List of textbooks on relativity

Special relativity

See also: Special theory of relativity and History of special relativity

The primary sources section of the latter article in particular contains many additional (early) publications of importance in the field. * Lorentz, Hendrik (1892). "De relatieve beweging van de aarde en den aether". Zittingsverlag Akad. (in Dutch). 5 (1): 74–79. :For a translation see: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Translation:The_Relative_Motion_of_the_Earth_and_the_Aether. Hendrik Lorentz was a major influence on Einstein's theory of special relativity. Lorentz laid the fundamentals for the work by Einstein and the theory was originally called the Lorentz-Einstein theory. After 1905 Lorentz wrote several papers on what he called "Einstein's principle of relativity". * Einstein, Albert (1905-06-30). "Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper" [On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies]. Annalen der Physik (in German). 17 (10): 891–921. Bibcode:1905AnP...322..891E. doi:10.1002/andp.19053221004. :* "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies". Translation by George Barker Jeffery and Wilfrid Perrett in The Principle of Relativity, London: Methuen and Company, Ltd. (1923) :* "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies". Translation by Megh Nad Saha in The Principle of Relativity: Original Papers by A. Einstein and H. Minkowski, University of Calcutta, 1920, pp. 1–34: :Introduced the special theory of relativity. Reconciled Maxwell's equations for electricity and magnetism with the laws of mechanics by introducing major changes to mechanics close to the speed of light. One of the Annus Mirabilis papers.

* Einstein, Albert (1905). "Ist die Trägheit eines Körpers von seinem Energieinhalt abhängig?" (PDF). Annalen der Physik. 18 (13): 639–641. Bibcode:1905AnP...323..639E. doi:10.1002/andp.19053231314. Retrieved 2008-02-18. :English translations: :* "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?". Translation by George Barker Jeffery and Wilfrid Perrett in The Principle of Relativity, London: Methuen and Company, Ltd. (1923). :Used the newly formulated theory of special relativity to introduce the mass energy formula. One of the Annus Mirabilis papers.

Minkowski relativity papers: * Minkowski, Hermann (1915) [1907]. "Das Relativitätsprinzip"  [The Relativity Principle]. Annalen der Physik (in German). 352 (15): 927–938. Bibcode:1915AnP...352..927M. doi:10.1002/andp.19153521505. * —— (21 December 1907). "Die Grundgleichungen für die elektromagnetischen Vorgänge in bewegten Körpern" . Nachrichten von der Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, Mathematisch-Physikalische Klasse: 53–111. **English translation: The Fundamental Equations for Electromagnetic Processes in Moving Bodies. In: The Principle of Relativity (1920), Calcutta: University Press, 1-69 * —— (21 September 1908). "Raum und Zeit" . Physikalische Zeitschrift. 10: 75–88. ** Translation by Meghnad Saha, "Space and Time" (1920): Wikisource link. : Introduced the four-vector notation and the notion of Minkowski space, which was later adopted by Einstein and others.

* Silberstein, Ludwik (1914). The theory of relativity. Cambridge University Press. :Used concepts developed in the then-current textbooks (e.g., vector analysis and non-Euclidean geometry) to provide entry into mathematical physics with a vector-based introduction to quaternions and a primer on matrix notation for linear transformations of 4-vectors. The ten chapters are composed of 4 on kinematics, 3 on quaternion methods, and 3 on electromagnetism. Silberstein used biquaternions to develop Minkowski space and Lorentz transformations. The second edition published in 1924 extended relativity into gravitation theory with tensor methods, but was superseded by Eddington's text.

* Taylor, Edwin F.; Wheeler, John Archibald (1992). Spacetime Physics: Introduction to Special Relativity (2nd ed.). W. H. Freeman. ISBN 978-0-7167-2327-1. :A modern introduction to special relativity, that explains well how the choice to divide spacetime into a time part and a space part is no different than two choices about how to assign coordinates to the surface of the earth.

General relativity

See also: General theory of relativity and History of general relativity

* Einstein, Albert (1916). "Die Grundlage der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie" [The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity] (PDF). Annalen der Physik (in German). 354 (7): 769–822. Bibcode:1916AnP...354..769E. doi:10.1002/andp.19163540702. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-08-23. : This publication is the first complete account of a general relativistic theory.

* Eddington, Arthur Stanley (1923). The Mathematical Theory of Relativity. Cambridge University Press. :Einstein considered this the finest description of the theory of relativity in any language.

* Misner, Charles W.; Thorne, Kip S.; Wheeler, John Archibald (1973). Gravitation. 24th printing. New York: W. H. Freeman. ISBN 978-0-7167-0344-0. :A book on gravitation, often considered the "Bible" on gravitation by researchers. Published by W.H. Freeman and Company in 1973. It covers all aspects of the General Theory of Relativity and also considers some extensions and experimental confirmation. It is divided into two "tracks", the second of which covers more advanced topics. Its massive size (over 1200 pages) has inspired nicknames such as "the phone book".