From Copernicus to Einstein

Abstract

ON the jacket of this book the publisher states that "this is a simple but scientific history of ideas and discoveries that have led to the formulation of the theory of relativity. . . . The wealth of ideas contained in it tend to make it a distinguished contribution to scientific thought. It is well illustrated with charts and diagrams. The book is especially intended for the scientific as well as amateur astronomer and physicist." The reader will soon discover that these statements are quite unjustified; that the book abounds with erroneous statements, that the historical perspective is often wrong, that the wealth of ideas is conspicuous by its absence and that the translation is so bad that it is sometimes impossible to understand what is meant. The illustrations consist of eleven crude diagrams.

From Copernicus to Einstein

By Hans Reichenbach. Translated by Ralph B. Winn. Pp. 123. (New York: Philosophical Library, Inc., 1942.) 2 dollars.