Excerpt from The Foundations of Einstein's Theory of Gravitation Eyes for all our knowledge of the universe, which extended no further than we could see. Even the invention of the telescope did not disturb this proposition, but it is otherwise with the invention of the photographic plate. It is now conceivable that a blind man, by taking photographs and ren dering their records in some way decipherable by his fingers, could investigate the universe; but still it would remain true, that all his knowledge of anything outside the earth would be derived from the use of light and would therefore be limited by its properties. On this little earth there is, indeed, a tiny corner of the universe accessible to other senses: but feeling and taste act only at those minute distances which separate particles of matter when in contact: smell ranges over, at the utmost, a mile or two; and the greatest distance which sound is ever known to have travelled (when Krakatoa exploded in i8s3) is but a few thousand miles - a mere fraction of the earth's girdle. The scale of phenomena manifested through agencies other than light is so small that we are unlikely to reach any noteworthy precision by their study. Few people who are not astronomers have spent much thought on the limitations introduced by the. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1922 edition. Excerpt: ...arises from the necessity of ascribing the same importance to gravitational phenomena as to inertial phenomena in the new process of founding mechanics--the law must therefore also contain terms which denote the gravitational state of the field from point to point; the second condition is derived from the postulate of the relativity of all motion.) A law of this kind exists in the special theory of relativity in the equation of motion of a single point, not subject to any external influence, in the form: S Jos-8 / V-dx-dy-dz + cW = 0. According to this equation, the path of a point is the "shortest" or "straightest" line (vide Note 20)--i.e. the "straight line," if the line-element ds is Euclidean. If the principle of the shortest path, which is to be followed in actual motions, be elevated in this form to a general differential law for the motion in a gravitational field too, with due regard to the principle of the relativity of all motions, the new fundamental law must run as follows: 8 Ids = SJVS+ST... + g dxt-0...(1). For only this form of the line-element remains unaltered (invariant) for arbitrary transformations of the Xj, xt, q, xt. The ten coefficients g which will in general be functions of the variables at, ... x4, must be able to be brought into such relationship to the 28 The Principle of Equivalence gravitational field, in which the motion takes place, that they are determined by the field, and that the motion described by equation (1) coincides with the observed motion. This is actually possible. (The g's are the gravitational potentials of the new theory, i.e. they take over the part played by the one gravitational potential in Newton's theory, without, however, having the special...

An annotated facsimile edition of Einstein's handwritten manuscript on the foundations of general relativity This richly annotated facsimile edition of "The Foundation of General Relativity" introduces a new generation of readers to Albert Einstein's theory of gravitation. Written in 1915, this remarkable document is a watershed in the history of physics and an enduring testament to the elegance and precision of Einstein's thought. Presented here is a beautiful facsimile of Einstein's original handwritten manuscript, along with its English translation and an insightful page-by-page commentary that places the work in historical and scientific context. Hanoch Gutfreund and Jürgen Renn's concise introduction traces Einstein's intellectual odyssey from special to general relativity, and their essay "The Charm of a Manuscript" provides a delightful meditation on the varied afterlife of Einstein's text. Featuring a foreword by John Stachel, this handsome edition also includes a biographical glossary of the figures discussed in the book, a comprehensive bibliography, suggestions for further reading, and numerous photos and illustrations throughout.

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