The Relativity Revolution from the Perspective of Historical Epistemology
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4174492 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joachim Renn (0000-0002-3681-2188, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, corresponding author), Jürgen Renn |
| Year | 2004 |
| Volume | 95 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 640-648 |
| Publication date | 2004-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Isis (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-1753 • E-ISSN: 1545-6994 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/430654 |
| PMID | 16011299 |
| OpenAlex | W2094101323 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 5 |
This essay analyzes Einstein's relativity revolution as part of a long-term development of knowledge in which the knowledge system of classical physics was reorganized in a process of reflection, described here as a "Copernican process." This process led in 1905 to the introduction of fundamentally new concepts of space, time, matter, and radiation. On the basis of an extensive historical reconstruction, the heuristics of Einstein's creation of the general theory of relativity, completing the relativity revolution, is interpreted as a further transformation of the knowledge of classical physics, starting from conceiving gravitation as a borderline problem between field theory and mechanics. The essay thus provides an answer to the puzzle of how Einstein was able to create a theory capable of accounting for a wide range of phenomena that were discovered only much later
Classical mechanics · Einstein · Epistemology · General relativity · Physics · Theoretical physics · Theory of relativity · History and Developments in Astronomy · History and Theory of Mathematics · Philosophy · Relativity and Gravitational Theory
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,6 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2021 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |