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The formative years of relativity : the history and meaning of Einstein's Princeton lectures : featuring Einstein's classic text The meaning of relativity in its historical context / Hanoch Gutfreund and Jürgen Renn.

by Gutfreund, Hanoch, author.

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Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2017]

Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955. Relativitätstheorie. English.

General relativity (Physics) -- History -- 20th century.

9780691174631 (hardcover ; alkaline paper) :

0691174636 (hardcover ; alkaline paper)

xiv, 415 pages : illustrations ; 27 cm

Foreword / Diana Kormos Buchwald -- Preface -- Part I. Preliminaries. Introduction -- Einstein's first trip to America -- Structure and contents of The meaning of relativity -- Part II. The emerging world of general relativity. Physics and geometry -- The principles of general relativity -- The first solutions and the challenge of their interpretation -- Einstein and the astronomers -- The genesis of relativistic cosmology -- The controversy over gravitational waves -- Philosophical debates on general relativity -- The quest for a unified field theory -- Early monographs on relativity -- Beyond the formative years -- Part III. Einstein's book with the appendixes. Space and time in pre-relativity physics -- The theory of special relativity -- The general theory of relativity -- The general theory of relativity (continued) -- Appendix for the second edition : on the "cosmologic problem" -- Appendix II (PUP 4th edition, 1953) : generalization of gravitation theory -- Appendix II (PUP 5th edition, 1956) : relativistic theory of the non-symmetric field -- Part IV. The popular lectures. Introductory remarks -- Einstein's lectures -- Part V. Biographical notes on the protagonists of the formative years.

First published in 1922 and based on lectures delivered in May 1921, Albert Einstein's The Meaning of Relativity offered an overview and explanation of the then new and controversial theory of relativity. The work would go on to become a monumental classic, printed in numerous editions and translations worldwide. Now, The Formative Years of Relativity introduces Einstein's masterpiece to new audiences. This beautiful volume contains Einstein's insightful text, accompanied by important historical materials and commentary looking at the origins and development of general relativity. Hanoch Gutfreund and Jürgen Renn provide fresh, original perspectives, placing Einstein's achievements into a broader context for all readers.In this book, Gutfreund and Renn tell the rich story behind the early reception, spread, and consequences of Einstein's ideas during the formative years of general relativity in the late 1910s and 1920s. They show that relativity's meaning changed radically throughout the nascent years of its development, and they describe in detail the transformation of Einstein's work from the esoteric pursuit of one individual communicating with a handful of colleagues into the preoccupation of a growing community of physicists, astronomers, mathematicians, and philosophers.This handsome edition quotes extensively from Einstein's correspondence and reproduces historical documents such as newspaper articles and letters.

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