Cover of Relativity and the Nature of Spacetime

Book 2005

Relativity and the Nature of Spacetime

1 readers

Publisher
Springer London, Limited
Language
English
Published
2005
  • Relativity (Physics)
  • Space and time
  • Space and time.
  • Cosmology
  • Special relativity (Physics)
  • Physics
  • Mathematical physics
  • Philosophy

"The most important question addressed in this book is "what is the nature (the ontological status) of spacetime?" or, equivalently, "what is the dimensionality of the world at the macroscopic level?" The answer to this question is developed via a thorough analysis of relativistic effects and explicitly asking whether the objects involved in those effects are three-dimensional or four-dimensional. This analysis clearly shows that if the world and the physical objects were three-dimensional, none of the kinematic relativistic effects and the experimental evidence supporting them would be possible. The implications of this result for physics, philosophy, and our entire world view are discussed."--Jacket.