Relativity, Thermodynamics and Cosmology

Abstract

THE general theory of relativity has now been before the scientific world for some twenty years, and the special theory considerably longer. Fifteen or sixteen years ago, the theory may be said to have definitely superseded Newtonian mechanics in the treatment of macroscopic phenomena, and the whole of physical science, with the partial exception of atomic problems, acquired a new foundation. The superstructure, of course, was in the main unaltered, for the new mechanics faded into the old for all but the most fundamental matters, but the basic laws and equations of physics demanded re-statement, and in a few particulars their requirements were at variance with those of classical theory. In these circumstances there was clearly a need for a general statement of the new position, and for more than a decade this need has been satisfied for English-speaking readers by one book—Eddington's well-known “Mathematical Theory of Relativity”. There is now a second.

Relativity, Thermodynamics and Cosmology.

By Prof. Richard C. Tolman. (International Series of Monographs on Physics.) Pp. xv + 502. (Oxford: Clarendon Press; London: Oxford University Press, 1934.) 30s. net.