Concepts of Mass in Contemporary Physics and Philosophy (eBook)

Max Jammer (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2009
176 Seiten
Princeton University Press (Verlag)
978-1-4008-2378-9 (ISBN)

Infos

The concept of mass is one of the most fundamental notions in physics, comparable in importance only to those of space and time. But in contrast to the latter, which are the subject of innumerable physical and philosophical studies, the concept of mass has been but rarely investigated. Here Max Jammer, a leading philosopher and historian of physics, provides a concise but comprehensive, coherent, and self-contained study of the concept of mass as it is defined, interpreted, and applied in contemporary physics and as it is critically examined in the modern philosophy of science. With its focus on theories proposed after the mid-1950s, the book is the first of its kind, covering the most recent experimental and theoretical investigations into the nature of mass and its role in modern physics, from the realm of elementary particles to the cosmology of galaxies. The book begins with an analysis of the persistent difficulties of defining inertial mass in a noncircular manner and discusses the related question of whether mass is an observational or a theoretical concept. It then studies the notion of mass in special relativity and the delicate problem of whether the relativistic rest mass is the only legitimate notion of mass and whether it is identical with the classical (Newtonian) mass. This is followed by a critical analysis of the different derivations of the famous mass-energy relationship E = mc2 and its conflicting interpretations. Jammer then devotes a chapter to the distinction between inertial and gravitational mass and to the various versions of the so-called equivalence principle with which Newton initiated his Principia but which also became the starting point of Einstein's general relativity, which supersedes Newtonian physics. The book concludes with a presentation of recently proposed global and local dynamical theories of the origin and nature of mass. Destined to become a much-consulted reference for philosophers and physicists, this book is also written for the nonprofessional general reader interested in the foundations of physics.

Autor

Max Jammer, born in Berlin, Germany, is Research Professor of Physics at Bar-Ilan University, where he was formerly President and Rector. His books, translated into many languages, include Concepts of Space (with a foreword by Albert Einstein), The Conceptual Development of Quantum Mechanics, The Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics, and, most recently, Einstein and Religion (Princeton). Among the awards he has received are the Israel Prize and the Monograph Prize of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 8.6.2009
• Verlagsort: Princeton
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Natur / Technik
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Angewandte Physik
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Mechanik
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Thermodynamik
• Themenwelt: Technik
• Schlagworte: acceleration • Action (physics) • A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field • Albert Einstein • Antimatter • Antiparticle • Aristotelian physics • astrophysics • Atomic physics • Available energy (particle collision) • Bohr magneton • Brans–Dicke theory • BransЄicke theory • Classical and Quantum Gravity • classical electromagnetism • classical mechanics • Classical physics • Contemporary Physics • Cosmic microwave background • Einstein Field Equations • Elasticity (physics) • Electromagnetic mass • electromagnetism • Electron neutrino • elementary particle • Energy–momentum relation • EnergyЭomentum relation • Equivalence Principle • Experimental Physics • Foundations of Physics • Galilean Transformation • Galileo Galilei • Gauge Theory • General relativity • gravitational acceleration • Gravitational constant • Gravitational Field • gravitational potential • Gravity • Higgs Mechanism • Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics • Introduction to General relativity • Lagrangian mechanics • Lorentz covariance • Lorentz transformation • mach's principle • magnetic susceptibility • Mass • mass–energy equivalence • Mass in general relativity • Mass in special relativity • MassХnergy equivalence • mathematical foundations of quantum mechanics • Mathematical Physics • Minkowski space • Modern Physics • Muon neutrino • Nebular hypothesis • Neutrino • Newtonian Potential • Newton's law of universal gravitation • Newton's laws of motion • nuclear binding energy • Nuclear Structure • Parameterized post-Newtonian formalism • Particle physics • Perturbation theory (quantum mechanics) • Philosophy of Physics • philosophy of science • Photon • Physical Chemistry • physical cosmology • physicist • Physics Letters • Physics World • Physikalische Zeitschrift • Poisson's Equation • positron • Poynting's theorem • Quantization of the electromagnetic field • quantum electrodynamics • quantum field theory • Quantum Gravity • quantum mechanics • Relativistic Doppler Effect • relativistic dynamics • relativistic mechanics • renormalization • Scientific Revolution • scientific theory • second law of thermodynamics • Special relativity • Stochastic Electrodynamics • Subatomic particle • Tau neutrino • Tau (particle) • Test particle • theoretical physics • theory • Theory of relativity • Thought experiment • Virtual particle • Wave–particle duality • Waveаarticle duality
• ISBN-10: 1-4008-2378-1 / 1400823781
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4008-2378-9 / 9781400823789