Relativity: The Special and General Theory

Albert Einstein

Penguin, 2005 - Science - 259 pages

Robert Geroch builds on Einstein's work with commentary that addresses the ideas at the heart of the theory, bringing a modern understanding of relativity to the text. He elucidates how special relativity is a reconciliation of the contradictions between the nature of light and the principle of relativity; he expands on Einstein's treatment of the geometry of space-time and the fundamental notion of an "event"; he explains in detail, but without technical language, the equivalence of inertial and gravitational mass, a cornerstone of general relativity.

Contents

• PART I: 5
• Space and Time in Classical Mechanics: 13
• The Theorem of the Addition of Velocities: 23
• On the Idea of Time in Physics: 29
• On the Relativity of the Conception: 38
• The Lorentz Transformation: 40
• The Behaviour of MeasuringRods: 47
• The Heuristic Value of the Theory: 56
• Experience and the Special Theory: 65
• Minkowskis FourDimensional Space: 72
• The Gravitational Field: 82
• In What Respects Are the Foundations: 92
• Behaviour of Clocks and MeasuringRods: 101
• Gaussian Coordinates: 111
• The SpaceTime Continuum of the Special: 116
• Exact Formulation of the General: 123
• PART III: 133
• The Structure of Space According to: 143
• Minkowskis FourDimensional Space: 155
• Commentary by Robert Geroch: 171
• The Cultural Legacy of Relativity Theory: 225
• Bibliography: 247

About the author

Robert Geroch is Professor of Physics at the University of Chicago. He received his Ph.D. at Princeton University, and has held positions at the University of London, Syracuse University, and the University of Texas. He is the author of General Relativity From A to B.

Roger Penrose is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University. He is the author of a number of books, including The Emperor's New Mind, The Nature of Space and Time (with Stephen Hawking), and The Road to Reality.

David C. Cassidy is a Professor in the Natural Science Program at Hofstra University. He served as Associate Editor of The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, and is the author of Einstein and Our World, Uncertainty: The Life and Science of Werner Heisenberg, and J. Robert Oppenheimer and the American Century.

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Bibliographic information

• Title: Relativity: The Special and General Theory; The masterpiece science edition
• Author: Albert Einstein
• Editor: Robert Geroch
• Translated by: Robert W. Lawson
• Contributor: David C. Cassidy
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Penguin, 2005
• ISBN: 0131862618, 9780131862616
• Length: 259 pages
• Subjects: Science / Physics / General; Science / Physics / Relativity