EINSTEIN'S
MANUSCRIPT
ON THE
SPECIAL
THEORY
OF RELATIVITY
I
Einstein's review of
electrodynamics
and
of
what
would later
be
called
the
"special" theory
of
relativity
was
probably
written between
1912 and 1914. It
was
written for
the
Handbuch der
Radiologie,
edited
by
Erich
Marx,[1]
but
remained
unpublished.
After
the
First World War had caused
a
delay
in the
publication
of
the
handbook,
Einstein
was
unwilling
to
revise
his
manuscript
for
publication
at
a
later
date.
The
first
section of
the
manuscript expounds
H. A.
Lorentz's electron
theory,
while
the
subsequent
sections
are
dedicated
to
a
systematic presentation
of
special
relativity,
including
its historical,
conceptual,
and
empirical background. Throughout
the
manu-
script
Einstein
systematically
uses
the
four-dimensional formulation of
relativity.
The
manuscript
ends
with
a
brief discussion of relativistic
hydrodynamics.[2]
The material
presented
in the
manuscript
is
largely
taken
from
Einstein's
own
earlier
work
as
well
as
from
the recent studies
of Hermann
Minkowski,
Arnold
Sommerfeld,
and
Max Laue. Einstein's introduction
to vector and tensor
calculus
goes beyond
standard
texts and
resembles the
presentation
of
a
generalized tensor
calculus in
the
mathematical section of Einstein and Grossmann
1913
(Doc. 13).
II
At
the
beginning
of
1911 the
publishing
house Akademische
Verlagsgesellschaft
in
Leipzig
decided
to
publish
a
handbook of radiation
physics (Handbuch
der Radio-
physik)
in
several
volumes, with
eminent
contemporary
scholars
as
authors.[3] In the
foreword
to the first volume, Marx, the
editor of
the handbook,
defined
the
goal
of
the
publication
as
follows:
"In each volume individual articles
constituting indepen-
dent
monographs
should
also in
their
entirety
form
a
self-contained
textbook."[4]
Marx
also instructed
the
authors "that
monographs
should
be
appropriately detailed,
and
I
requested
that historical
aspects
be
given
their
due."[5]
[1]Some
time after
the manuscript
was
submitted,
it
was
given
the title
"The
Special Theory
of
Relativity" ("Spezielle Relativitätstheorie"),
either
by
Erich Marx
or by
Einstein himself
(see
Erich Marx
to Einstein,
3
March
1922).
[2]Einstein's
course on
electricity
and magnetism
in
winter
semester 1913/1914 comprised
a
similar
introductory
treatment
of the
theory
of
relativity;
for
a
summary
of
this
course on
the
basis of student
notes,
see
Appendix A.
[3]See
Erich
Marx
to
H. A. Lorentz,
25
February
1911
(NeHR,
Archief
H. A.
Lorentz).
[4] "In
selbständigen
Monografien
sollen die
Einzelbearbeitungen
in
jedem
Band ein auch
als
Lehrbuch
abgeschlossenes
Ganzes bilden"
(Marx 1920,
p.
V).
[5]"dass
die
Monografien
ihrem Character
nach
ausführlich
sein müssen, und ich
bat,
auch
das
Historische nicht
zu
kurz
zu
fassen"
(Erich
Marx
to
H. A. Lorentz,
13
October
1911
[NeHR,
Archief H. A.
Lorentz]).