Henri Poincare and Relativity Theory

Abstract

The book presents ideas by H. Poincare and H. Minkowski according to those the essence and the main content of the relativity theory are the following: the space and time form a unique four-dimensional continuum supplied by the pseudo-Euclidean geometry. All physical processes take place just in this four-dimensional space. Comments to works and quotations related to this subject by L. de Broglie, P.A.M. Dirac, A. Einstein, V.L. Ginzburg, S. Goldberg, P. Langevin, H.A. Lorentz, L.I. Mandel'stam, H. Minkowski, A. Pais, W. Pauli, M. Planck, A. Sommerfeld and H. Weyl are given in the book. It is also shown that the special theory of relativity has been created not by A. Einstein only but even to a greater extent by H. Poincare. The book is designed for scientific workers, post-graduates and upper-year students majoring in theoretical physics.