The Genesis of General Relativity Sources and Interpretations

From the reviews:

These volumes prove that to Wittgensteina (TM)s saying that "Genius is what makes us forget skill" ought to be added the statement "when viewing the finished product." Genius is also the ability to master the available resources and techniques and to synthesize them in a manner that overwhelms. The volumes are the product of a remarkable cooperative effort on the part of five of the most distinguished Einstein scholars. They deciphered and analyzed the extended research notes that Einstein made from 1912 to 1915 in his struggle to arrive at the final formulation of his theory of general relativity. In doing so they have given us deep new insights on Einsteina (TM)s creativity and on creativity in general, on context, on the role of past resources and expertise, and on the function of analogies. Their researches, observations and commentary have also made us think anew of the concept of a scientific revolution. Their splendid work is surely one of the most important and seminal scholarly accomplishments of recent times.

S.S. Schweber, Brandeis University, USA

"The publication of The Genesis of General Relativity marks the outcome of 10 years of research into the origins of Einsteina (TM)s General Relativity Theory a ] . It provides a comprehensive study and in-depth analysis of how the work of Albert Einstein and his contemporaries changes our understanding of space, time and gravitation. a ] At the center of this reconstruction, is a commentary of Einsteina (TM)s unpublished research notes, so-called a #Zurich Notebooka (TM), presented in their entirety for the first time." (Renn JA1/4rgen, www.physorg.com, February, 2007)

http: //arxiv1.library.cornell.edu/abs/0807.3706v1