Concepts of Mass in Contemporary Physics and Philosophy
Regular price
€38.99
14 days return policy
Shipping & Delivery
A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field
A01=Max Jammer
Acceleration
Action (physics)
Antimatter
Aristotelian physics
Astrophysics
Atomic physics
Author_Max Jammer
Available energy (particle collision)
Bohr magneton
Brans-Dicke theory
Category=PDA
Category=PDZ
Category=PH
Classical and Quantum Gravity
Classical electromagnetism
Classical mechanics
Classical physics
Contemporary Physics
Einstein field equations
Elasticity (physics)
Electromagnetic mass
Elementary particle
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=0
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_science
Equivalence principle
Experimental physics
Foundations of Physics
Galileo Galilei
Gauge theory
General relativity
Gravitational constant
Gravitational field
Gravity
Higgs mechanism
Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics
Introduction to general relativity
Lorentz transformation
Mach's principle
Mass
Mass in general relativity
Mass in special relativity
Mass-energy equivalence
Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics
Modern physics
Muon neutrino
Nebular hypothesis
Neutrino
Newton's law of universal gravitation
Newton's laws of motion
Newtonian potential
Parameterized post-Newtonian formalism
Particle physics
Perturbation theory (quantum mechanics)
Philosophy of physics
Philosophy of science
Physical cosmology
Physicist
Physics Letters
Positron
Quantization of the electromagnetic field
Quantum electrodynamics
Quantum field theory
Quantum gravity
Quantum mechanics
Relativistic dynamics
Relativistic mechanics
Renormalization
Special relativity
Stochastic electrodynamics
Subatomic particle
Tau neutrino
Test particle
Theoretical physics
Theory
Theory of relativity
Product details
- ISBN 9780691144320
- Weight: 255g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 28 Jun 2009
- Publisher: Princeton University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
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.
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.
