The Genesis of General Relativity

This four-volume work represents the most comprehensive documentation and study of the creation of general relativity; one of the fundamental physical theories of the 20th century. It comprises key sources from Einstein and others who from the late 19th t

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BOSTON STUDIES IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE Editors ROBERT S. COHEN, Boston University JÜRGEN RENN, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science KOSTAS GAVROGLU, University of Athens

Editorial Advisory Board THOMAS F. GLICK, Boston University ADOLF GRÜNBAUM, University of Pittsburgh SYLVAN S. SCHWEBER, Brandeis University JOHN J. STACHEL, Boston University MARX W. WARTOFSKY†, (Editor 1960--1997)

VOLUME 250

The Genesis of General Relativity Edited by Jürgen Renn

Volume 1 EINSTEIN’S ZURICH NOTEBOOK: INTRODUCTION AND SOURCE Michel Janssen University of Minnesota, U.S.A.

John D. Norton University of Pittsburgh, U.S.A.

Jürgen Renn Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Germany

Tilman Sauer Einstein Papers Project, Caltech, U.S.A.

John Stachel Boston University, U.S.A. and

Assistant Editor Lindy Divarci Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Germany

A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN-10 ISBN-13 ISBN-10 ISBN-13

1-4020-3999-9 (HB) 978-1-4020-3999-7 (HB) 1-4020-4000-8 (e-book) 978-1-4020-4000-9 (e-book)

As a complete set for the 4 volumes Published by Springer, P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, The Netherlands. www.springer.com

Printed on acid-free paper

All Rights Reserved © 2007 Springer No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Volume 1

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Jürgen Renn

Introduction to Volumes 1 and 2: The Zurich Notebook and the Genesis of General Relativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Michel Janssen, John D. Norton, Jürgen Renn, Tilman Sauer, and John Stachel

Classical Physics in Disarray: The Emergence of the Riddle of Gravitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Jürgen Renn

The First Two Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81 John Stachel

Pathways Out of Classical Physics: Einstein’s Double Strategy in his Search for the Gravitational Field Equation. . . . . .113 Jürgen Renn and Tilman Sauer

Einstein’s Zurich Notebook: Transcription and Facsimile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .313

Volume 2 (parallel volume)

A Commentary on the Notes on Gravity in the Zurich Notebook . . . . . . .489 Michel Janssen, Jürgen Renn, Tilman Sauer, John D. Norton, and John Stachel

What Was Einstein’s “Fateful Prejudice”? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .715 John D. Norton

What Did Einstein Know and When Did He Know It? A Besso Memo Dated August 1913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .