Subtopic
Science History
Index
History

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Contents
  5. Foreword
  6. INTRODUCTION: A Difficult Theory
  7. ONE: The Speed of Light and Classical Physics
  8. TWO: Light and the Structure of Space-Time
  9. THREE: Toward a New Theory of Gravitation
  10. FOUR: Einstein’s Principles
  11. FIVE: The Birth of General Relativity
  12. SIX: General Relativity: A Physical Geometry
  13. SEVEN: Relativity Verified: Mercury’s Anomaly
  14. EIGHT: Relativity Verified: The Deflection of Light Rays
  15. NINE: Relativity Verified: The Line Shift
  16. TEN: The Crossing of the Desert
  17. ELEVEN: An Unpopular Theory
  18. TWELVE: The Rejection of Black Holes
  19. THIRTEEN: Paths in Schwarzschild’s Space-Time
  20. FOURTEEN: No Ordinary Stars
  21. FIFTEEN: Gravitation, Astrophysics, and Cosmology
  22. AFTERWORD: The Paths of General Relativity
  23. Bibliography
  24. Name Index