The Symbolic Universe: Geometry and Physics 1890-1930 Hardcover

Jeremy Gray

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.

English

OUP Oxford

302

This volume provides a wide-ranging and detailed survey of this exciting era... 'It's expensive, The Symbolic Universe,and it is aimed at and will probably only be understood by theoretical physicists and mathematicians. But there's a gem - embedded in this collection of surveys by international authors on the relations between physics and mathematics since the development of Einstein's theory of relativity:the introducton, by editor Jeremy Gray, which offers a masterly and approachable review of the period.'