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Download : A Student's Guide to Einstein's Major Papers.pdf
Our understanding of nature underwent a revolution in the early twentieth century – from the classical physics of Galileo, Newton, and Maxwell to the modern physics of relativity and quantum mechanics. The dominant figure in this revolutionary change was Albert Einstein. In 1905, Einstein produced breakthrough work in three distinct areas of physics: on the size and the effects of atoms; on the quantization of the electromagnetic field; and on the special theory of relativity. In 1916, he produced a fourth breakthrough work, the general theory of relativity. Einstein’s scientific work is the main focus of this book. The book sets many of his major works into their historical context, with an emphasis on the path breaking works of 1905 and 1916. It also develops the detail of his papers, taking the reader through the mathematics to help the reader discover the simplicity and insightfulness of his ideas and to grasp what was so “revolutionary” about his work.
