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Relativity: The Special and General Theory

Albert Einstein

Robert W. Lawson (1920)

Albert Einstein's Relativity: The Special and General Theory (1916; Robert W. Lawson's English translation, 1920) is Einstein's own popular exposition of the two theories that overturned classical physics. Written 'for those readers who, from a general scientific and philosophical point of view, are interested in the theory, but who are not conversant with the mathematical apparatus,' it explains the special theory's union of space and time and the relativity of simultaneity, then the general theory's account of gravitation as the curvature of spacetime, closing with reflections on the structure of the universe as a whole.

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Contents

  1. Preface
  2. Part I: The Special Theory of Relativity
    1. I. Physical Meaning of Geometrical Propositions
    2. II. The System of Co-Ordinates
    3. III. Space and Time in Classical Mechanics
    4. IV. The Galileian System of Co-Ordinates
    5. V. The Principle of Relativity
    6. VI. The Theorem of the Addition of Velocities Employed in Classical Mechanics
    7. VII. The Apparent Incompatibility of the Law of Propagation of Light with the Principle of Relativity
    8. VIII. On the Idea of Time in Physics
    9. IX. The Relativity of Simultaneity
    10. X. On the Relativity of the Conception of Distance
    11. XI. The Lorentz Transformation
    12. XII. The Behaviour of Measuring-Rods and Clocks in Motion
    13. XIII. Theorem of the Addition of Velocities. the Experiment of Fizeau
    14. XIV. The Heuristic Value of the Theory of Relativity
    15. XV. General Results of the Theory
    16. XVI. Experience and the Special Theory of Relativity
    17. XVII. Minkowski's Four-Dimensional Space
  3. Part II: The General Theory of Relativity
    1. XVIII. Special and General Principle of Relativity
    2. XIX. The Gravitational Field
    3. XX. The Equality of Inertial and Gravitational Mass as an Argument for the General Postulate of Relativity
    4. XXI. In What Respects are the Foundations of Classical Mechanics and of the Special Theory of Relativity Unsatisfactory?
    5. XXII. A Few Inferences from the General Principle of Relativity
    6. XXIII. Behaviour of Clocks and Measuring-Rods on a Rotating Body of Reference
    7. XXIV. Euclidean and Non-Euclidean Continuum
    8. XXV. Gaussian Co-Ordinates
    9. XXVI. The Space-Time Continuum of the Special Theory of Relativity Considered as a Euclidean Continuum
    10. XXVII. The Space-Time Continuum of the General Theory of Relativity is not a Euclidean Continuum
    11. XXVIII. Exact Formulation of the General Principle of Relativity
    12. XXIX. The Solution of the Problem of Gravitation on the Basis of the General Principle of Relativity
  4. Part III: Considerations on the Universe as a Whole
    1. XXX. Cosmological Difficulties of Newton's Theory
    2. XXXI. The Possibility of a Finite and yet Unbounded Universe
    3. XXXII. The Structure of Space According to the General Theory of Relativity
  5. Appendix I: Simple Derivation of the Lorentz Transformation
  6. Appendix II: Minkowski's Four-Dimensional Space (World)
  7. Appendix III: The Experimental Confirmation of the General Theory of Relativity
  8. Bibliography