Four Lectures on Relativity and Space, Charles Proteus Steinmetz
Title: Four Lectures on Relativity and Space
Condition: GOOD
Author/s: Charles Proteus Steinmetz
Edition/Year: 1967
Publisher: Dover
Pages: 142
Format: Paperback
About the Book:
The development of the theory of relativity by Einstein and his collaborators remains one of the truly revolutionary achievements of our age. not only did it institute a new era in physics, but it also reached beyond science to the realm of philosophy by profoundly altering our conceptions of time and space, of the nature of the universe and the laws which govern it.
In this excellent exposition, Charles Steinmetz (1865-1923) , one of America’s great electrical geniuses, successfully translated the complex mathematical reasoning at the heart of the theory into language that even the layman can follow. Using analogies, examples, and comparisons as substitutes for intricate formulas and experiments, he has produced a carefully written scientifically accurate statement of the theory and its fascinating conclusions and deductions which involves only elementary mathematics.
The book’s four lectures survey both the general and special theories of relativity, along with some of the implications. Among the topics covered are acceleration and the law of gravitation, mass and energy, the orbit of the beam of light, the finite volume of three-dimensional space, time effects, and the conception of mathematical space. The fourth lecture is unique in that it provides a full descriptive survey of non-Euclidean geometry. Though a knowledge of this subject is often pre-supposed in books on relativity, it is seldom discussed in such detail. Through its general description of important ideas, this book will give beginning physics students, engineers, and intelligent laymen a good understanding of the nature of the relativity theory and its ramification for modern thought.
Unabridged replication of original 1923 edition.
