Abstract
There are a few different interpretations of the theory of relativity in the present-day literature. The view that I will take in this monograph is the one that I believe was taken by Albert Einstein, not in his initial period, when he developed the theory of special relativity, but rather in his second stage, when a full exploitation of his original view led him to the theory of general relativity, encompassing a totally different philosophic approach to matter, replacing operationalism and positivism with ‘abstract realism’ and replacing atomism with the continuous field concept as fundamental to the nature of matter. It was this new philosophic stand that emerged in his second stage, coming very shortly after his first stage, and maintaining this view for the rest of his life, that I believe was the major revolutionary aspect of Einstein’s discovery.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Bibliography
Ideas of the Theory of Relativity (Israel Universities Press, 1974).
Ideas of Matter (University Press of America, 1981).
The Field Concept in Contemporary Science (Thomas Publishers, 1973).
‘Elementary Particle Physics from General Relativity’, Foundations of Physics 11 329 (1981).
‘Positivism, Realism and Existentialism in Mach’s Influence on Contemporary Physics’, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 30 403 (1970).
‘On the Nature of Light and the Problem of Matter’, in Contemporary Research in the Foundations and Philosophy of Quantum Theory (Reidel, 1973), edited by C. A. Hooker, p. 346.
‘Space, Time and Elementary Interactions in Relativity’, Physics Today 22 51 (1969).
‘A Resolution of the Clock Paradox’, Physics Today 23 23 (1971).
‘On the Mach Principle and Relative Space-Time’, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 23 117 (1972).
‘On the Meaning of E=mc 2’, Int. J. Theoret. Phys. 8 377 (1973).
‘On the Philosophy of General Relativity Theory and Ideas of Eastern and Western Cultures’, Science of Matter: Festschrift for Ta- You Wu (Gordon & Breach, 1978), edited by S. Fujita, p. 9.
‘Maimonides, Spinoza and the Field Concept in Physics’, Journal of the History of Ideas 37 125 (1976).
‘On the Logical Status of Equivalence Principles in General Relativity Theory’, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 27 225 (1976).
‘Le Concept de Temps en Physique et en Cosmologie’, La Recherche 9 104 (1978).
‘Une Theorie Continue de la Matière Élémentaire’, La Recherche 6 1008 (1975).
‘On Einstein’s Views of the Relativity and Quantum Theories and their Future Progress’, Part I, Annales de la Fondation Louis de Broglie 4 85 (1979);
‘On Einstein’s Views of the Relativity and Quantum Theories and their Future Progress’, Part II: Toward a Unified Field Theory, Annales de la Fondation Louis de Broglie 4 175 (1979).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1982 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sachs, M. (1982). Concepts. In: General Relativity and Matter. Fundamental Theories of Physics, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7666-6_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7666-6_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-8370-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-015-7666-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive