A Theory of Time and Space
 | |
| Author | Alfred A Robb |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Relativity, geometry of spacetime |
| Published | 1914 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| Pages | 373 |
A Theory of Time and Space is a 1914 book by the physicist and mathematician Alfred A Robb, published by Cambridge University Press.
Overview
Robb gives an axiomatic, purely geometric derivation of the space-time structure of special relativity, built up from a single primitive relation of "conical order" — the relation of one event being after another when it lies in the latter's forward light cone. From this ordering of events he constructs, in the manner of Euclid's Elements, the whole metrical geometry of space and time, without presupposing it. The approach anticipates the modern notion of the causal structure of spacetime (and the later "causal set" programme), and earned Robb the epithet "the Euclid of relativity." It is one of a series of four related works he produced between 1911 and 1936.
About the author
Alfred Arthur Robb (1873–1936) was a British (Northern Irish) physicist and mathematician, educated at Cambridge and under Woldemar Voigt at Göttingen, known for his axiomatic, causal-order foundation of relativistic space-time.
Publication details
- Author: Alfred A Robb
- Publisher: Cambridge University Press
- Published: 1914
- Pages: 373
Links to Purchase Book
- A Theory of Time and Space (Amazon)