In the grip of the distant universe : the science of inertia /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Graneau, Peter.
Imprint:	Hackensack, NJ ; London : World Scientific, ©2006.
Description:	1 online resource (xi, 274 pages) : illustrations, portraits
Language:	English
Subject:	Inertia (Mechanics) -- History. Mach's principle. Inertia (Mechanics) Mach's principle. History. Electronic books.
Format:	E-Resource Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11186916

Hidden Bibliographic Details
Varying Form of Title:	Science of inertia
Other authors / contributors:	Graneau, Neal.
ISBN:	9812773800 9789812773807 1281378925 9781281378927 9789812567543 9789812773807 9812567542 9786611378929 6611378928
Digital file characteristics:	data file
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references and index. English. Print version record.
Summary:	This is a book about the history of the science of inertia. Nobody denies the existence of the forces of inertia, but they are branded as "fictitious" because they do not fit smoothly into modern physics. Named by Kepler and given mathematical form by Newton, the force of inertia remains aloof because it has no obvious local cause. At the end of the 19th century, Ernst Mach bravely claimed that the inertia of an object was the result of its instantaneous interaction with all matter in the universe. Many other well-known physicists, including Aristotle, Galileo, Descartes and Einstein, are shown to have tackled this difficult subject. The book also concentrates on inertia research in the 20th century, taking place under the shadow of general relativity, which is seen as uncomfortable with Mach's principle. A Newtonian paradigm, based on action-at-a-distance forces, is discussed throughout the book, allowing the revival of Mach's principle as the only coherent explanation of the inertia forces which play such an important role in the laboratory and in the cosmos.
Other form:	Print version: Graneau, Peter. In the grip of the distant universe. Hackensack, NJ : World Scientific, ©2006 9812567542 9789812567543

Table of Contents:

Ch. 1. All matter instantaneously senses all other matter in the universe
ch. 2. Johannes Kepler
The astronomer who coined the word inertia
ch. 3. Free Fall
A hardly believable story of science
ch. 4. The Cartesian interlude
a novel cosmology
ch. 5. Newton's force of inertia
the basis of dynamics
ch. 6. A century of consolidation
the early practitioners of Newtonian dynamics
ch. 7. Mach's magic principle
the unique inertial system
ch. 8. Albert Einstein
inertia obscured by gravitation
ch. 9. Inducing inertia
an electromagnetic analogy
ch. 10. Retarded action at a distance
a short lived misnomer
ch. 11. Clock confusion in the 20th century
the connection between inertia and timekeeping
ch. 12. Machian inertia and the isotropic universe
a new force law.

In the grip of the distant universe : the science of inertia /

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