The Principle of Relativity (Classic Reprint): With Applications to Physical Science - Couverture souple

Whitehead, Alfred North

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1440073929 ISBN 13 : 9781440073922

Editeur : Forgotten Books, 2018

Synopsis

Excerpt from The Principle of Relativity

The book is divided into three parts. Part I is con cerned with general principles and may roughly be described as mainly philosophical in character. Part II is devoted to the physical applications and deals with the particular results deducible from the formulae assumed for the gravitational and electromagnetic fields. In relation to the spectral lines these formulae would require a 'limb effect' and a duplication or a triplication of indi vidual lines, analogous to phenomena already observed. Part III is an exposition of the elementary theory of tensors. This Part has been added for one reason because it may be useful to many mathematicians who may be puzzled by some of the formulae and procedures of Part II. But this Part is also required by another reason. The theory of tensors is usually expounded under the guise of geometrical metaphors which entirely mask the type of application which I give to it in this work. For example, the whole idea of any 'fundamental tensor' is foreign to my purpose and impedes the comprehension of my applications. The order in which the parts should be studied will depend upon the psychology of the reader. I have placed them in the order natural to my own mind, namely, general principles, particular applications, and finally the general exposition of the mathematical theory of which special examples have occurred in the discussion of the applications. But a physicist may prefer to start with Part II, referring back to a few formulae which have been mentioned at the end of Part I, and a mathematician may start with Part III. The whole evidence requires a consideration of the three Parts.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

It takes its rise from that awakening from dogmatic slumber to use Kant sphrase which we owe toE instein and Minkowski. But it is not an attempt to expound either Einstein searlier or his later theory. The metrical formulae finally arrived at are those of the earlier theory, but the meanings ascribed to the algebraic symbols are entirely different. As the result of a consideration of the character of our knowledge in general, and of our knowledge of nature in particular, undertaken in Part I of this book and in my two previous works on this subject, I deduce that our experience requires and exhibits a basis of uniformity, and that in the case of nature this basis exhibits itself as the uniformity of spatio-temporal relations. This conclusion entirely cuts away the casual heterogeneity of these relations which is the essential of Einstein slater theory. It is this uniformity which is essential to my outlook, and not theE uclidean geometry which I adopt as lending itself to the simplest exposition of the facts of nature. I should be very willing to believe that each permanent space is either uniformly elliptic or uniformly hyperbolic, if any observations are more simply explained by such a hypothesis. It is inherent in my theory to maintain the old division between physics and geometry. Physics is the The Principles of Natural Knowledge and The Concept of Nature, both Cambridge Univ. Press.
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)

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Présentation de l'éditeur

Excerpt from The Principle of Relativity: With Applications to Physical Science

The present work is an exposition of an alternative rendering of the theory of relativity. It takes its rise from that 'awakening from dogmatic slumber' - to use Kant's phrase - which we owe to Einstein and Minkowski. But it is not an attempt to expound either Einstein's earlier or his later theory. The metrical formulae finally arrived at are those of the earlier theory, but the meanings ascribed to the algebraic symbols are entirely different. As the result of a consideration of the character of our knowledge in general, and of our knowledge of nature in particular, undertaken in Part I of this book and in my two previous works on this subject, I deduce that our experience requires and exhibits a basis of uniformity, and that in the case of nature this basis exhibits itself as the uniformity of spatio-temporal relations. This conclusion entirely cuts away the casual heterogeneity of these relations which is the essential of Einstein's later theory. It is this uniformity which is essential to my outlook, and not the Euclidean geometry which I adopt as lending itself to the simplest exposition of the facts of nature. I should be very willing to believe that each permanent space is either uniformly elliptic or uniformly hyperbolic, if any observations are more simply explained by such a hypothesis.

It is inherent in my theory to maintain the old division between physics and geometry.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Forgotten Books
• Date d'édition: 2018
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1440073929
• ISBN 13: 9781440073922
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 206
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