The Special Theory of Relativity

In these inspiring lectures David Bohm explores Albert Einstein’s celebrated Theory of Relativity that transformed forever the way we think about time and space. Yet for Bohm the implications of the theory were far more revolutionary both in scope and impact even than this. Stepping back from dense theoretical and scientific detail in this eye-opening work, Bohm describes how the notion of relativity strikes at the heart of our very conception of the universe, regardless of whether we are physicists or philosophers.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 2. Pre-Einsteinian Notions of Relativity 3. The Problem of the Relativity of the Laws of Electrodynamics 4. The Michelson-Morley Experiment 5. Efforts to Save the Ether Hypothesis 6. The Lorentz Theory of the Electron 7. Further Development of the Lorentz Theory 8. The Problem of Measuring Simultaneity in the Lorentz Theory 9. The Lorentz Transformation 10. The Inherent Ambiguity in the Meanings of Space-Time Measurements, According to the Lorentz Theory 11. Analysis of Space and Time Concepts in Terms of Frames of Reference 12. Common Sense Concepts of Space and Time 13. Introduction to Einstein's Conceptions of Space and Time 14. The Lorentz Transformation in Einstein's Point of View 15. Addition of Velocities 16. The Principle of Relativity 17. Some Applications of Relativity 18. Momentum and Mass in Relativity 19. The Equivalence of Mass and Energy 20. The Relativistic Transformation Law for Energy and Momentum 21. Charged Particles in an Electromagnetic Field 22. Experimental Evidence for Special Relativity 23. More About the Equivalence of Mass and Energy 24. Towards a New Theory of Elementary Particles 25. The Falsification of Theories 26. The Minkowski Diagram and the K Calculus 27. The Geometry of Events and the Space-Time Continuum 28. The Questions of Causality and the Maximum Speed of Propagation of Signals in Relativity Theory 29. Proper Time 30. The Paradox of the Twins 31. The Significance of the Minkowski Diagram as a Reconstruction of the Past. Appendix - Physics and Perception