Download or read book The Renaissance of General Relativity in Context written by Alexander S. Blum and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-11-12 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This contributed volume explores the renaissance of general relativity after World War II, when it transformed from a marginal theory into a cornerstone of modern physics. Chapters explore key historical processes related to the theory of general relativity, in addition to presenting a thorough treatment of the relevant science behind these episodes. A broad historiographical framework is introduced first, thus providing the broad context in which the given computational approaches and case studies occurred. Written by an international and interdisciplinary group of expert authors, these chapters will bring readers to a more complete understanding of Einstein’s theory. Specific topics include: Social and citation networks The Fock-Infeld dispute Wheeler’s turn to gravitation theory The position of general relativity in theories of fundamental interactions The pursuit of a quantum theory of gravity The emergence of dark matter in relation to cosmological models Institutional frameworks for gravitational wave search in Europe The Renaissance of General Relativity in Context is ideal for historians, philosophers, and sociologists of science. Students and researchers in physics will also be interested in the topics explored.
Download or read book Foundations of General Relativity written by Klaas Landsman and published by Radboud University Press. This book was released on 2021-10-08 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book, dedicated to Roger Penrose, is a second, mathematically oriented course in general relativity. It contains extensive references and occasional excursions in the history and philosophy of gravity, including a relatively lengthy historical introduction. The book is intended for all students of general relativity of any age and orientation who have a background including at least first courses in special and general relativity, differential geometry, and topology. The material is developed in such a way that through the last two chapters the reader may acquire a taste of the modern mathematical study of black holes initiated by Penrose, Hawking, and others, as further influenced by the initial-value or PDE approach to general relativity. Successful readers might be able to begin reading research papers on black holes, especially in mathematical physics and in the philosophy of physics. The chapters are: Historical introduction, General differential geometry, Metric differential geometry, Curvature, Geodesics and causal structure, The singularity theorems of Hawking and Penrose, The Einstein equations, The 3+1 split of space-time, Black holes I: Exact solutions, and Black holes II: General theory. These are followed by two appendices containing background on Lie groups, Lie algebras, & constant curvature, and on Formal PDE theory.
Download or read book Thinking About Space and Time written by Claus Beisbart and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-09-25 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume offers an integrated understanding of how the theory of general relativity gained momentum after Einstein had formulated it in 1915. Chapters focus on the early reception of the theory in physics and philosophy and on the systematic questions that emerged shortly after Einstein's momentous discovery. They are written by physicists, historians of science, and philosophers, and were originally presented at the conference titled Thinking About Space and Time: 100 Years of Applying and Interpreting General Relativity, held at the University of Bern from September 12-14, 2017. By establishing the historical context first, and then moving into more philosophical chapters, this volume will provide readers with a more complete understanding of early applications of general relativity (e.g., to cosmology) and of related philosophical issues. Because the chapters are often cross-disciplinary, they cover a wide variety of topics related to the general theory of relativity. These include: Heuristics used in the discovery of general relativity Mach's Principle The structure of Einstein's theory Cosmology and the Einstein world Stability of cosmological models The metaphysical nature of spacetime The relationship between spacetime and dynamics The Geodesic Principle Symmetries Thinking About Space and Time will be a valuable resource for historians of science and philosophers who seek a deeper knowledge of the (early and later) uses of general relativity, as well as for physicists and mathematicians interested in exploring the wider historical and philosophical context of Einstein's theory.
Download or read book New Challenges and Opportunities in Physics Education written by Marilena Streit-Bianchi and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-12-01 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is invaluable for teachers and students in high school and junior college who struggle to understand the principles of modern physics and incorporate scientific methods in their lessons. It provides interactive and multidisciplinary approaches that will help prepare present and future generations to face the technological and social challenges they will face. Rather than using a unidirectional didactic approach, the authors - scientists, philosophers, communication experts, science historians and science education innovators - divide the book into two parts; the first part, “Communicating Contemporary Physics”, examines how new physics developments affect modern culture, while the second part, “Digital Challenges for Physics Learning”, covers physics education research using ICT, plus the experiences of classroom teachers and a range of ideas and projects to innovate physics and STEM teaching.
Download or read book Astrophysics Astronomy and Space Sciences in the History of the Max Planck Society written by Luisa Bonolis and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2022-12-05 with total page 744 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides the first comprehensive historical account of the evolution of scientific traditions in astronomy, astrophysics, and the space sciences within the Max Planck Society. Structured with in-depth archival research, interviews with protagonists, unpublished photographs, and an extensive bibliography, it follows a unique history: from the post-war relaunch of physical sciences in West Germany, to the spectacular developments and successes of cosmic sciences in the second half of the 20th century, up to the emergence of multi-messenger astronomy. It reveals how the Society acquired national and international acclaim in becoming one of the world’s most productive research organizations in these fields.
Download or read book The Foundations of Spacetime Physics written by Antonio Vassallo and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-09-30 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides an up-to-date overview of the foundations of spacetime physics. It features original essays written by world-class experts in the physics and philosophy of spacetime. The foundational questions regarding the origin and nature of spacetime are branching into new and exciting directions. These questions are not restricted to the quantum gravity program but also arise in the context of a well-established theory like general relativity. Against the background of these quick and diverse developments, this volume features a broad range of perspectives on spacetime. Part I focuses on the nature of spacetime in non-quantum theories, such as Newtonian mechanics and relativity. Part II explores some intriguing conceptual implications of developing a quantum theory of spacetime. The Foundations of Spacetime Physics is an essential resource for scholars and advanced students working in philosophy of physics, philosophy of science, and scientific metaphysics.
Download or read book The Einsteinian Revolution written by Jürgen Renn and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2023-12-05 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How the Einsteinian revolution can be understood as the result of a long-term evolution of science The revolution that emerged from Albert Einstein’s work in the early twentieth century transformed our understanding of space, time, motion, gravity, matter, and radiation. Beginning with Einstein’s miracle year of 1905 and continuing through his development of the theory of general relativity, Einstein spurred a revolution that continues to reverberate in modern-day physics. In The Einsteinian Revolution, Hanoch Gutfreund and Jürgen Renn trace the century-long transformation of classical physics and argue that the revolution begun by Einstein was in fact the result of a long-term evolution. Describing the origins and context of Einstein’s innovative research, Gutfreund and Renn work to dispel the popular myth of Einstein as a lone genius who brought about a revolution in physics through the power of his own pure thought. We can only understand the birth of modern physics, they say, if we understand the long history of the evolution of knowledge. Gutfreund and Renn outline the essential structures of the knowledge system of classical physics on which Einstein drew. Examining Einstein’s discoveries from 1905 onward, they describe the process by which new concepts arose and the basis of modern physics emerged. These transformations continued, eventually resulting in the establishment of quantum physics and general relativity as the two major conceptual frameworks of modern physics—and its two unreconciled theoretical approaches. Gutfreund and Renn note that Einstein was dissatisfied with this conceptual dichotomy and began a search for a unified understanding of physics—a quest that continued for the rest of his life.
Download or read book Rethinking the Concept of Law of Nature written by Yemima Ben-Menahem and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-06-13 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book subjects the traditional concept of law of nature to critical examination. There are two kinds of reasons that invite this reexamination, one deriving from philosophical concerns over the traditional concept, the other motivated by theoretical and practical changes in science. One of the philosophical worries is that the idiom of law of nature, especially when combined with the notion of laws 'governing' individual events and processes, is no longer as intelligible as it used to be in the theistic context in which the formulation of laws became central to science. The traditional concept is also challenged in various ways by contemporary scientific theories such as quantum mechanics, chaos theory and the general theory of relativity. It is no longer clear that there are any universal laws, laws do not always guarantee predictability, and the border between physical and mathematical considerations is constantly shifting. The most difficult challenge, perhaps, is to come up with a scientific explanation of the origin of laws. Wrestling with these intriguing problems, the papers in this volume broaden both our understanding of the natural order and our desiderata of scientific explanation.
Download or read book History of Intellectual Culture 3 2024 written by Charlotte A Lerg and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2024-10-21 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The third issue of the yearbook History of Intellectual Culture (HIC) devotes a thematic section to experimental spaces for knowledge production. The articles in this section investigate the role of experimental environments as sites for knowledge production during the long nineteenth century, thereby extending the scope beyond the confines of traditional academic institutions such as academies, laboratories, and universities. By focusing on intentional communities, colonial gardens, agricultural colonies, and artistic colonies as experimental spaces, the authors investigate the intertwined social, natural, and aesthetic aspects of environments. An overarching aim is to develop a distinct perspective rooted in the history of knowledge, wherein experiments are conceptualized both as a category employed by the historical actors and as a methodological concept. In addition, the third issue comprises several individual papers covering a wide range of topics, stretching from the U.S. patent system in the 1930s and anti-intellectualism in interwar Britain to the cultural translation of knowledge in the wake of the Holocaust and the circulation of economic knowledge in postwar Sweden. The issue also contains several theoretical, historiographical, and methodological interventions and reflections, including a conversation on decolonizing knowledge in academia and beyond.
Download or read book Building the General Relativity and Gravitation Community During the Cold War written by Roberto Lalli and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-08-21 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This monograph presents a new perspective on the history of general relativity. It outlines the attempts to establish an institutional framework for the promotion of the field during the Cold War. Readers will learn the difficulties that key figures experienced and overcame during this period of global conflict. The author analyzes the subtle interconnections between scientific and political factors. He shows how politics shaped the evolution of general relativity, even though it is a field with no military applications. He also details how different scientists held quite different views about what “political” meant in their efforts to pursue international cooperation. The narrative examines the specific epistemic features of general relativity that helped create the first official, international scientific society. It answers: Why did relativity bring about this unique result? Was it simply the product of specific actions of particular actors having an illuminated view of international relations in the specific context of the Cold War? Or, was there something in the nature of the field that inspired the actors to pioneer new ways of international cooperation? The book will be of interest to historians of modern science, historians of international relations, and historians of institutions. It will also appeal to physicists and interested general readers.
Download or read book Mass and Motion in General Relativity written by Luc Blanchet and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-01-19 with total page 634 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the infinitesimal scale of particle physics to the cosmic scale of the universe, research is concerned with the nature of mass. While there have been spectacular advances in physics during the past century, mass still remains a mysterious entity at the forefront of current research. Our current perspective on gravitation has arisen over millennia, through the contemplation of falling apples, lift thought experiments and notions of stars spiraling into black holes. In this volume, the world’s leading scientists offer a multifaceted approach to mass by giving a concise and introductory presentation based on insights from their respective fields of research on gravity. The main theme is mass and its motion within general relativity and other theories of gravity, particularly for compact bodies. Within this framework, all articles are tied together coherently, covering post-Newtonian and related methods as well as the self-force approach to the analysis of motion in curved space-time, closing with an overview of the historical development and a snapshot on the actual state of the art. All contributions reflect the fundamental role of mass in physics, from issues related to Newton’s laws, to the effect of self-force and radiation reaction within theories of gravitation, to the role of the Higgs boson in modern physics. High-precision measurements are described in detail, modified theories of gravity reproducing experimental data are investigated as alternatives to dark matter, and the fundamental problem of reconciling any theory of gravity with the physics of quantum fields is addressed. Auxiliary chapters set the framework for theoretical contributions within the broader context of experimental physics. The book is based upon the lectures of the CNRS School on Mass held in Orléans, France, in June 2008. All contributions have been anonymously refereed and, with the cooperation of the authors, revised by the editors to ensure overall consistency.
Download or read book The Formative Years of Relativity written by Hanoch Gutfreund and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2017-09-08 with total page 431 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1922 and based on lectures delivered in May 1921, Albert Einstein’s The Meaning of Relativity offered an overview and explanation of the then new and controversial theory of relativity. The work would go on to become a monumental classic, printed in numerous editions and translations worldwide. Now, The Formative Years of Relativity introduces Einstein’s masterpiece to new audiences. This beautiful volume contains Einstein’s insightful text, accompanied by important historical materials and commentary looking at the origins and development of general relativity. Hanoch Gutfreund and Jürgen Renn provide fresh, original perspectives, placing Einstein’s achievements into a broader context for all readers. In this book, Gutfreund and Renn tell the rich story behind the early reception, spread, and consequences of Einstein’s ideas during the formative years of general relativity in the late 1910s and 1920s. They show that relativity’s meaning changed radically throughout the nascent years of its development, and they describe in detail the transformation of Einstein’s work from the esoteric pursuit of one individual communicating with a handful of colleagues into the preoccupation of a growing community of physicists, astronomers, mathematicians, and philosophers. This handsome edition quotes extensively from Einstein’s correspondence and reproduces historical documents such as newspaper articles and letters. Inserts are featured in the main text giving concise explanations of basic concepts, and short biographical notes and photographs of some of Einstein’s contemporaries are included. The first-ever English translations of two of Einstein’s popular Princeton lectures are featured at the book’s end.
Download or read book Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation written by George Musser and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2023-11-07 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “This is a delightful account of one of the deepest and most fascinating explorations going on today at the frontier of our knowledge.” —Carlo Rovelli, bestselling author of The Order of Time and Seven Brief Lessons on Physics “Musser knows that the point of popular science is [. . .] to get a sense of what’s at stake, what kinds of answers are being offered to difficult questions, and why it all matters. One could not ask more of Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation—on all three counts it delivers.” —Julian Baggini, The Wall Street Journal A revelatory exploration of how a “theory of everything” depends upon our understanding of the human mind. The whole goal of physics is to explain what we observe. For centuries, physicists believed that observations yielded faithful representations of what is out there. But when they began to study the subatomic realm, they found that observation often interferes with what is being observed—that the act of seeing changes what we see. The same is true of cosmology: our view of the universe is inevitably distorted by observation bias. And so whether they’re studying subatomic particles or galaxies, physicists must first explain consciousness—and for that they must turn to neuroscientists and philosophers of mind. Neuroscientists have painstakingly built up an understanding of the structure of the brain. Could this help physicists understand the levels of self-organization they observe in other systems? These same physicists, meanwhile, are trying to explain how particles organize themselves into the objects around us. Could their discoveries help explain how neurons produce our conscious experience? Exploring these questions and more, George Musser tackles the extraordinary interconnections between quantum mechanics, cosmology, human consciousness, and artificial intelligence. Combining vivid descriptive writing with portraits of scientists working on the cutting edge, Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation shows how theories of everything depend on theories of mind—and how they might be one and the same.
Download or read book History of Intellectual Culture 3 2024 written by Charlotte A. Lerg, Johan Östling, Jana Weiß, Anne Kwaschik, Claudia Roesch and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2024-06-14 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Universal Aspects of Scientific Practice Commitment Methodology and Technique written by Giora Hon and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-12-06 with total page 111 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a unique contribution to philosophy of science from the perspective of the practice of science. It focuses on processes that generate scientific knowledge and seeks general and universal features that characterize scientific practice; features that are inherent to the practice of science. Science is an activity, and the scientist is an agent who pursues some practice, which in one way or another engages evidence. In science, claims to knowledge are typically supported by argument that engages evidence at some point in explanation, in prediction, or indeed in any mode of presenting data and its interpretation. Thus, the practice of science includes at least three elements so that an argument can be formulated: presuppositions, modes of inference, and consequences that relate to evidence. The authors discuss in detail eight cases in chronological order with which they illustrate how commitment, methodology, and technique come into play in the practice of an individual physicist or a group of researchers in the physical sciences. Each case highlights aspects of the roles these categories play in scientific practice, where the goal is to generate and extend scientific knowledge.
Download or read book The Evolution of Knowledge written by Jürgen Renn and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2022-05-03 with total page 584 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fundamentally new approach to the history of science and technology This book presents a new way of thinking about the history of science and technology, one that offers a grand narrative of human history in which knowledge serves as a critical factor of cultural evolution. Jürgen Renn examines the role of knowledge in global transformations going back to the dawn of civilization while providing vital perspectives on the complex challenges confronting us today in the Anthropocene—this new geological epoch shaped by humankind. Renn reframes the history of science and technology within a much broader history of knowledge, analyzing key episodes such as the evolution of writing, the emergence of science in the ancient world, the Scientific Revolution of early modernity, the globalization of knowledge, industrialization, and the profound transformations wrought by modern science. He investigates the evolution of knowledge using an array of disciplines and methods, from cognitive science and experimental psychology to earth science and evolutionary biology. The result is an entirely new framework for understanding structural changes in systems of knowledge—and a bold new approach to the history and philosophy of science. Written by one of today's preeminent historians of science, The Evolution of Knowledge features discussions of historiographical themes, a glossary of key terms, and practical insights on global issues ranging from climate change to digital capitalism. This incisive book also serves as an invaluable introduction to the history of knowledge.
Download or read book The Theoretical Significance of Experimental Relativity written by Robert Henry Dicke and published by . This book was released on 1965 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
