The Universe of General Relativity

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xi

   PDF

2. Fresnel’s (Dragging) Coefficient as a Challenge to 19th Century Optics of Moving Bodies

   • John Stachel

   Pages 1-13

3. Poincaré’s Relativistic Theory of Gravitation

   • Shaul Katzir

   Pages 15-37

4. Standing on the Shoulders of a Dwarf: General Relativity—A Triumph of Einstein and Grossmann’s Erroneous Entwurf Theory

   • Jürgen Renn

   Pages 39-51

5. Before the Riemann Tensor: The Emergence of Einstein’s Double Strategy

   • Jürgen Renn

   Pages 53-65

6. A Conjecture on Einstein, the Independent Reality of Spacetime Coordinate Systems and the Disaster of 1913

   • John D. Norton

   Pages 67-102

7. Einstein and the Principle of General Relativity, 1916–1921

   • Christoph Lehner

   Pages 103-108

8. Einstein and the Problem of Motion: A Small Clue

   • Daniel Kennefick

   Pages 109-124

9. A Note on General Relativity, Energy Conservation, and Noether’s Theorems

   • Katherine Brading

   Pages 125-135

10. Weyl vs. Reichenbach on Lichtgeometrie

    • Robert Rynasiewicz

    Pages 137-156

11. Dingle and de Sitter Against the Metaphysicians, or Two Ways to Keep Modern Cosmology Physical

    • George Gale

    Pages 157-174

12. George Gamow and the ‘Factual Approach’ to Relativistic Cosmology

    • Helge Kragh

    Pages 175-188

13. George McVittie, The Uncompromising Empiricist

    • José M. Sánchez-Ron

    Pages 189-221

14. False Vacuum: Early Universe Cosmology and the Development of Inflation

    • Chris Smeenk

    Pages 223-257

15. Hilbert’s “World Equations” and His Vision of a Unified Science

    • U. Majer, T. Sauer

    Pages 259-276

16. Einstein, Kaluza, and the Fifth Dimension

    • Daniela Wünsch

    Pages 277-302

17. Unified Field Theory: Early History and Interplay Between Mathematics and Physics

    • Hubert F. M. Goenner

    Pages 303-325

18. Is Quantum Gravity Necessary?

    • James Mattingly

    Pages 327-338

19. Einstein in the Daily Press: A Glimpse into the Gehrcke Papers

    • Milena Wazeck

    Pages 339-356

20. Syracuse: 1949–1952

    • Joshua Goldberg

    Pages 357-371

A century ago, in 1905, Albert Einstein published, “On the Electrodynamics of M- ing Bodies,” in which the foundations were laid for the Special Theory of Relativity. Ten years later his relativistic theory of gravitation and the General Theory of Relat- ity appeared. Fifty years ago, Einstein passed away in Princeton. In the 1980s, John Stachel, then Editor of the Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, brought together a group of historians, philosophers, physicists, and mathematicians who had one thing in common: a lively interest in the history and foundations of the theories of relativity. At a meeting in 1986 at Osgood Hill, this group met for the ?rst time to discuss the prehistory, development, reception, and other aspects of relativity. It was the beginning of a valuable tradition. Since then every three or four years a meeting has been organized during which historical and foundational issues in general (and special) relativity have been discussed. Osgood Hill was followed by Luminy in 1988. Then came Johnstown (1991), Berlin (1995), Notre Dame (1999), and ?nally Amsterdam (2002), the proceedings of which are presented in this volume (supplemented with some papers from the preceding meeting). Once again these articles clearly show that an historical approach can lead to new insights into the development and elaboration of relativity. The prehistory of special relativity and an early attempt at a relativistic theory of gravitation are covered in - pers by John Stachel and Shaul Katzir, respectively.

• Cosmology
• Gravity
• History of Mathematics
• Relativity
• Special relativity
• Universe
• axiomatization
• general relativity
• science

• Instituut voor Theoretische Fysica, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

  A. J. Kox

• Observatoire de Paris, SYRTE/UMR8630-CNRS, Paris Cedex, France

  Jean Eisenstaedt

Policies and ethics