Relativity for all
An apology is needed for the production of a popular work on Relativity after Einstein himself has undertaken such a task. As a matter of fact, our purpose here is somewhat different from Einstein's. This little book is written, not so much for those who wish to under- stand a physical theory from the point of view of a physicist, as for the large body of intelligent men and women who look on physics as one of many avenues into the secret of the Universe and wish to know its windings in their relation to the larger field of human inquiry.
The dominant aim throughout the book has been to make the ideas definite and intelligible to the ordinary mind. All other considerations are strict philosophical phraseology, literary graces, and conventional forms of presentation; everything, in fact, truly has been subordinated to this end. Between the Charybdis of inaccuracy and the Scylla of abstruseness, the course is narrow and the sea is rough.
The vessel will hardly escape buffering from either side. It is hoped, nevertheless, that in the present voyage a passage will be made without fatal mishap. Those who wish to pursue the subject more deeply, from either the philosophical or the scientific standpoint, are recommended to the works of Professor A. N. Whitehead, F.R.S.
The author is glad to acknowledge his deep indebtedness to Professor Whitehead for invaluable help and unwearying kindness in unveiling the mysteries of a difficult subject.
Contents:
PART I
THE FOUNDATIONS OF SCIENCE
THE FOUNDATIONS OF SCIENCE
I. How THE THEORY AROSE . . i
II. SPACE, TIME, AND MATTER . . .10
III. THE " FOUR-DIMENSIONAL CONTINUUM". 22
IV. THE VELOCITY OF LIGHT . . .32
PART II
THE LAWS OF NATURE
V. WHAT is A NATURAL LAW?. . . 39
V. WHAT is A NATURAL LAW?. . . 39
VI. THE WORK OF NEWTON . . .45
VII. RELATIVITY AND THE MOVEMENTS OF
BODIES . . . . .53
VIII. SOME PROBLEMS OF RELATIVITY . . 63
INDEX . . . . .71
INDEX . . . . .71