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year of physics: relativity revisited
In 1921, Nature published a special issue celebrating Einstein's general theory of relativity, with contributions from Eddington, Weyl, Lorentz and Einstein himself, among many others. Nature Physics is making that special issue available online for the first time.
Einstein had published his general theory of relativity in 1915, a decade after the special theory. In 1919, observations of a solar eclipse — from expeditions led by Eddington and Dyson — offered some of the first evidence in support of the theory.
Einstein was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize for physics — not, of course, for his theory of relativity, but for his work on the photoelectric effect. Publication of that work in 1905, with papers on special relativity and brownian motion, marked the annus mirabilis of the Swiss Patent Office clerk. The centenary is now celebrated in World Year of Physics 2005.
A Brief Outline of the Development of the Theory of Relativity
A. Einstein
Nature 106, 782–784 (1921)
PDF (316KB) - A Brief Outline of the Development of the Theory of Relativity
Relativity: The Growth of an Idea
E. Cunningham
Nature 106, 784–786 (1921)
Relativity and the Eclipse Observations of May, 1919
F. Dyson
Nature 106, 786–787 (1921)
PDF (201KB) - Relativity and the Eclipse Observations of May, 1919
Relativity and the Motion of Mercury's Perihelion
A. C. D. Crommelin
Nature 106, 787–789 (1921)
PDF (322KB) - Relativity and the Motion of Mercury's Perihelion
The Displacement of Solar Lines
C. E. St. John
Nature 106, 789–790 (1921)
Non-Euclidean Geometries
G. B. Mathews
Nature 106, 790–791 (1921)
The General Physical Theory of Relativity
J. H. Jeans
Nature 106, 791–793 (1921)
The Michelson-Morley Experiment and the Dimensions of Moving Bodies
H. A. Lorentz
Nature 106, 793–795 (1921)
PDF (287KB) - The Michelson-Morley Experiment and the Dimensions of Moving Bodies
The Geometrisation of Physics, and its Supposed Basis on the Michelson-Morley Experiment
O. Lodge
Nature 106, 795–800 (1921)
Electricity and Gravitation
H. Weyl
Nature 106, 800–802 (1921)
The Relativity of Time
A. S. Eddington
Nature 106, 802–804 (1921)
Theory and Experiment in Relativity
N. Campbell
Nature 106, 804–806 (1921)
The Relation between Geometry and Einstein's Theory of Gravitation
D. Wrinch and H. Jeffreys
Nature 106, 806–809 (1921)
PDF (448KB) - The Relation between Geometry and Einstein's Theory of Gravitation
The Metaphysical Aspects of Relativity
H. W. Carr
Nature 106, 809–811 (1921)
