The Reinvention of General Relativity

A Historiographical Framework for Assessing One Hundred Years of Curved Space-time

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3380274
AutoresAlexander Blum, Alexander S Blum (0000-0003-0379-3766, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science), Roberto Lalli (0000-0002-5854-3484, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science), Joachim Renn (0000-0002-3681-2188, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science), Jürgen Renn
Año2015
Volumen106
Número3
Páginas598-620
Fecha de publicación2015-09-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaIsis (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0021-1753 • E-ISSN: 1545-6994
EditorialUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/683425
PMID26685519
OpenAlexW2228179379
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas5
Referencias citadas45

The history of the theory of general relativity presents unique features. After its discovery, the theory was immediately confirmed and rapidly changed established notions of space and time. The further implications of general relativity, however, remained largely unexplored until the mid 1950s, when it came into focus as a physical theory and gradually returned to the mainstream of physics. This essay presents a historiographical framework for assessing the history of general relativity by taking into account in an integrated narrative intellectual developments, epistemological problems, and technological advances; the characteristics of post-World War II and Cold War science; and newly emerging institutional settings. It argues that such a framework can help us understand this renaissance of general relativity as a result of two main factors: the recognition of the untapped potential of general relativity and an explicit effort at community building, which allowed this formerly disparate and dispersed field to benefit from the postwar changes in the scientific landscape

Epistemology · General relativity · Historiography · History of science · Mainstream · Narrative · Physics · Political science · Sociology · Space (punctuation) · Spacetime · Theoretical physics · Theory of relativity · Biofield Effects and Biophysics · Computer Science · Law · Philosophy · Quantum Mechanics and Applications · Relativity and Gravitational Theory