UNIVERSITY OBSERVATORY,
OXFORD.
November 30, 1919
CONTENTS
[INTRODUCTION. By Professor H. H. Turner, F.R.S.]
[BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE]
SECT.
1. [THE SPECIAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY AS A STEPPING-STONE TO THE GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY]
2. [TWO FUNDAMENTAL POSTULATES IN THE MATHEMATICAL FORMULATION OF PHYSICAL LAWS]
3. [CONCERNING THE FULFILMENT OF THE TWO POSTULATES]
(а) The line-element in the three-dimensional manifold of points in space, expressed in a form compatible with the two postulates
(b) The line-element in the four-dimensional manifold of space-time points, expressed in a form compatible with the two postulates
4. [THE DIFFICULTIES IN THE PRINCIPLES OF CLASSICAL MECHANICS]
5. [EINSTEIN'S THEORY OF GRAVITATION]
(a) The fundamental law of motion and the principle of equivalence of the new theory
(b) Retrospect
6. [THE VERIFICATION OF THE NEW THEORY BY ACTUAL EXPERIENCE]
[APPENDIX:]
Explanatory notes and bibliographical references
[ON THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY. By Henry L. Brose]
[SOME ASPECTS OF RELATIVITY. THE THIRD TEST. By Henry L. Brose]
[BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE]
Albert Einstein was born in March, 1879, the town Ulm, situated on the banks of the Danube in Würtemberg, Germany. He attended school at Munich, where he remained till his sixteenth year.
His university studies extended over the period 1896-1900 at Zürich, Switzerland. He became a citizen of Zürich in 1901. During the following seven years he filled the post of engineer in the Patent Office, Bern. He accepted a call to Zürich as Professor Extraordinarius in 1910, which he, however, soon resigned in favour of a permanent chair in Prague University. In 1911 he decided to accept a similar post in Zürich. Since 1914 he has continued his researches in Berlin as a member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences.
His most important achievements are:
1905. The Special Theory of Relativity.
The discovery that all forms of energy possess
inertia.
The law underlying the Brownian movement.
The Quantum-Law of the emission and absorption of light.
1907. The fundamental notions of the general theory of
relativity.
1912. The recognition of the non-Euclidean nature of
space-determination and its connection with
gravitation.