- Title Pages
- Frontispiece
- Epigraph
- Foreword
- Preface
-
1 Introduction -
2 Einstein’s First Trip to America -
3 Structure and Contents of the Meaning of Relativity -
1 Physics and Geometry -
2 The Principles of General Relativity -
3 The First Solutions and the Challenge of Their Interpretation -
4 Einstein and the Astronomers -
5 The Genesis of Relativistic Cosmology -
6 The Controversy over Gravitational Waves -
7 Philosophical Debates on General Relativity -
8 The Quest for a Unified Field Theory -
9 Early Monographs on Relativity -
10 Beyond the Formative Years - 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 -
Appendix II Generalization of Gravitation Theory -
Appendix II Relativistic Theory of the Non-symmetric Field -
1 Introductory Remarks -
2 Einstein’s Lectures - Biographical Notes
- Index
The Principles of General Relativity
The Principles of General Relativity
- Chapter:
- (p.34) 2 The Principles of General Relativity
- Source:
- The Formative Years of Relativity
- Author(s):
Hanoch Gutfreund
Jürgen Renn
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
This chapter considers what the theory actually achieved and specifically reexamines the meaning of the relativity principle. The question of its meaning was raised by critical observers whose comments led to a partial reinterpretation of general relativity. The German physicist Erich J. Kretschmann argued that the principle of general covariance has no physical content and only constitutes a mathematical requirement. This contention generated an exchange of letters in which Einstein conceded Kretschmann's criticism, but Einstein does not mention Kretschmann's remarks explicitly in his book. The chapter discusses these developments and correlates them with his correspondence with colleagues and with other texts he published during the formative years.
Keywords: formative years, relativity principle, general relativity, Erich J. Kretschmann, reinterpretations, general covariance, Albert Einstein
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- Title Pages
- Frontispiece
- Epigraph
- Foreword
- Preface
-
1 Introduction -
2 Einstein’s First Trip to America -
3 Structure and Contents of the Meaning of Relativity -
1 Physics and Geometry -
2 The Principles of General Relativity -
3 The First Solutions and the Challenge of Their Interpretation -
4 Einstein and the Astronomers -
5 The Genesis of Relativistic Cosmology -
6 The Controversy over Gravitational Waves -
7 Philosophical Debates on General Relativity -
8 The Quest for a Unified Field Theory -
9 Early Monographs on Relativity -
10 Beyond the Formative Years - 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 -
Appendix II Generalization of Gravitation Theory -
Appendix II Relativistic Theory of the Non-symmetric Field -
1 Introductory Remarks -
2 Einstein’s Lectures - Biographical Notes
- Index
