Roberto Torretti is a recognized author and scholar, whose work focuses on the history of philosophy, with a particular emphasis on the philosophy of physics and mathematics. His extensive publishing career includes over twenty-five books and hundreds of specialized articles. Torretti's writing is distinguished by its depth and originality in approaching interdisciplinary subjects. His intellectual contributions are acknowledged within international philosophical and scientific communities.
The book explores the evolution of physics, tracing its journey from the foundational ideas of Galileo and Newton through to the revolutionary theories of Einstein and the pioneers of quantum mechanics. It delves into the key concepts and breakthroughs that shaped modern physics, highlighting the significant contributions of various scientists and the impact of their discoveries on our understanding of the universe.
Early in this century, it was shown that the new non-Newtonian physics — known as Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity — rested on a new, non-Euclidean geometry, which incorporated time and space into a unified "chronogeometric" structure. This high-level study elucidates the motivation and significance of the changes in physical geometry brought about by Einstein, in both the first and the second phase of Relativity.After a discussion of Newtonian principles and 19th-century views on electrodynamics and the aether, the author offers illuminating expositions of Einstein's electrodynamics of moving bodies, Minkowski spacetime, Einstein's quest for a theory of gravity, gravitational geometry, the concept of simultaneity, time and causality and other topics. An important Appendix — designed to define spacetime curvature — considers differentiable manifolds, fiber bundles, linear connections and useful formulae.Relativity continues to be a major focus of interest for physicists, mathematicians and philosophers of science. This highly regarded work offers them a rich, "historico-critical" exposition — emphasizing geometrical ideas — of the elements of the Special and General Theory of Relativity.