Special theory of relativity

Originally published: New York : W.A. Benjamin, 1965.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- Pre-Einsteinian notions of relativity -- The problem of the relativity of the laws of electrodynamics -- The Michelson-Morley experiment -- Efforts to save the ether hypothesis -- The Lorentz theory of the electron -- Further development of the Lorentz theory -- The problem of measuring simultaneity in the Lorentz theory -- The Lorentz transformation -- The inherent ambiguity in the meanings of space-time measurements, according to the Lorentz theory -- Analysis of space and time concepts in terms of frames of reference -- Contents -- Common-sense concepts of space and time -- Introduction to Einstein's conceptions of space and time -- The Lorentz transformation in Einstein's point of view -- Addition of velocities -- The principle of relativity -- Some applications of relativity -- Momentum and mass in relativity -- The equivalence of mass and energy -- The relativistic transformation law for energy and momentum -- Charged particles in an electromagnetic field -- Experimental evidence for special relativity -- More about the equivalence of mass and energy -- Toward a new theory of elementary particles -- The falsification of theories -- The Minkowski diagram and the k calculus -- The geometry of events and the space-time continuum -- The question of causality and the maximum speed of propagation of signals in relativity theory -- Proper time -- The "paradox" of the twins -- The significance of the Minkowski diagram as a reconstruction of the past -- Appendix : Physics and perception.