Front matter
Reading edition
HARPER’S MODERN SCIENCE SERIES
THE A B C OF RELATIVITY
BY
BERTRAND RUSSELL
AUTHOR OF “THE PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICS” “PROPOSED ROADS TO FREEDOM” AND “WHY MEN FIGHT”
PUBLISHERS
HARPER & BROTHERS NEW YORK AND LONDON
THE A B C OF RELATIVITY
Copyright, 1925, by Harper & Brothers Printed in the United States of America
Contents
CHAPTER PAGE
I. TOUCH AND SIGHT: THE EARTH AND THE HEAVENS 1
II. WHAT HAPPENS AND WHAT IS OBSERVED 14
III. THE VELOCITY OF LIGHT 28
IV. CLOCKS AND FOOT RULES 43
V. SPACE-TIME 58
VI. THE SPECIAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY 71
VII. INTERVALS IN SPACE-TIME 91
VIII. EINSTEIN’S LAW OF GRAVITATION 111
IX. PROOFS OF EINSTEIN’S LAW OF GRAVITATION 131
X. MASS, MOMENTUM, ENERGY AND ACTION 144
XI. IS THE UNIVERSE FINITE? 163
XII. CONVENTIONS AND NATURAL LAWS 177
XIII. THE ABOLITION OF “FORCE” 192
XIV. WHAT IS MATTER? 206
XV. PHILOSOPHICAL CONSEQUENCES 219
THE A B C OF RELATIVITY