9311055 Stachel Professor Stachel is undertaking a major study of the history of relativity, including histories of the special and general theories of relativity as well as a history of unified field theories. Under this grant, Professor Stachel is preparing a history of the special theory of relativity and the general theory up to the death of Einstein in 1955. These studies include an examination of the 19th century antecedents of both theories, an explanation of how Albert Einstein came to formulate them, how they were accepted by the scientific community, and the later development of both theories, their observational and experimental testing, and applications to other branches of physics and to technology. The special theory has had its main influence on elementary particle physics, while the general theory, as the relativistic theory of gravitation, has been most influential in celestial mechanics and astrophysics. Included in this study is an examination of how each theory in turn evolved from a controversial doctrine into an everyday tool of the working physicist in these fields. Although the subject matter inherently involves many abstract concepts and much mathematics, Professor Stachel is attempting to offer physically intuitive explanations and illustrations wherever possible. He is also discussing the popular reception and philosophical impact of relativity. These studies should be of great interest to physicists, historians and philosophers of science and members of the general public with a serious interest in relativity. ***
