Relativity - The Special and General Theory

Relativity - The Special and General
Theory

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Relativity: The Special and General Theory
by Albert Einstein (#1 in our series by Albert Einstein)
Note: 58 image files are part of this eBook. They include tables, equations and figures
that could not be represented well as plain text.
Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the copyright laws for
your country before downloading or redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg
eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project Gutenberg file.
Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the eBook and Project
Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is important information about your
specific rights and restrictions in how the file may be used. You can also find out about
how to make a donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
Title: Relativity: The Special and General Theory
Author: Albert Einstein
Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5001] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of
schedule] [This file was first posted on April 1, 2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, RELATIVITY ***

ALBERT EINSTEIN REFERENCE ARCHIVE
RELATIVITY: THE SPECIAL AND GENERAL THEORY
BY ALBERT EINSTEIN
Written: 1916 (this revised edition: 1924) Source: Relativity: The Special and General
Theory (1920) Publisher: Methuen & Co Ltd First Published: December, 1916 Translated:
Robert W. Lawson (Authorised translation) Transcription/Markup: Brian Basgen
Transcription to text: Gregory B. Newby
Copyleft: Einstein Reference Archive (marxists.org) 1999,
2002. Permission is granted to copy and/or distribute this document under the terms of
the GNU Free Documentation License (end of this file) The Einstein Reference Archive
is online at: http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/einstein/index.htm
Transcriber note: This file is a plain text rendition of HTML. Because many equations
cannot be presented effectively in plain text, images are supplied for many equations and
for all figures and tables.
CONTENTS
Preface

Part I: The Special Theory of Relativity
01. Physical Meaning of Geometrical Propositions 02. The System of Co-ordinates 03.
Space and Time in Classical Mechanics 04. The Galileian System of Co-ordinates 05.
The Principle of Relativity (in the Restricted Sense) 06. The Theorem of the Addition of
Velocities employed in Classical Mechanics 07. The Apparent Incompatability of the
Law of Propagation of Light with the Principle of Relativity 08. On the Idea of Time in
Physics 09. The Relativity of Simultaneity 10. On the Relativity of the Conception of
Distance 11. The Lorentz Transformation 12. The Behaviour of Measuring-Rods and
Clocks in Motion 13. Theorem of the Addition of Velocities. The Experiment of Fizeau
14. The Hueristic Value of the Theory of Relativity 15. General Results of the Theory 16.
Expereince and the Special Theory of Relativity 17. Minkowski's Four-dimensial Space

Part II: The General Theory of Relativity

18. Special and General Principle of Relativity 19. The Gravitational Field 20. The
Equality of Inertial and Gravitational Mass as an Argument for the General Postulate of
Relativity 21. In What Respects are the Foundations of Classical Mechanics and of the
Special Theory of Relativity Unsatisfactory? 22. A Few Inferences from the General
Principle of Relativity 23. Behaviour of Clocks and Measuring-Rods on a Rotating Body
of Reference 24. Euclidean and non-Euclidean Continuum 25. Gaussian Co-ordinates 26.
The Space-Time Continuum of the Speical Theory of Relativity Considered as a
Euclidean Continuum 27. The Space-Time Continuum of the General Theory of
Relativity is Not a Eculidean Continuum 28. Exact Formulation of the General Principle
of Relativity 29. The Solution of the Problem of Gravitation on the Basis of the General
Principle of Relativity

Part III: Considerations on the Universe as a Whole
30. Cosmological Difficulties of Netwon's Theory 31. The Possibility of a "Finite" and
yet "Unbounded" Universe 32. The Structure of Space According to the General Theory
of Relativity
Appendices:
01. Simple Derivation of the Lorentz Transformation (sup. ch. 11) 02. Minkowski's
Four-Dimensional Space ("World") (sup. ch 17) 03. The Experimental Confirmation of
the General Theory of Relativity 04. The Structure of Space According to the General
Theory of Relativity (sup. ch 32) 05. Relativity and the Problem of Space
Note: The fifth Appendix was added by Einstein at the time of the fifteenth re-printing of
this book; and as a result is still under copyright restrictions so cannot be added without
the permission of the publisher.

PREFACE
(December, 1916)
The present book is intended, as far as possible, to give an exact insight into the theory of
Relativity to those readers