Overview

With the development of the theory of relativity by Albert Einstein, physics underwent a revolution at the end of the 19th century. The boundaries of research were extended still further when in 1907-8 Minkowski applied geometrical ideas to this area of physics. This in turn opened the door to other researchers seeking to use non-Euclidean geometrical methods in relativity, and many notable mathematicians did so, Weyl in particular linking these ideas with broader philosophical issues in mathematics. The Symbolic Universe gives an overview of this exciting era, giving a full account for the first time of Minkowski's geometric reformulation of the theory of special relativity.

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9780198500889

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<br> In nine papers from a March 1996 conference in London, historians of science from Europe, Israel, and the US examine relations between the two disciplines during the period, concentrating on attempts to apply geometrical ideas to physics and to understand and reformulate physics in geometric terms. The topics include geometrizing configurations by Heinrich Hertz and his mathematical precursors; Einstein, Poincar , and the testability of geometry; the non-Euclidean style of Minkowskian relativity; the G ttengen response to general relativity and Emmy Noether's theorems; Ricci and Levi-Civita from differential invariants to general relativity; and Weyl and the theory of connections. --SciTech Book News<p><br> This collection will be interesting for mathematicians working in differential geometry and for physicists interested in relativity. But there is a lot of interesting material for geometers in general, for people working in analysis (especially complex analysis), representation theory of groups, topology, and other areas. --EMS<p><br>

In nine papers from a March 1996 conference in London, historians of science from Europe, Israel, and the US examine relations between the two disciplines during the period, concentrating on attempts to apply geometrical ideas to physics and to understand and reformulate physics in geometric terms. The topics include geometrizing configurations by Heinrich Hertz and his mathematical precursors; Einstein, Poincare, and the testability of geometry; the non-Euclidean style of Minkowskian relativity; the Gottengen response to general relativity and Emmy Noether's theorems; Ricci and Levi-Civita from differential invariants to general relativity; and Weyl and the theory of connections. --SciTech Book News<br> This collection will be interesting for mathematicians working in differential geometry and for physicists interested in relativity. But there is a lot of interesting material for geometers in general, for people working in analysis (especially complex analysis), representation theory of groups, topology, and other areas. --EMS<br>

<br> In nine papers from a March 1996 conference in London, historians of science from Europe, Israel, and the US examine relations between the two disciplines during the period, concentrating on attempts to apply geometrical ideas to physics and to understand and reformulate physics in geometric terms. The topics include geometrizing configurations by Heinrich Hertz and his mathematical precursors; Einstein, Poincar?, and the testability of geometry; the non-Euclidean style of Minkowskian relativity; the G?ttengen response to general relativity and Emmy Noether's theorems; Ricci and Levi-Civita from differential invariants to general relativity; and Weyl and the theory of connections. --SciTech Book News<p><br> This collection will be interesting for mathematicians working in differential geometry and for physicists interested in relativity. But there is a lot of interesting material for geometers in general, for people working in analysis (especially complex analysis), representation

Author Information

Dr Jeremy J. Gray, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics, Faculty of Mathematics and Computing, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA. j.j.gray@open.ac.uk

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