Theories of Gravitation in the Twilight of Classical Physics: Borderline Problems Between Mecahanics and Field Theory

This four-volume work represents the most comprehensive documentation and study of the creation of general relativity; one of the fundamental physical theories of the 20th century. It comprises key sources from Einstein and others who from the late 19th to the early 20th century contributed to this monumental development. Some of these sources are presented here in translation for the first time. Einsteinżs famous Zurich notebook, which documents the pivotal steps toward general relativity, is reproduced here for the first time and transcribed in its entirety. The volumes offer detailed commentaries and analyses of these sources that are based on a close reading of these documents supplemented by interpretations by the leading historians of relativity. All in all, the facets of this work, based on more than a decade of research, combine to constitute one of the most in-depth studies of a scientific revolution ever written. TOC:Introduction Part I: The Gravitational Force between Mechanics, Electrodynamics and Astronomy Part II: An Astronomical Road to a New Theory of Gravitation Part III: A New Law of Gravitation Enforced by Special Relativity Part IV: The Problem of Gravitation as a Challenge for the Minkowski Formalism Part V: A Field Theory of Gravitation in the Framework of Special Relativity Index