Product Description
The final work of a distinguished physicist, this remarkable volume examines the emotive significance of time, the time order of mechanics, the time direction of thermodynamics and microstatistics, the time direction of macrostatistics, and the time of quantum physics. Coherent discussions include accounts of analytic methods of scientific philosophy in the investigation of probability, quantum mechanics, the theory of relativity, and causality. "[Reichenbach’s] best by a good deal."—Physics Today. 1971 ed.
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Customer Reviews (6)

Very elucidating book.
What Reichenbach doesn't say in this book is as important as what he does say.He takes an empirical approach to an investigation of time, which leaves out Husserl's "time consciousness."He examines from numerous standpoints (classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, etc.) the question of the direction of time.When leaving time conscioussness out of the mix, the question of the direction of time becomes very difficult.

Reichenbach's knowledge of physics plays well with his experience in the philosophy of probability to ensure that error in thinking is reduced.Overall, I think this a fine book worth any philosopher's time.If fundamental issues in physics are a concern for those in the field of physics, I also recommend this book.

I must caution the reader that this book contains mathematics necessary to the subject, so anyone without a knowledge of basic probability or knowledge of statistical mechanics would probably want to prepare themselves for this book.Rief's book on Statistical Mechanics should be more than adequate (but I am a partial Carnegie Mellon guy, so take your pick of thermo books w/ a statistical bent).

A Bizarre Philosophy on Statistical Mechanics
I think it was a good thing that Reichenbach never published the book: if only his wife had not found the manuscript and published it posthumously. Upon reading the second chapter I was astounded at how dismissive he was about identity and persistence. He makes a controversial presumption about identity without any arguments for why he presumes such identity and without giving anything close to identity criteria. He then glosses over the problem of identity through time, whether endurantist or perdurantist or whatever. And he claims to be a philosopher! These are such important issues in the philosophy of time, in philosopher in general. That said, this is not so much a book about the philosophy of time as it is about the philosophical foundation of statistical mechanics: whether statistical mechanics is a good explanation for the second law of thermodynamics or not. And this is where Reichenbach fails. Instead of dealing with the philosophy of statistical mechanics, per se, he wants to validate its worth by giving it a sound mathematical basis using probability. That is not philosophy at all. But the worst is his seemingly ad hoc explanation for why the universe is moving from a low entropy state to a high entropy state by dealing with the symmetry problems in statistical mechanics, that is, the symmetry of Newtonian physics and the statistical postulate with respect to time. He posits a branching system, which has been updated by Paul Davies in "The Physics of Time Asymmetry". Reichenbach's branching system is just absurd! He gives two arguments to buoy up his branching system: i) an idea of a causal chain that creates a net, which is open and ii) a probability lattice. Now I realize that he comes up with very sound math to prove the soundness of his probability lattice, but correct math does not a universe make. The probability lattice, while requiring a suspension of disbelief to analogize it to his branching system qua explanation of why the universe came from a low entropy state towards a higher one and why there "seem" to be entropic subsystems (e.g. a fully formed ice cube melting in a glass of water), is predicated on Reichenbach's belief that the arrow of time is explained by the phenomena of cause and effect as a open chain that creates a net. For him, a cause is an interaction and an interaction creates a subsystem which branches off of the overall trajectory of the entropy of the universe. I have no idea what this means. Why is cause an interaction and what is an interaction exactly? Does cause and effect have to be the working of occult powers? What causes interactions? Can interactions be caused, since by definition they are causes? None of this makes any sense despite his valiant and tedious efforts to back up his theories with a mathematical foundation. But, this is philosophy, not theoretical mathematics. And all his theories, or more accurately, his equations, seem to make statistical mechanics more complex and fantastical than needed or wanted. There is no elegance here. There is, however, a hodgepodge of equation after equation for ever more complex and incoherent theory after theory, without any rigorous analysis or argumentation from a philosophical standpoint.

The Direction of Time
I can't believe that everyone didn't rate this with 5 stars!
I had to write this because this was one of those really great books that changed my understanding of something that seems so basic, so obvious, time.
Well well worth the 5 bucks.

Time: Why is it so important?
H.Reichenbach is undoubtly one of the most remarkable scientists that the world has ever witnessed.The interested mind is to be very strongly urged to read the book 'The direction of time' by him. Time is an essential concept to every physics student, as without it nature would be meaningless, and therefore the study of nature would be an empty pursuit. Whenever we wish to understand why we are in the 'world', say rather than in the planet MARS we have to understand thoroughly what actually happenned in the past, beginning from The Big Bang, that is, from the beginning of time. The book gives us a clear understanding into this inquiry ('TIME') developing both classical and quantum mechanical content of the concept of time starting from the first principles. The book carefully clarifies many confusing conceptions about time. For instance, the author clearly explains the contradictions lying inthe famous Zeno's paradox which attemts to prove that time does not exist, in such a way that the physics student is now much more confident with such essential conceptsas displacement and velocity. Also in the book, another essential concept of statistical physics ENTROPY is developed in a very systematic way and through this concept the direction of time is decisively established. Moreover, the issue of DETERMINACY or INDETERMINACY , an issue which is simply ignored in the text books or mentioned briefly in a few sentences as if it is self-evident and therefore does not need further elaboration, is discussed in depth, so both theoretical and experimental physicists have now a strong ground in arguing their proposals. I, as a physicist of 18 years of university lecturing experience, strongly recommend it to every single physics student or actually every single mind (student or not) who cares about the future, and who needs a decisive explanation (justification) for their potential steps to save (before being too late) our home THE WORLD WHICH WE NOW LIVE IN, only home only home and only home for us and for our childeren including of course our organic bodies, the animals and the plants. The direction of time and equally of The ENTROPY are the key concepts to understand what technology actually is, and to understand why it is inevitable to face more and more polluted environment as technology advances.

This is a great book
It is a beautiful but exterememly difficult book. It covers the concept of time and direction of time from the beginning up to current thinking. Author, being one of the founding fathers of philosophical quantum theory first introduces a good understanding of Thermodaynamics and Statiastical Physics and defines the order of events to lead into statistical definition of arrow of time. A lot of difficult concepts from Classsical Statistical Physics, Probability Theory, Relativity and Mathematical Logic as well as a good understanding of Quantum Physics is assumed to be in the bag of the reader, after all this book is not a Popular Science book.Although the author claims that knowledge of derivations of the formulas used are not critical to understand this study yet time to time the language and logic becames exteremely difficult. This is a must read book in this subject, may be many times or time and time over after increasing the understanding in other subjects that only tools in this book. ... Read more

Product Description
A brilliantly clear and penetrating exposition of developments in physical science and mathematics brought about by the advent of non-Euclidean geometries, including in-depth coverage of the foundations of geometry, the theory of time, Einstein’s theory of relativity and its consequences, other key topics.
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Customer Reviews (6)

There are better books than this.
I recommend "SPACE AND TIME IN SPECIAL RELATIVITY" by n david mermin for a thorough, complete understanding and, most importantly, lucid explanation of special relativity.I grew up on this book.I picked this book up after high school and read it cover to cover several times over.I regret to give such a negative review, but hindsight is 20/20.I really don't believe Reichenbach explains matters that well.I don't know if that is attributed to English being his second language or translation problems.The introduction by Rudolph Carnap is worthy of five stars.However, Reichenbach had a tendency to embrace nutty ideas.And these ideas obfuscated the topic he was talking about.His primary importance is not due to originality of ideas, but to being a member of the secret society known as the Berlin movement branch of the Vienna Circle and to slavish devotion to crediting Einstein with the relativity theory developed by Poincare and Lorentz.His life was spent serving propaganda against Germany in Germany's attempt to preserve its national cultural integrity, promoting the myth of Einstein's genius, and publishing apologetic works in support of the Humean type myopia of the Vienna Circle Analytic movement.

A great treatise on time-space-time
As a "layman" I have had difficulty understanding the "four-vector" system that Minkowski and Einstein formulated.Time does not seem to be a vector inthe same way that space is; time is unidirectional, or perhaps my mind perceives it in this manner.Reichenbach tries to explain this geometry and it's consequences, and also tries to incorporate philosophy and epistemology in the discussion.He admits that physics uses mathematical abstractions that may or may not represent "reality".

I would recommend this book to those curious about the meaning of "space time" with the slight caveat that Reichenbach was a Positivist, and there are many who disagree with the basic philosophy of Positivism.

Great book on the foundations of relativity
The reference to "A." which Mr. Ecce Nihil could not find is to a German book by Reichenbach, as written in the author's introduction at page xv. Reichenbach's book IS consistent. It is one of the few books on relativity explaining the question of clock synchronization properly and comprehensively ( in the sense of Bridgman's operational view ).

unrewarding
I picked this book up in search of some insights and a way to think about this thing that is "space and time". However I found it rather uninspiring. Firstly Reichenbach is too much of a positivist, trying to be too general about the relativity of geometry, and he is overly concerned about debating the view that Euclidean space is more natural. Related to this the flow of the book gets bogged down in the problem of visualisation. For example there is an extended analysis of a spherical geometry using a ridiculous geometric construction, which by the way is very hard to get through until you realise he has used the same definition for two different things. I wasn't pleased to go through that effort so as to know what being trapped between two spherical shells looks like in a spherical world! Although he does have a minor point to argue here.
Anyway, though the first two chapters were largely a waste of time over trivialities and geometric fantasies, at least the arguments were constructed well and without large gaps, and I was looking forward to getting into the chapter on space-time combined. However the section 27 came with a footnote: "We shall present at this point only a summary, for a complete presentation we must refer to A". Arrggh!!! Not only does it now become unreadable without a knowledge of "A", I can't find what "A" is, so this book does not stand on its own. At this point I'm afraid I gave up, I cannot read this sort of stuff in "summary", but must follow an argument, so I cannot tell whether Reichy in the end had some interesting insights.

Excellently written and still relevant today
Reichenbach writes with clarity, reason and passion on a topic that is in much need of this still today. It is accessible to the astute layperson - there is some occasional math, but the text handles most of the important concepts. It is useful for anyone interested in the combined scientific and philosophical perspective of space and time.

Reichenbach, in the Introduction, rues the current estrangement of philosophy and science, longing for the "natural philosophy" of the past, where thinkers were well-versed in both areas.

So this book takes us through the philosophy of space and time accompanied and supported by empirical and theoretical scientific work. He seems to have little in the way of agenda or "-isms" to tout, nor is he inclined to spend much ink on rehashing historical debates or trivial examples. And although the book winds it way eventually to General Relativity, we are thankfully not dragged through the typical "Aristotlean view -> Galilean view -> Einsteinian view" that is so commonly used.

Instead, he begins by discussing Euclidean space, the nature of geometry and so on. Throughout, the notion of topology is a common thread. Time, simultaneity, Lorentz, Principle of Equivalence, and gravitational effects on the topology of spacetime, are some of the steps through the book.

In section 39, for example, he guides us on a detour entitled "The Analytic Treatment of Reimannian Spaces", just to carry "...the treatment of general geometry a little further." In four short pages and a modicum of equations, the nature of tensors as a natural mathematical consequence appear, effortlessly and painlessly.

All along, woven in, are cogent philosophical treatments of the topic currently under discussion. The book is a good example of the author's desire to see philosophy and science melded again, and good example of his prowess in both areas. ... Read more

Product Description
This book represents a new approach to philosophy. It treats philosophy as not a collection of systems, but as a study of problems. It recognizes in traditional philosophical systems the historical function of having asked questions rather than having given solutions. Professor Reichenbach traces the failures of the systems to psychological causes.
Speculative philosophers offered answers at a time when science had not yet provided the means to give true answers. Their search for certainty and for moral directives led them to accept pseudo-solutions. Plato, Descartes, Spinoza, Kant, and many others are cited to illustrate the rationalist fallacy:reason, unaided by observation, was regarded as a source of knowledge, revealing the physical world and "moral truth." The empiricists could not disprove this thesis, for they could not give a valid account of mathematical knowledge.
Mathematical discoveries in the early nineteenth century cleared the way for modern scientific philosophy. Its advance was furthered by discoveries in modern physics, chemistry, biology, and psychology. These findings have made possible a new conception of the universe and of the atom. The work of scientists thus altered philosophy completely and brought into being a philosopher with a new attitude and training.
Instead of dictating so-called laws of reason to the scientist, this modern philosopher proceeds by analyzing scientific methods and results. He finds answers to the age-old questions of space, time, causality, and life; of the human observer and the external world. He tells us how to find our way through this world without resorting to unjustifiable beliefs or assuming a supernatural origin for moral standards. Philosophy thus is no longer a battleground of contradictory opinions, but a science discovering truth step by step.
Professor Reichenbach, known for his many contributions to logic and the philosophy of science, addresses this book to a wider audience. He writes for those who do not have the leisure or preparation to read in the fields of mathematics, symbolic logic, or physics. Besides showing the principal foundations of the new philosophy, he has been careful to provide the necessary factual background. He has written a philosophical study, not a mere popularization. It contains within its chapters all the necessary scientific material in an understandable form--and, therefore, conveys all the information indispensable to a modern world-view.
The late Hans Reichenbach was Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles. His previous books include ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Philosophy with an Edge
In an episode of Seinfeld, George makes a comment about physiotherapists, and I think professionals in general.He claims that "everyone's guy is the best".Certainly this can be true for many authors as well.

This is not the case here because I am not enamored with his other works.But in the Rise of Scientific Philosophy, Reichenbach brings you through questions and observations which need addressing.He begins his assault on poor Philosophy on page three, and continues through the book.He separates out the poetic philosophers, from the more tough minded philosophers that actually say something.

I don't think that I am exaggerating when I write: I don't believe someone can truly say they have some philosophical background without having read and digested the work contained with in Reichenbach's book.

But, it is not an easy read, and will take time.But the time taken is very much worth it.

Note: I must confess that I bought my copy of the book fully a year before actually reading it.

A Life-Changing Book
I read Reichenbach's Rise of Scientific Philosophy when I was a freshman in college, forty years ago. I have read many books over the years, but to this day I would say that this is the most influential book of my life. I started college as an ordinary Christian protestant. A philosophy course taught me about critical thinking. Then I started reading Reichenbach over Christmas vacation and I found it so fascinating that I couldn't put it down. I underlined a lot of passages. I added lots of exclamation points!!! By the time I was finished I was no longer a Christian. I was an atheist. Reichenbach makes it clear that you don't have to have religion to be a good, moral person. For a while I was a militant atheist, but I soon matured out of that. Still wanting something to belong to, I was a Humanist with a capital H for awhile. Then I joined an ultra-liberal Unitarian church that didn't require people to believe any doctrine, but which discussed all sorts of philosophical and religious views and emphasized the importance of freedom of speech and religion. Now, after much reading in psychology, anthropology and philisophy, I continue to be fascinated by the need for religion as a universal human characteristic. Nobody can deny the power of religious beliefs to affect human emotions and behavior, for both good and evil. But some people are capable of deeper, more critical thinking about religion. Some people have the strength to exist and thrive without a God, but with love for people, for human rights, and for the natural world. This book is for those people. ...

Mysticism on the rocks
Reichenbach pulls no punches.By the time he's finished, traditional, speculative philosophies are dead, buried and left without a headstone.(That these "undead" philosophies continue stalk the land, well, that's another story...)

According to Reichenbach - and his logic is impeccable - while the rationalist philosophers painted their mystical canvases, the parallel development of science, and scientific method handed the empiricists the tools they needed to produce the first grounded philosophic view.The search for certainty had the classic philosophers barking up the wrong tree.And meanwhile, the exploration of the microscopic world, coupled with the creation of a new mathematical tool - statistics - bootstrapped the scientific community into a model of the universe that was not causal, but probabilistic.

And what of ethics?Just as there are no absolute answers to the physical world, Reichenbach leaves the moral bucket empty as well.Your ethics, he argues, are ultimately what you choose to posit for yourself.

There is much more, lurking in this dense and difficult book.Published in 1951 - two years prior to his death - this is a tour-de-force of a man who was a contemporary of Einstein, and a participant in the famed "Weiner Kreiss"(Vienna Circle) whichincluded such mighty minds as Kurt Godel.(See my review of D. Hofstadter's "Godel, Escher, Bach...")Reichenbach was one hot potato, armed with superior weaponry, and ready to take on the world.

The tragedy of this pursuit of consistency, which is the trademark of the scientific view, is that it probably will never come to guide society at large.Empty as it is, it is unacceptable to the majorities, whom Reichenbach was certainly not writing to, and who have no working concept of the scientific method.Most people do not want to hear that there are no ultimate answers.

One very big problem I see with this philosophy lies not with its truthfulness, but in its usefulness.We humans have a tough situation all around.We have a state of awareness which far exceeds that of our animal brethren, but we are bound with all the other animal traits, including mortality.Therefore, since we became aware of our frailties, we have consistently sought a coping mechanism.The rationalist view offered some hope - be it a blatant lie - but scientific philosophy, alas, does not.In truth, it runs counter to any coping mechanism one might choose to create.It is certainly not a philosophy for the weak and sick.This is the largest difficulty I see with its acceptance. As correct as Reichenbach may be, how can we stomach sending our children into a world where there's no intrinsic good or bad?How can we prepare them?The search for an easy answer may be wrong - but it's easy!And like water, humanity will likely take the easy path.There are many sweeter smelling flowers out there.Why choose this one?The author could have spent some effort making this philosophy more appealing to the masses, but he chose not to.

So is it just for scientists after all?The implications of scientists, blindly searching for more empty knowledge, as pawns of the capitalists, guided by a philosophy of blind greed, creating new and better tools and toys for the rest of us, yields a rather uncomfortable image in my mind of the future of the human race.But, after all, it truly doesn't matter what we do.And even though the truth is sometimes a bit scary, I do like the concept of creating my own vision and values.

Now it's true that humans created both traditional and scientific philosophy, and however different their origins may have been, they are both here to stay.Are there any implications for the future of society in general?After reading this book, I would have to say:"Probably".

Very interesting book, but not for everyone.

pre-Kantian speculative philosophy debunked
I am only half way through this AMAZING book, and the revelations are incredible.The first third is a history of philosophy and epistemology up until Kant, and shows you what true science is all about.This is amanifest for clear thought, if I've ever seen one, and I have... CarlSagan's "The Demon-Haunted World".This book explains everythingwith reason and rationale, he has not yet gone into the metaphysic toexplain anything.He doesn't expect the reader to go to another source, heexplains it all in the book, says who he got it from, even what book.Ifyou ever wanted to know what the scientific philosophy truly was you haveto read this.It is not just about its rise, but explains WHAT it is, withthat very important geneological information about how it came about.Ifyou are religious, watch out.It will really shake your world, and youwill understand why the highest percentage of agnostics is found in theintellectual, scientific fields that required the intellectual philosophicframework of science in order to be comprehended completely.EVERY SCIENCESTUDENT SHOULD READ THIS!Got to close up the computer lab, and happyreading. ... Read more

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Hans Reichenbach, a philosopher of science who was one of five students in Einstein's first seminar on the general theory of relativity, became Einstein's bulldog, defending the theory against criticism from philosophers, physicists, and popular commentators.This book chronicles the development of Reichenbach's reconstruction of Einstein's theory in a way that clearly sets out all of its philosophical commitments and its physical predictions as well as the battles that Reichenbach fought on its behalf, in both the academic and popular press. The essays include reviews and responses to philosophical colleagues, such as Moritz Schlick and Hugo Dingler; polemical discussions with physicists Max Born and D. C. Miller; as well as popular articles meant to clarify aspects of Einstein's theories and set out their philosophical ramifications for the layperson.At a time when physics and philosophy were both undergoing revolutionary changes in content and method, this book is a window into the development of scientific philosophy and the role of the philosopher. ... Read more

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This volume is dedicated to Rudolf Carnap and Hans Reichenbach, two of the greatest philosophers of this century, on the occasion of their 100th birthdays. It is presented by Erkenntnis, the journal they founded, and contains 22 contributions from the most renowned analytic philosophers and philosophers of science. The essays address many subjects, all of which are related to the work of Reichenbach and Carnap. They cover epistemology and philosophy of science, metaphysics, philosophy of language, and philosophical logic. They thus display the rich and lively influence of Reichenbach and Carnap on present-day philosophizing. Some further essays give valuable historical information on their philosophical setting and on some neglected aspects of their work; in particular, two unknown pieces by Reichenbach, one of which was never published, have been included in the volume. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A classic work highly recommended for college library and philosophy reference shelves
Experience And Prediction: An Analysis Of The Foundations And The Structure Of Knowledge reprints the classic treatise by German-American philosopher of science Hans Reichenbach (1891-1953). Paving the way for the rigorous post-WW II philosophy of science, Experience And Prediction breaks down the fundamental conundrums of existence, reduction, projection, construction, the nature of the ego, probability logic, and much more. A highly scholarly text, written expressly to introduce the concept of "logical positivism" (a form of epistemology the prioritized scientific truths over metaphysical truths) to English speakers, Experience And Prediction is a classic work highly recommended for college library and philosophy reference shelves.
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Written by an internationally renowned philosopher, this volume offers a three-part philosophical interpretation of quantum physics. The first part reviews the basics of quantum mechanics, outlining their philosophical interpretation and summarizing their results; the second outlines the mathematical methods of quantum mechanics; and the third section blends the philosophical ideas of the first part and the mathematical formulations of the second part to develop a variety of interpretations of quantum mechanics. 1944 edition.
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Customer Reviews (1)

The classic text on the philosophy of quantum mechanics
Reichenbach's book is a classic text, the first (I think) to focus on the philosophical aspects of quantum mechanics.Since it was written around the time that quantum mechanics was born, it does not deal with moderndiscussion on the subject.Reichenbach does solid work, however, and thisis a valuable resource for anyone interested in these issues.

The bookhas three sections.The first is an overview of his conclusions and theimplications of quantum mechanics.This section is lucid and relativelynon-technical, it should be intelligible to anyone.The second section isan in-depth technical introduction to the formalism of quantum mechanics. Anyone, if determined enough, could get through this part, though it'spretty hairy going for those without a formal background in physics ormathematics.In the last section, he reaches his conclusions andintroduces a system of logic to deal with the truth value of propositionsabout quantum mechanics. ... Read more

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Product Description
FROM COPERNICUS TO EINSTEIN COPYRIGHT MCMXLII BY PHILOSOPHICAL LIBRARY, INC. 15 EAST 40TH STREET, NEW YORK Composed and Printed in the United States of America By Steingould Corp., New York TYPOGRAPHY BY SIDNEY SOLOMON CONTENTS CHAPTER 1. The Copernican View of the World 11 2. Ether 29 3. The Special Theory of Relativity 49 4. The Relativity of Motion 73 5. General Theory of Relativity 85 6. Space and Time 107 6201251 ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE 1. A Tycho Brahe s Sextant 20 2. Roemer s Observation of Jupiter s Moon 32 3. The Phenomenon of Interference 38 4. The Total Spectrum 46 5. The Diagram of Michelson s Experiment 54 6. A Diagram of the Measurement of the Speed of Light 59 7. A Diagram of the Course of a Light-Signal 63 8. Einstein s quot Box Experiment quot 86 9. The Curvature of Light-Rays in Einstein s Box 95 10. The Einstein Tower in Potsdam 100 11. Major Segrave s 1,000 Horsepower Auto at Full Speed 1 10 FROM COPERNICUS TO EINSTEIN Chapter 1 THE COPERNICAN VIEW OF THE WORLD THIS little book purports to serve as an introduction to the great problems of space, time and motion. The in quiries it is concerned with are very old. Men have been forming ideas concerning space and time since times im memorial, and curiously enough, have been writing and fighting about these things with the greatest interest, even fanaticism. This has been a strange strife, indeed, having little to do with economic necessities it has always dealt with abstract things, far removed from our daily life and with no direct influence upon our daily activities. Why do we need to know whether the sun revolves around the earth or vice versa What business of ours is it, anyway Can this knowledge be of any use to us No sooner have we uttered these questions than we become aware of their foolishness. It may not be of any use to us, but we want to know something about these problems. We do not want to go blindly through the world. We desire more than a mere existence. We need these cosmic perspectives in order to be able to experi ence a feeling for our place in the world. The ultimate questions as to the meaning of our actions and as to the meaning of life in general always tend to involve astro nomical problems. Here lies the mystery surrounding 11 From Copernicus To Einstein astronomy, here lies the wonder we experience at the sight of the starry sky, the wonder growing in proportion to our understanding of immense distances of space and of the stars inner nature. Here is the source of scientific as well as popular astronomy. These two branches have diverged in the course of their development. Astronomy, as a science, has come to forget its primitive wonder instead, it approaches the realm of stars with sober research and calculation. This disenchantment with its subject-matter, which scientific study invariably entails, has permeated astronomy to a greater degree than the layman realizes. In observing the astronomers of today, how they measure, take notes, cal culate, how little attention fiiey pay to mysterious specu lations, one may be surprised to find the wonderful struc ture of learning so cut and dry at a close range. Yet nothing is more wrong and more objectionable than the feeling of a heartbreaking loss, with which some people regard the vanishing mysticism of the skies. Although science may have destroyed a few naive fantasies, what she has put in their place is so immensely greater that we can well bear the loss. It takes perseverance and energy, of course, to com prehend the discoveries of science but whoever under takes the study is bound to learn many more surprising things from it than a naive study of nature can disclose. Scientific astronomy has always exercised, in fact, a great influence upon everyday thinking and upon the popular conception of the universe. If it is difficult today to pro-12 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Perfect examples.
This is a not so easy understandable popular scientific work about the theory of relativity.
It is a little bit out of date, but it should be read for his examples.

4 dimensions
"Three numbers are needed to determine a point in space. Suppose a lamp hangs in the room. How can we determine its place? We measure its distance from the floor, from the back-wall and from the side-wall; these three figures determine its position in space. ... If we want to determine not a point in space but an event, we require another figure, namely, the statement of time. Suppose we switch on the light for a second and produce a flash of light; this is an event. It is completely determined if we know the three numbers defining the position of the lamp and, in addition, the fourth number defining the time of the light flash. Insofar as there are four figures, space and time together are called a four-dimensional manifoldness. This is the whole secret."

The author stresses also the importance of Riemann and the influence of Michelson on Einstein.
But, as an introduction I prefer Bertrand Russell's 'ABC of Relativity'.

Outstanding book on the philosophy of science
I was very much impressed by this little book. From it I first learned about Mach's Principle, and how it followed right from the concept that motion is relative. The analysis of Newton's pail experiment is astonishing. It is just a combination of powerful ideas, with no equations. Nowadays, when I happen to teach General Relativity, I begin with this analysis by Reichenbach, also because it is one of its conclusions that Newton's gravity theory is inconsistent with motion being relative. At least you have to accept that a moving mass attracts differently than one at rest. This is already extra-Newtonian. Reichenbach, a member of the famous Vienna Circle was a very sharp-minded fellow, and a very clear one too. This book is a must. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The building of a relativistic epistemology
In "The theory of Relativity and A Priori Knowledge"--logical empiricist Hans Reichenbach's first book--an attempt is made to rescue philosophy from the mistakes made by tying our best theories of knowledge too closely with pre-Einsteinian physics.The book was written in 1920, when the special and general theories of relativity were beginning their overthrow of classical ideas and this is one of the first attempts to model a theory of knowledge on the mathematical machinery of relativity.

Reichenbach's project is to first show that the epistemological notions underlying the theory of relativity are not consistent with any of the three major theories of knowledge popular at the time: the empiricism of the early positivists, the conventionalism of Henri Poincare (a view he would later embrace), and especially the apriorism of Kant and the Neo-Kantians of his time.Once this has been shown, Reichenbach creates a new epistemology which takes what Reichenbach sees as the attractive portions of each.He argues that Kant is correct in his claim that there must be some contribution to knowledge in order to structure our raw impressions into meaningful objects and relations.But that he is wrong to grant the structuring principles, the so-called a priori, the status of absolute truth.Instead the structure they produce must be empirically justified.In this he agrees with the positivists, but criticizes them for overlooking the theory-ladenness of observation that was pointed out by Kant.Finally he argues that oftentimes theory and observation will underdetermine the applicability of a theory.In such a case there will be arbitrary aspects inplicit in an applied scienific theory.This arbitrariness corroborates Poincare to some extent, but Reichenbach argues that the degree to which Poincare takes his characterization of science as conventional is problematic.Poincare's claim that geometry is conventional, for example, is false according to Reichenbach.Within a reference frame, geometry is completely fixed and there is no guarantee that for a given geometry there will be a frame which will entail it.This is, of course, a far different arguement than one finds in his famous "Philosophy of Space and Time" eight years later. ... Read more