Physics before and after Einstein

It is now a century ago that one of the icons of modern physics published some of the most influential scientific papers of all times. With his work on relativity and quantum theory, Albert Einstein has altered the field of physics forever. It should not come as a surprise that looking back at Einstein's work, one needs to rethink the whole scope of physics, before and after his time. This books aims to provide a perspective on the history of modern physics, spanning from the late 19th century up to today. It is not an encyclopaedic work, but it presents the groundbreaking and sometimes provocative main contributions by Einstein as marking the line between 'old' and 'new' physics, and expands on some of the developments and open issues to which they gave rise. This presentation is not meant as a mere celebration of Einstein's work, but as a critical appraisal which provides accurate historical and conceptual information. The contributing authors all have a reputation for working on themes related to Einstein's work and its consequences. Therefore, the collection of papers gives a good representation of what happened in the 100 years after Einstein's landmark Annalen der Physik articles. All people interested in the field of physics, history of science and epistemology could benefit from this book. An effort has been made to make the book attractive not only to scientists, but also to people with a more basic knowledge of mathematics and physics. Preface / Marco Mamone Capria -- Ch. 1. Albert Einstein : A Portrait / Marco Mamone Capria -- Ch. 2. Mechanics And Electromagnetism In The Late Nineteenth Century : The Dynamics Of Maxwell's Ether / Roberto De Andrade Martins -- Ch. 3. Mechanistic Science, Thermodynamics, And Industry At The End Of The Nineteenth Century / Angelo Baracca -- Ch. 4. The Origins And Concepts Of Special Relativity / Seiya Abiko -- Ch. 5. General Relativity : Gravitation As Geometry And The Machian Programme / Marco Mamone Capria -- Ch. 6. The Rebirth Of Cosmology : From The Static To The Expanding Universe / Marco Mamone Capria -- Ch. 7. Testing Relativity / Klaus Hentschel -- Ch. 8. Einstein And Quantum Theory / Seiya Abiko -- Ch. 9. The Quantum Debate : From Einstein To Bell And Beyond / Jenner Barretto Bastos Filho -- Ch. 10. Special Relativity And The Development Of High-energy Particle Physics / Yogendra Srivastava -- Ch. 11. Quantum Theory And Gravitation / Allan Widom, David Drosdoff And Yogendra N. Srivastava -- Ch. 12. Superluminal Waves And Objects : Theory And Experiments : A Panoramic Introduction / Erasmo Recami -- Ch. 13. Standard Cosmology And Other Possible Universes / Aubert Daigneault. Edited By Marco Mamone Capria ... Includes Bibliographical References. Title page......Page 1 Preface......Page 5 Contents......Page 7 Albert Einstein: A Portrait......Page 9 Mechanics and Electromagnetism in the Late Nineteenth Century: The Dynamics of Maxwell’s Ether......Page 29 Mechanistic Science, Thermodynamics, and Industry at the End of the Nineteenth Centur y......Page 57 The Origins and Concepts of Special Relativity......Page 79 General Relativity: Gravitation as Geometry and the Machian Programme......Page 101 The Rebirth of Cosmology: From the Static to the Expanding Universe......Page 137 Testing Relativity......Page 171 Einstein and Quantum Theory......Page 191 The Quantum Debate: From Einstein to Bell and Beyond......Page 213 Special Relativity and the Development of High-Energy Particle Physics......Page 241 Quantum Theory and Gravitation......Page 261 Superluminal Waves and Objects: Theory and Experiments. A Panoramic Introduction......Page 275 Standard Cosmology and Other Possible Universes......Page 293 IOS Press is an international science, technical and medical publisher of high-quality books for academics, scientists, and professionals in all fields. Some of the areas we publish -Biomedicine -Oncology -Artificial intelligence -Databases and information systems -Maritime engineering -Nanotechnology -Geoengineering -All aspects of physics -E-governance -E-commerce -The knowledge economy -Urban studies -Arms control -Understanding and responding to terrorism -Medical informatics -Computer Sciences