Einstein's generation : the origins of the relativity revolution / Richard Staley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Staley, Richard.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Physics--Social aspects--History--20th century.

Physics.

Physics--Methodology.

Materials science.

Relativity (Physics)--History.

Relativity (Physics).

History.

Physics--Social aspects.

Physical Description:

x, 494 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2008.

Summary:

Why do we celebrate Einstein's era above all other epochs in the history of physics? Much of the history of physics? Much of the history of physics at the beginning of the twentieth century has been written with a sharp focus on a few key figures and a handful of notable events. Einstein's Generation offers a distinctive new approach to the origins of modern physics by exploring both the material culture that stimulated relativity and the reaction of Einstein's colleagues to his pioneering work.

Richard Staley weaves together the diverse strands of experimental and theoretical physics, commercial instrument making, and the sociology of physics around 1900 to present the collective efforts of a group whose work helped set the stage for Einstein's revolutionary theories and the transition from classical to modern physics that followed. Collecting papers, talks, catalogues, conferences, and correspondence, Staley juxtaposes scientists' views of relativity at the time to modern accounts of its history. Einstein's Generation tells the story of a group of individuals who produced some of the most significant advances of the twentieth century and challenges our celebration of Einstein's era above all others.

"One of the ever pressing dangers for the history of science is that it becomes the history of great men and women. Therefore, any book that emphasizes the setting of a scientific change is to be welcomed and, where Einstein is concerned, is to be doubly welcomed. Staley's overall project, then, is a great one." Harry Collins, author of Rethinking Expertise

Contents:

Introduction : Einstein's generation

Albert Michelson, the velocity of light, and ether drift

Interferometers and their uses

Science on display : the World's Fair

A discipline at work : the international congress of physics

The empirical electron : space and time on a photographic plate

Relativity and electron theory, 1905-1911

On the histories of relativity

On the co-creation of classical and modern physics

The Solvay Council, 1911.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [423]-465) and index.

ISBN:

9780226770567

0226770567

9780226770574

0226770575

OCLC:

220098973

Online:

Publisher description