Einstein

1916 · 60254 — Leipzig Ambrosius Barth 1916. 8vo. Uncut in the original printed wrappers. Light discolouration to margins of wrappers. Inner hinges with professional repairs. Small stamp exlibris to lower part of title-page. Previous owner's name Erik Broekmeyer in contemporary hand to upper outer corner of title-page. A fine copy. 64 pp. <br/><br/><em>First issue of the first edition in book form being not an offprint of the"Annalen der Physik" journal issue as often stated but a separate edition of the paper completely re-set and with significant changes and additions including for the first time in print the "Einleitung" and the "Inhalt".The first issue is distinguished from the later reprints by the printing of "Sonderdruck aus dem "Annalen der Physik" Band 49 1916" and "Druck von Metzger & Wittig in Leipzig. 314" to the verso of the title-page and "Metzger & Wittig Leipzig" to the foot of the back wrapper. Furthermore "This separate edition is printed on good strong paper the wrappers are of strong material too and it is described now as 'the original edition' of this classic paper" Weil. Einstein's seminal "General Theory of Relativity" has had an immense impact on all science philosophy and man's view of the world in general. Few other books of the 20th century can be said to have so basically altered the way that we view the world and our place in it. Determining space and time as being interwoven into a single continuum known as "space-time" and determining that there is no absolute space-time coordinate system - i.e. that there are no absolute positions in time and pace - established the fact that events that occur at the same time for one observer could occur at different times for another i.e. all positions in space and time are relative. This general theory of relativity here presented in its full exposition for the first time in book form is now a basic foundation for scientific thought."The theory of relativity has transformed astrophysics and indeed the whole scientific outlook." PMM."Whereas Special Relativity had brought under one set of laws the electromagnetic world of Maxwell and Newtonian mechanics as far as they applied to bodies in uniform relative motion The General Theory did the same thing for bodies with the accelerated relative motion epitomized in the acceleration of gravity. But first it had been necessary for Einstein to develop the true nature of gravity from his principle of equivalence.Basically he proposed that gravity was a function of matter itself and that its effects were transmitted between contiguous portions of space-time. Where matter exists so does energy; the greater the mass of matter involved the greater the effect of the energy which can be transmitted. In addition gravity affected light. exactly as it affected material particles. Thus the universe which Newton had seen and for which he had constructed his apparently impeccable mechanical laws was not the real universe. Einstein's paper gave not only a correct picture of the universe but also a fresh set of mechanical laws by which its details could be described" R.W. Clark. "This paper was the first comprehensive overview of the final version of Einstein's general theory of relativity after several expositions of preliminary versions and latest revisions of the theory in November 1915. It includes a self-contained exposition of the elements of the tensor calculus that are needed for the theory. T. Sauer in Landmark Writings in Western Mathematics. PMM: 408. Horblit 26 c. Weil 80.Boni: 781 Schilpp-Schields: 86. </em> unknown