Einstein's Jury : : The Race to Test Relativity / / Jeffrey Crelinsten.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton University Press Complete eBook-Package 2016
• VerfasserIn: Crelinsten, Jeffrey,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2013]; ©2006
• Year of Publication: 2013
• Edition: Course Book
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (432 p.)

Einstein's Jury is the dramatic story of how astronomers in Germany, England, and America competed to test Einstein's developing theory of relativity. Weaving a rich narrative based on extensive archival research, Jeffrey Crelinsten shows how these early scientific debates shaped cultural attitudes we hold today. The book examines Einstein's theory of general relativity through the eyes of astronomers, many of whom were not convinced of the legitimacy of Einstein's startling breakthrough. These were individuals with international reputations to uphold and benefactors and shareholders to please, yet few of them understood the new theory coming from the pen of Germany's up-and-coming theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein. Some tried to test his theory early in its development but got no results. Others--through toil and hardship, great expense, and perseverance--concluded that it was wrong. A tale of international competition and intrigue, Einstein's Jury brims with detail gleaned from Crelinsten's far-reaching inquiry into the history and development of relativity. Crelinsten concludes that the well-known British eclipse expedition of 1919 that made Einstein famous had less to do with the scientific acceptance of his theory than with his burgeoning public fame. It was not until the 1920s, when the center of gravity of astronomy and physics shifted from Europe to America, that the work of prestigious American observatories legitimized Einstein's work. As Crelinsten so expertly shows, the glow that now surrounds the famous scientist had its beginnings in these early debates among professional scientists working in the glare of the public spotlight.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- ILLUSTRATIONS -- TABLES -- PREFACE -- INTRODUCTION -- NOTATION CONVENTION FOR ANGULAR MEASURE -- ABBREVIATIONS -- PART ONE: 1905-1911 Early Encounters with Relativity -- CHAPTER ONE. Einstein and the World Community of Physicists and Astronomers -- CHAPTER TWO. Astronomers and Special Relativity: The First Publications -- PART TWO: 1911-1919 Astronomers Encounter Einstein -- CHAPTER THREE. The Early Involvement, 1911-1914 -- CHAPTER FOUR. The War Period, 1914-1918 -- CHAPTER FIVE. 1919: A Year of Dramatic Announcement -- CHAPTER SIX. Men of Science Agog -- PART THREE: 1920-1925 Astronomers Put Einstein to the Test -- CHAPTER SEVEN. Tackling the Solar Redshift Problem -- CHAPTER EIGHT. More Eclipse Testing -- CHAPTER NINE. Emergence of the Critics -- CHAPTER TEN. The Debate Intensifies -- PART FOUR: 1925-1930 Final Acceptance -- CHAPTER ELEVEN. Relativity Triumphs -- CHAPTER TWELVE. Silencing the Critics -- EPILOGUE. The Emergence of Relativistic Cosmology -- FINAL REFLECTIONS -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index