Einstein's Jury

The Race to Test Relativity

Jeffrey Crelinsten

428 pages, parution le 18/07/2006

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Résumé

Einstein's Jury is the dramatic story of how astronomers in Germany, England, and America competed to test Einstein's developing theory of relativity. Weaving a rich narrative based on extensive archival research,Jeffrey Crelinsten shows how these early scientific debates shaped cultural attitudes we hold today.

The book examines Einstein's theory of general relativity through the eyes of astronomers, many of whom were not convinced of the legitimacy of Einstein's startling breakthrough. These were individuals with international reputations to uphold and benefactors and shareholders to please, yet few of them understood the new theory coming from the pen of Germany's up-and-coming theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein. Some tried to test his theory early in its development but got no results. Others--through toil and hardship, great expense, and perseverance--concluded that it was wrong.

A tale of international competition and intrigue, Einstein's Jury brims with detail gleaned from Crelinsten's far-reaching inquiry into the history and development of relativity. Crelinsten concludes that the well-known British eclipse expedition of 1919 that made Einstein famous had less to do with the scientific acceptance of his theory than with his burgeoning public fame. It was not until the 1920s, when the center of gravity of astronomy and physics shifted from Europe to America, that the work of prestigious American observatories legitimized Einstein's work. As Crelinsten so expertly shows, the glow that now surrounds the famous scientist had its beginnings in these early debates among professional scientists working in the glare of the public spotlight.

Sommaire

1905-1911 : early encounters with relativity
- Einstein and the world community of physicists and astronomers
- Astronomers and special relativity : the first publications
1911-1919 : astronomers encounter Einstein
- The early involvement, 1911-1914
- The war period, 1914-1918
- 1919 : a year of dramatic announcement
- Men of science agog
1920-1925 : astronomers put Einstein to the test
- Tackling the solar redshift problem
- More eclipse testing
- Emergence of the critics
- The debate intensifies
1925-1930 : final acceptance
- Relativity triumphs
- Silencing the critics
- Epilogue : the emergence of relativistic cosmology

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Caractéristiques techniques

	PAPIER
Éditeur(s)	Princeton University Press
Auteur(s)	Jeffrey Crelinsten
Parution	18/07/2006
Nb. de pages	428
Format	16 x 24
Couverture	Relié
Poids	760g
Intérieur	Noir et Blanc
EAN13	9780691123103
ISBN13	978-0-691-12310-3