Directory of History Resources

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The history of relativity covers, roughly speaking, related events from the Michaelson-Morley experiment through the formulation of general relativity.

Resources in This Category

• A Note on Relativity before Einstein

  http://eprint.uq.edu.au/archive/00002307/01/larmor.pdf
  The first presentation of the Lorentz transformations, including the crucial time dilation, belongs to Larmor (c. 1897).

• Eclipse Showed Gravity Vatiation

  http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=950DE7D61138EE32A2575AC0A9679D946896D6CF
  New York Times article on the 1919 eclipse observations by two British expeditions, which confirmed the predictions of general relativity for light deflection near the sun.

• Einstein and Hilbert: The Creation of General Relativity

  http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0504179
  Discusses the correspondence between the two, their priority dispute, and their amicable resolution of it. By Ivan T. Todorov.

• Einstein's Articles in "Annalen der Physik"

  http://einstein-annalen.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/home
  Website by the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (Berlin) presenting the seminal articles on relativity and other subjects that Einstein published in the physics journal "Annalen der Physik"; also includes four introductory essays based on recent historical studies.

• Einstein, Nordström and the Early Demise of Scalar, Lorentz Covariant Theories of Gravitation

  http://www.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/papers/Nordstroem.pdf
  About the development of general relativity, Einstein's early rejection of Lorentz-covariant theories of gravity, and Nordström's attempts at formulating just such a model. By J. D. Norton (University of Pittsburgh).

• Henri Poincaré and Relativity Theory

  http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0408077
  Identifies the contributions made to the special theory of relativity by Poincaré and argues that the theory "has been created not by A. Einstein only but even to a greater extent by Poincaré." By A. A. Logunov.

• History of General Relativity

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_general_relativity
  Wikipedia article on the development of relativity. Includes sections about observational tests and alternative theories.

• History of Special Relativity

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_special_relativity
  Wikipedia article on the genesis and development of special relativity and its precursors.

• History Topic: General Relativity

  http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/General_relativity.html
  An outline of the development of the theory, including a summary of relevant earlier work (from Aristotle to Maxwell); from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (University of St. Andrews).

• History Topic: Special Relativity

  http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Special_relativity.html
  Concise summary of the history of special relativity, from Maxwell and Lorentz to Einstein; from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (University of St. Andrews).

• Lost in Einstein's Shadow

  http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/2006/2/lost-in-einsteins-shadow
  American Scientist magazine article describes the people whose work paved the way for the special theory of relativity. By Tony Rothman; also includes link to PDF version.

• Olinto De Pretto

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olinto_De_Pretto
  Wikipedia article about the Italian industrialist and claims that he published the famous formula E=mc² two years before Einstein did.

• Relativity Priority Dispute

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_priority_dispute
  Wikipedia article about the various contributors to special and general relativity, and about the contentious questions of who has priority on the different ideas and concepts involved, and in how far Einstein was influenced by his contemporaries and predecessors.

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