R. d'Inverno - Introducing Einstein's relativity

American Journal of Physics, 2016

This article reviews The Road to Relativity: The History and Meaning of Einstein's “The Foundations of General Relativity.” by Hanoch Gutfreund, Jurgen Renn 255 pp. , Princeton, NJ, 2015. Price: $36 (hardcover). ISBN 978-0-691-16253-9.

2004

Einstein makes a number of interesting points. He emphasizes the importance of Minkowski's geometric formulation of special relativity, which he had originally dismissed as "superfluous erudition" ("überflüssige Gelehrsamkeit;" Pais 1982, 151), and the differential geometry of Riemann and others for the development of general relativity. He also acknowledges the help of Grossmann in the mathematical formulation of the theory. 11 See sec. 2 for further discussion of the point-coincidence argument.

2017

The Meaning of Relativity, also known as Four Lectures on Relativity, is Einstein's definitive exposition of his special and general theories of relativity. It was written in the early 1920s, a few years after he had elaborated his general theory of relativity. Neither before nor afterward did he offer a similarly comprehensive exposition that included not only the theory's technical apparatus but also detailed explanations making his achievement accessible to readers with a certain mathematical knowledge but no prior familiarity with relativity theory. In 1916, he published a review paper that provided the first condensed overview of the theory but still reflected many features of the tortured pathway by which he had arrived at his new theory of gravitation in late 1915. An edition of the manuscript of this paper with introductions and detailed commentaries on the discussion of its historical contexts can be found in The Road to Relativity. 1 Immediately afterward, Einstein wrote a nontechnical popular account, Relativity-The Special and General Theory. 2 Beginning with its first German edition, in 1917, it became a global bestseller and marked the first triumph of relativity theory as a broad cultural phenomenon. We have recently republished this book with extensive commentaries and historical contexts that document its global success. These early accounts, however, were able to present the theory only in its infancy. Immediately after its publication on 25 November 1915, Einstein's theory of general relativity was taken up, elaborated, and controversially discussed by his colleagues, who included physicists, mathematicians, astronomers, and philosophers. Einstein himself also made further fundamental contributions to the development of his theory, exploring consequences such as gravitational waves and cosmological solutions, elucidating concepts such as that of the energy and momentum of the gravitational field, and even reinterpreting basic aspects of the theory. A turning point was the confirmation of the bending of light in a gravitational field, which, as predicted by general relativity, was observed during a solar eclipse in 1919. These were the formative years of relativity in which the theory essentially received the structure in which it later became one of the pillars of modern physics. The Meaning of Relativity is the paradigmatic text of this period, reflecting not only Einstein's own efforts but also the engagement of his contemporaries with the theory. Einstein evidently returned to the theory of relativity in many later publications, both specialized and popular. He later also enriched The Meaning of Relativity with appendixes discussing further developments. But he never made another attempt at such an all-encompassing presentation in which he painstakingly motivated, explained, and discussed its basic principles and their consequences.

Science in Context, 2008

Alber Einstein explains his theory of relativity

Metascience, 2011

One of three reviews, comprising a 'book symposium', of R. Staley 2008, Einstein's Generation: The origins of the relativity revolution

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Annalen der Physik, 2012