Abstract
The theories of special and general relativity are two triumphs of twentieth century thought. It is remarkable that both are attributable to Albert Einstein (1879–1955). Popular culture considers an understanding of relativity to be beyond the ability of most people. Certainly gaining a deep enough understanding of relativity to perform calculations and make predictions is a very difficult undertaking. On the other hand, the principles underlying relativity (which arise from physics, but are explained in terms of mathematics) are straightforward, and one can hope to understand those principles and to appreciate their consequences. In this chapter, we concentrate our attention on special relativity.
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Notes
- 1.
The speed of light is roughly 600 million miles per hour. Physicists denote the speed of light with the letter c.
- 2.
Maxwell’s laws are named in honor of James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879).
- 3.
“Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper,” Annalen der Physik 17 (1905), 891–921.
References and Further Reading
Bowler, M.G.: Lectures on Special Relativity. Pergamon Press, Oxford (1986)
Carroll, S.M.: Space-Time and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity. Addison-Wesley, San Francisco (2004)
Hawking, S.W.: A Brief History of Time. Bantam Books, New York (1996)
Mermin, N.D.: It’s About Time: Understanding Einstein’s Relativity. Princeton University Press, Princeton (2005)
Taylor, E.F., Wheeler, J.A.: Spacetime Physics, 2nd edn. W. H. Freeman, New York (1992)
Will, C.M.: Was Einstein Right? Putting General Relativity to the Test. Basic Books, New York (1993)
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Krantz, S.G., Parks, H.R. (2014). Special Relativity. In: A Mathematical Odyssey. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8939-9_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8939-9_7
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