"Special" and "General" relativity- Who invented those terms?

epovo
Messages
114
Reaction score
21
Hi all,
I can't seem to find any historic account of when those two theories got their (quite strange) names. Can someone point me to a source?
One of the reasons I am interested in this is the persistent idea in popularizing texts, especially from the 1970's, that Special Relativity could only deal with uniformly moving observers and that General Relativity was needed to discuss any accelerated frames of reference (I lost count of the times I was told that you could not account for the twin paradox without studying GR!). I had to actually start studying GR in earnest (and reading this forum) to dispel such a widespread myth from my mind.

I think the names Special vs. General added to the confusion in the minds of the public (probably outside a small expert circle). So who gave it their names and why? Is it possible that Einstein started to conceive GR without a clear idea of what he was trying to achieve?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Great link. Thank you
 
Thread 'Can this experiment break Lorentz symmetry?'

Thread 'Can this experiment break Lorentz symmetry?'

1. The Big Idea: According to Einstein’s relativity, all motion is relative. You can’t tell if you’re moving at a constant velocity without looking outside. But what if there is a universal “rest frame” (like the old idea of the “ether”)? This experiment tries to find out by looking for tiny, directional differences in how objects move inside a sealed box. 2. How It Works: The Two-Stage Process Imagine a perfectly isolated spacecraft (our lab) moving through space at some unknown speed V...
View full post »

Thread '1-Way Speed of Light'

Does the speed of light change in a gravitational field depending on whether the direction of travel is parallel to the field, or perpendicular to the field? And is it the same in both directions at each orientation? This question could be answered experimentally to some degree of accuracy. Experiment design: Place two identical clocks A and B on the circumference of a wheel at opposite ends of the diameter of length L. The wheel is positioned upright, i.e., perpendicular to the ground...
View full post »

Thread 'A sufficient condition for integrability of equation ##\nabla g=0##'

In Philippe G. Ciarlet's book 'An introduction to differential geometry', He gives the integrability conditions of the differential equations like this: $$ \partial_{i} F_{lj}=L^p_{ij} F_{lp},\,\,\,F_{ij}(x_0)=F^0_{ij}. $$ The integrability conditions for the existence of a global solution ##F_{lj}## is: $$ R^i_{jkl}\equiv\partial_k L^i_{jl}-\partial_l L^i_{jk}+L^h_{jl} L^i_{hk}-L^h_{jk} L^i_{hl}=0 $$ Then from the equation: $$\nabla_b e_a= \Gamma^c_{ab} e_c$$ Using cartesian basis ## e_I...
View full post »

Similar threads

I Does the metric in general relativity depend only on position because of the equivalence principle?
Replies
16
Views
2K
I About the meaning of "expanding universe"
Replies
17
Views
2K
I Why Does Special Relativity Not Contradict General Philosophy?
Replies
1
Views
1K
I Relativity: the Special and General theories
Replies
10
Views
2K
I Noether's second theorem: two questions
Replies
7
Views
3K
I An alternative derivation of the equation of motion in General Relativity
Replies
0
Views
1K
I GR as Gauge Theory
Replies
2
Views
2K
B Development of Special Relativity
2
Replies
53
Views
5K
I Why doesn't relativity of simultaneity lead to a contradiction?
Replies
17
Views
2K
I How Does Special Relativity Affect Perceptions of Simultaneity?
Replies
32
Views
2K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top