INDEX


Aberration, 59

Absorption of energy, 54

Acceleration, 76, 78, 83

Action at a distance, 57

Addition of velocities, 19, 46

Adjacent points, 105

Aether, 62

——— -drift, 62, 63

Arbitrary substitutions, 116

Astronomy, 8, 121

Astronomical day, 12

Axioms, 2, 149

——— truth of, 2


Bachem, 158

Basis of theory, 52

“Being,” 78, 128

-rays, 59

Biology, 149


Cartesian system of co-ordinates, 7, 100, 147

Cathode rays, 59

Celestial mechanics, 125

Centrifugal force, 94, 156

Chest, 78

Classical mechanics, 9, 13, 16, 20, 36, 52, 84, 121, 123, 150

——— truth of, 15

Clocks, 11, 28, 95, 96, 112, 114, 117–120, 121, 135, 155

——— rate of, 156

Conception of mass, 54

——— position, 6

Conservation of energy, 54, 121

——— impulse, 121

——— mass, 54, 56

Continuity, 113

Continuum, 65, 98

Continuum, two-dimensional, 112

——— three-dimensional, 67

——— four-dimensional, 106, 108, 109, 112, 147

——— space-time, 93, 108-114

——— Euclidean, 99, 101, 104, 110

——— non-Euclidean, 102, 107

Co-ordinate differences, 109

——— differentials, 109

——— planes, 38

Cottingham, 154

Counter-point, 133

Co-variant, 51

Crommelin, 154

Curvature of light-rays, 124, 152

——— space, 153

Curvilinear motion, 88

Cyanogen bands, 158


Darwinian theory, 149

Davidson, 154

Deductive thought, 148

Derivation of laws, 52

De Sitter, 21

Displacement of spectral lines, 124, 155

Distance (line-interval), 3, 5, 8, 34, 35, 99, 104, 129

——— physical interpretation of, 5

——— relativity of, 34

Doppler principle, 59

Double stars, 21


Eclipse of star, 21

Eddington, 124, 154

Electricity, 90

Electrodynamics, 15, 24, 48, 52, 90

Electromagnetic theory, 58

——— waves, 75

Electron, 52, 60

——— electrical masses of, 60

Electrostatics, 90

Elliptical space, 133

Empirical laws, 148

Encounter (space-time coincidence), 113

Equivalent, 16

Euclidean geometry, 1, 2, 68, 97, 101, 104, 128, 120, 135, 147

————— propositions of, 3, 8

——— space 68, 102, 147

Evershed, 158

Experience, 59, 70


Faraday, 56, 74

FitzGerald, 63

Fixed stars, 12

Fizeau, 46, 58, 61

——— experiment of, 46

Frequency of atom, 157


Gallilei, 12

——— transformation, 40, 43, 45, 50, 61

Galileian system of co-ordinates, 13, 15, 17, 54, 93, 108, 116, 119

Gauss, 102, 103, 106

Gaussian co-ordinates, 103, 105, 112, 114–118

General theory of relativity, 69–124, 115

Geometrical ideas, 2, 3

——— propositions, 1

————— truth of, 2–4

Gravitation, 75, 82, 92, 121

Gravitational field, 75, 79, 87, 91, 111, 116, 119, 120, 136

————— potential of, 157

——— mass, 76, 81, 121

Grebe, 158

Group-density of stars, 126


Helmholtz, 128

Heuristic value of relativity, 50


Induction, 148, 149

Inertia, 77

Inertial mass, 55, 76, 81, 120, 121

Instantaneous photograph (snapshot), 141

Intensity of gravitational field, 127

Intuition, 148

Ions, 53


Kepler, 152

Kinetic energy, 53, 121


Lattice, 128

Laws of Galilei-Newton, 15

Law of inertia, 12, 71, 72, 170

Laws of Nature, 70, 84, 118

Leverrier, 123, 152

Light-signal, 40, 139, 143

Light-stimulus, 40

Limiting velocity (), 43, 44

Lines of force, 126

Lorentz, H. A., 24, 48, 52, 58, 59–63

——— transformation, 39, 46, 50, 108, 116, 139, 143, 144, 146

————— (generalised), 144


Mach, E., 86

Magnetic field, 74

Manifold (see Continuum)

Mass of heavenly bodies, 159

Matter, 120

Maxwell, 49, 52, 56-59, 61

——— fundamental equations, 56, 90

Measurement of length, 101

Measuring-rod, 5, 6, 34, 95, 96, 112, 119, 121, 132, 135, 141

Mercury, 123, 152

——— orbit of, 123, 152

Michelson, 62–64

Minkowski, 65–68, 108, 147

Morley, 63, 64

Motion, 16, 70

——— of heavenly bodies, 16, 17, 52, 122, 135


Newcomb, 152

Newton, 12, 86, 122, 126, 150

Newton’s constant of gravitation, 158

——— law of gravitation, 57, 94, 127, 149

——— law of motion, 76

Non-Euclidean geometry, 128

Non-Galileian reference-bodies, 117

Non-uniform motion, 72


Optics, 15, 24, 52

Organ-pipe, note of, 17


Parabola, 9, 10

Path-curve, 10

Perihelion of Mercury, 150–152

Physics, 8

——— of measurement, 7

Place specification, 6

Plane, 1, 128, 129

Poincaré, 128

Point, 1

Point-mass, energy of, 54

Position, 9

Principle of relativity, 15–17, 23, 24, 70

Processes of Nature, 50

Propagation of light, 21, 23, 24, 36, 108, 143

————— in liquid, 47

————— in gravitational fields, 88

Quasi-Euclidean universe, 136

Quasi-spherical universe, 136


Radiation, 55

Radioactive substances, 59

Reference-body, 5, 7, 8–11, 22, 28, 31, 32, 44, 70

——— rotating, 94

——— mollusk, 118-120

Relative position, 3

——— velocity, 141

Rest, 17

Riemann, 102, 128, 132

Rotation, 95, 147


Schwarzschild, 158

Seconds-clock, 44

Seeliger, 125, 127

Simultaneity, 26, 29-32, 96

——— relativity of, 31

Size-relations, 107

Solar eclipse, 89, 153, 155

Space, 9, 62, 65, 125

——— conception of, 24

Space co-ordinates, 66, 96, 118

Space-interval, 36, 67

——— point, 118

Space, two-dimensional, 128

——— three-dimensional, 147

Special theory of Relativity, 1–68, 24

Spherical surface, 129

——— space, 132, 133

St. John, 159

Stellar universe, 126

——— photographs, 153

Straight line, 1–3, 9, 10, 97, 105, 129

System of co-ordinates, 5, 10, 11


Terrestrial space, 18

Theory, 148

——— truth of, 149

Three-dimensional, 65

Time, conception of, 24, 61, 125

——— co-ordinate, 66, 118

——— in Physics, 26, 117, 146

——— of an event, 28, 32

——— interval, 36, 67

Trajectory, 10

“Truth,” 2


Uniform translation, 14, 69

Universe (World), structure of, 128, 135

——— circumference of, 131

Universe, elliptical, 133, 136

——— Euclidean, 130, 132

——— space expanse (radius) of, 137

——— spherical, 132, 136


Value of 7, 97, 130

Velocity of light, 11, 21, 22, 89, 143

Venus, 152


Weight (heaviness), 77

World, 65, 66, 130, 147

World-point, 147

——— -radius, 133

——— -sphere, 130, 131


Zeeman, 48