''The Meaning of Relativity: Four Lectures Delivered at Princeton University, May 1921'' is a book published by

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial su ...

in 1922 that compiled the 1921 Stafford Little Lectures at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, given by

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

. The lectures were translated into English by Edwin Plimpton Adams. The lectures and the subsequent book were Einstein's last attempt to provide a comprehensive overview of his

theory of relativity The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical phenomena in ...

and is his only book that provides an accessible overview of the physics and mathematics of

general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity and Einstein's theory of gravity, is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of gravitation in modern physics ...

. Einstein explained his goal in the preface of the book's German edition by stating he "wanted to summarize the principal thoughts and mathematical methods of relativity theory" and that his "principal aim was to let the fundamentals in the entire train of thought of the theory emerge clearly". Among other reviews, the lectures were the subject of the 2017 book ''The Formative Years of Relativity: The History and Meaning of Einstein's Princeton Lectures'' by

Hanoch Gutfreund use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates = ...

and

Jürgen Renn Jürgen Renn (born 11 July 1956 in Moers, West Germany) is a German historian of science, and since 1994 Director at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin. Short biography Renn studied physics at the Free University of Be ...

Background

Einstein 1921 by F Schmutzer - restoration

The book contains four of Einstein's Stafford Little Lectures that were given at

in 1921. The lectures follow a series of 1915 publications by Einstein developing the

theory of general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity and Einstein's theory of gravity, is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of gravitation in modern physics. G ...

. During this time, there were still many controversial issues surrounding the theories and he was still defending several of his views. The lectures and the subsequent book were Einstein's last attempt to provide a comprehensive overview of his

. It is also his only book that provides an overview of the physics and mathematics of

in a comprehensive manner that was accessible to non-specialists. Einstein explained his goal in the preface of the book's German edition by stating he "wanted to summarize the principal thoughts and mathematical methods of relativity theory" and that his "principal aim was to let the fundamentals in the entire train of thought of the theory emerge clearly". On December 27, 1949, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' ran a story titled "New Einstein theory gives a master key to the universe" in reaction to the new appendix in the book's fifth edition in which Einstein expounded upon his latest unification efforts. Einstein had nothing to do with the article and subsequently refused to speak with any reporters on the matter; he reportedly used the message " me back and see me in twenty years" to brush off their inquiries.

Content

The book is made of four lectures. The first is titled "Space and Time in Pre-Relativity Physics". The second lecture is titled ''The Theory of Special Relativity'' and discusses the

special theory of relativity In physics, the special theory of relativity, or special relativity for short, is a scientific theory regarding the relationship between Spacetime, space and time. In Albert Einstein's original treatment, the theory is based on two Postulates of ...

. The third and fourth lectures cover the

general theory of relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity and Einstein's theory of gravity, is the differential geometry, geometric scientific theory, theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current descr ...

in two parts. Einstein added an appendix to update the book for its second edition, which published in 1945. A second appendix was later added for the fifth edition as well, in 1955, which discusses the nonsymmetric field. The second appendix contains Einstein's attempts at a

unified field theory In physics, a unified field theory (UFT) is a type of field theory that allows all that is usually thought of as fundamental forces and elementary particles to be written in terms of a pair of physical and virtual fields. According to the modern ...

Reception

The book has received many reviews since its initial publication. The first edition of the book was reviewed by ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

'' in 1923. Other early versions of the book were reviewed by

George Yuri Rainich George Yuri Rainich (Rabinovich) (March 25, 1886 in Odessa – October 10, 1968) was a leading mathematical physicist in the early twentieth century. Career Rainich studied mathematics from 1904 to 1908 in Odessa, in Göttingen (1905–1906), a ...

in 1946, as well as Abraham H. Taub,

Philip Morrison Philip Morrison (November 7, 1915 – April 22, 2005) was a professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is known for his work on the Manhattan Project during World War II, and for his later work in quantum physi ...

, and I. M. Levitt in 1950. Reviews for the book's fifth edition include a short announcement in 1955 that called the book "a well-known classic". A 1956 review of the fifth edition summarizes its publication history and contents and closes by stating "Einstein's little book then serves as an excellent tying-together of loose ends and as a broad survey of the subject." Among other references to the book, a 2005 column of ''

The Physics Teacher ''The Physics Teacher'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by AIP Publishing on behalf of the American Association of Physics Teachers covering the history and philosophy of physics, applied physics, physics education (curriculum devel ...

'', included the work in a list of books "by and about Einstein that all physics teachers should have" and "should have immediate access to", while a 2019 review of another work opened by stating: "Every teacher of General Relativity depends heavily on two texts: one, the massive ‘

Gravitation In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stron ...

’ by Misner, Thorne and Wheeler, the second the diminutive ‘The Meaning of Relativity’ by Einstein." ''The Meaning of Relativity'' is the focus of a 2017 book, ''The Formative Years of Relativity'' by

and

, which described ''The Meaning of Relativity'' as "Einstein's definitive exposition of his special and general theories of relativity".

Publication history

Original English editions

* * * * *

Notable reprints

* * *

German editions

* * * * * *

References

External links

*
The Meaning of Relativity
5th edition at

The Meaning of Relativity
5th edition at

JSTOR JSTOR (; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library founded in 1995 in New York City. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary sources as well as current issues of j ...

The Meaning of Relativity
at

Springer Link Springer Science+Business Media, commonly known as Springer, is a German multinational publishing company of books, e-books and peer-reviewed journals in science, humanities, technical and medical (STM) publishing. Originally founded in 1842 i ...

An insightful tome recounts the heady early days of general relativity
review by Andrew Robinson at sciencemag.org {{DEFAULTSORT:World as I See It 1922 non-fiction books Physics books Theory of relativity Works by Albert Einstein Princeton University Press books