Relativity: The Special and the General Theory

ISBN-13: 9780415253840 / Angielski / Miękka / 2001 / 176 str.

Albert Einstein

Opis

Time's 'Man of the Century', Albert Einstein is the unquestioned founder of modern physics. His theory of relativity is the most important scientific idea of the modern era. In this short book Einstein explains, using the minimum of mathematical terms, the basic ideas and principles of the theory which has shaped the world we live in today. Unsurpassed by any subsequent books on relativity, this remains the most popular and useful exposition of Einstein's immense contribution to human knowledge.

Recenzje

'He was unfathomably profound - the genius among geniuses who discovered, merely by thinking about it, that the universe was not as it seemed.' - Time

'Much of the book is a delight.' - Stephen Battersby, New Scientist

'[Einstein] is a far better populariser of science than Stephen Hawking ... you'll feel as though you have a ringside seat at a revolution in human understanding.' - Guardian

Spis treści

Part 1 The Special Theory of Relativity; Chapter 1 Physical Meaning of Geometrical Propositions; Chapter 2 The System of Co-ordinates; Chapter 3 Space and Time in Classical Mechanics; Chapter 4 The Galileian System of Co-ordinates; Chapter 5 The Principle of Relativity (in the Restricted Sense); Chapter 6 The Theorem of the Addition of Velocities Employed in Classical Mechanics; Chapter 7 The Apparent Incompatibility of the Law of Propagation of Light with the Principle of Relativity; Chapter 8 On the Idea of Time in Physics; Chapter 9 The Relativity of Simultaneity; Chapter 10 On the Relativity of the Conception of Distance; Chapter 11 The Lorentz Transformation; Chapter 12 The Behaviour of Measuring-Rods and Clocks in Motion; Chapter 13 Theorem of the Addition of Velocities. The Experiment of Fizeau; Chapter 14 The Heuristic Value of the Theory of Relativity; Chapter 15 General Results of the Theory; Chapter 16 Experience and the Special Theory of Relativity; Chapter 17 Minkowski’s Four-dimensional Space; Part 2 The General Theory of Relativity; Chapter 18 Special and General Principle of Relativity; Chapter 19 The Gravitational Field; Chapter 20 The Equality of Inertial and Gravitational Mass as an Argument for the General Postulate of Relativity; Chapter 21 In What Respects are the Foundations of Classical Mechanics and of the Special Theory of Relativity Unsatisfactory?; Chapter 22 A Few Inferences from the General Principle of Relativity; Chapter 23 Behaviour of Clocks and Measuring-Rods on A Rotating Body of Reference; Chapter 24 Euclidean and Non-Euclidean Continuum; Chapter 25 Gaussian Co-ordinates; Chapter 26 The Space-Time Continuum of the Special Theory of Relativity Considered as a Euclidean Continuum; Chapter 27 The Space-Time Continuum of the General Theory of Relativity Is Not a Euclidean Continuum; Chapter 28 Exact Formulation of the General Principle of Relativity; Chapter 29 The Solution of the Problem of Gravitation on the Basis of the General Principle of Relativity; Part 3 Considerations on the Universe as a Whole; Chapter 30 Cosmological Difficulties of Newton’s Theory; Chapter 31 The Possibility of a “Finite’’ and Yet “Unbounded” Universe; Chapter 32 The Structure of Space According to the General Theory of Relativity;

O autorze

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) Born in Switzerland, died in the USA. Brilliant physicist who received the Nobel Prize in 1921, the same year he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society.