The Expanding Worlds of General Relativity Einstein Studies

Recent years haveseen an explosion in the number and quality of works on the history of gravitation and general relativity. This book, based on the 4th International Conference on the History of General Relativity, welcomes a number of young researchers as well as prominent, established scholars in a collection of important explorations of four themes at the forefront of work in the field. -Major themes of the volume: -New perspectives on the creative work of Minkowski, Einstein, and others based on recent manuscript sources-research that has led to new and challenging views of the development of the two relativity theories. -Detailed analyses of historical attempts to expand general relativity beyond its classical centers of interest, exploring impassioned debates over what the theory really had to say in areas such as radiation and singularities. -Current research on the history of cosmology from Newtonian theories to Weyl's cosmological principle to the steady-state debate. -A concluding section which examines the conceptual debates centered around the perceived limits of general relativity that have sparked a number of attempts to refute or transcend the theory. -Historians and philosophers of science as well as working relativists and cosmologists, mathematicians, physicists, and general readers interested in the field will profit from this collection of up-to-date contributions to a fascinating and intriguing topic in the history of science.

The volume presents a broad and accurate status report of a most lively and expanding field of historical and philosophical research.