About the special and general relativity theory
About the special and general theory of relativity is the title of an essay written by Albert Einstein from 1916, in which he presents the basic ideas of the theory of relativity that goes back to him to a scientifically and philosophically interested readership. The author writes in the foreword
- "Reading requires a high school diploma and - despite the brevity of the booklet - a lot of patience and willpower on the part of the reader."
from the content
The book consists of three parts and an appendix.
About the special theory of relativity
Starting from a critical consideration of Euclidean geometry and Newtonian mechanics , Einstein presents the apparent incompatibility of the special principle of relativity and the constancy of the speed of light and leads the reader through a critique of the concept of time to the special theory of relativity , whereby several times on the well-known thought experiment of a train moving steadily and the view of which is used from the standpoint of an observer traveling along and an observer standing on the embankment. It also explains how the law of conservation of energy and the law of conservation of mass combine to form a uniform law of conservation. The experimental evidence and indications of the description of space-time , which were known at the time , go back to Hermann Minkowski, and end the first part.
About general relativity
The equality of inert and heavy mass is made clear in the famous thought experiment of the physicist in a box, who cannot decide whether the box is accelerated uniformly or is suspended in a gravitational field , and is the starting point for working out the general principle of relativity . The nature of the curvature is made clear to the reader by a two-dimensional analogy, the Gaussian coordinates required for the description are briefly mentioned and related to the Minkowski space-time. This part also closes with experimental considerations, in particular about the perihelion of the planet Mercury, which was confirmed at the time .
Reflections on the world as a whole
The third, much shorter part is devoted to cosmological questions, in particular the question of the finiteness of space is discussed.
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In the appendix added later, Einstein derives the Lorentz transformation mentioned in the main text , deepens the Minkowski space-time , takes up again the experimental situation on general relativity and, in a longer section, discusses philosophical questions about the nature of space and time.
Remarks
The book presented here belongs to the list of the ZEIT library of 100 non-fiction books . It appeared for the first time in 1917 in the Vieweg Collection No. 38 with a print run of 2,000 copies with the addition of the word for common understanding . After Arthur Stanley Eddington confirmed the general theory of relativity in 1919 , public interest skyrocketed, and in 1920 Vieweg had 45,500 copies printed. At the time of National Socialism, Einstein was denied by the Vieweg Verlag, since 1935 removed from the advertising brochures. In view of the Holocaust , Einstein was initially opposed to the Vieweg Verlag's request to reissue the book in 1947, and approval was only obtained in 1954. After Einstein's death in 1955, all rights to this book, as to all of Einstein's other writings, were transferred to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem .
The 24th edition of the book has been available from Springer Verlag since 2009 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Albert Einstein: About the special and general relativity theory , Springer Verlag 2009, 24th edition
- ↑ Elke Flatau: Albert Einstein as a scientific author , Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, 2003, available online here (PDF; 721 kB)