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This volume is dedicated to the one hundredth anniversary of the publication of Hermann Minkowski's paper "Space and Time" in 1909. His work on the spacetime representation of special relativity had a huge impact on the twentieth century physics to the extent that modern physics would be impossible without the notion of spacetime. While there is consensus on the mathematical significance of spacetime in theoretical physics, for a hundred years there has been no consensus on the nature of spacetime itself. We owe Minkowski a clear answer to the question of the nature of spacetime -- whether it is only a mathematical space or represents a real four-dimensional world. A century after its publication the original Minkowski paper still represents an enrichment to the physicists, especially the relativists, who read it with the intent to fully investigate the depth of Minkowski's ideas on space and time and the physical meaning of special relativity.
The volume begins with an excellent retranslation of Minkowski's paper by Dennis Lehmkuhl, accompanied by the original German version of the article. The fourteen contributions are divided into three parts entitled "The Impact of Minkowski Spacetime on the Twentieth Century Physics from a Historical Perspective", "Implications of Minkowski Spacetime for Theoretical Physics", and "Conceptual and Philosophical Issues of Minkowski Spacetime."
List of contents
The Impact of Minkowski Spacetime on the Twentieth Century Physics from a Historical Perspective.- Hermann Minkowski, Relativity and the Axiomatic Approach to Physics.- Minkowski's Modern World.- Implications of Minkowski Spacetime for Theoretical Physics.- Hermann Minkowski and Special Relativity.- The Rich Structure of Minkowski Space.- Minkowski Space-Time and Quantum Mechanics.- Modern Space-Time and Undecidability.- Quantum Space-Times.- Space-Time Extensions in Quantum Gravity.- Conceptual and Philosophical Issues of Minkowski Spacetime.- The Adolescence of Relativity: Einstein, Minkowski, and the Philosophy of Space and Time.- Hermann Minkowski: From Geometry of Numbers to Physical Geometry.- The Mystical Formula and The Mystery of Khronos.- Physical Laws and Worldlines in Minkowski Spacetime.- Time as an Illusion.- Consequences of Minkowski's Unification of Space and Time for a Philosophy of Nature.
About the author
Presently: Assistant Professor, Science College, Concordia University (in fact, I am associated with three departments - Liberal Arts College, Philosophy Department, and Science College)§1984 -1989: Adjunct Professor, Philosophy Department, Sofia University§1986 -1989: Researcher, Institute of Philosophy, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences§Doctoral degrees in theoretical physics (1997, Concordia University) and philosophy of science (1988, Institute of Philosophy, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences).
Summary
Celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the 1909 publication of Minkowski’s seminal paper "Space and Time", this volume includes a fresh translation as well as the original in German, and a number of contributed papers on the still-controversial subject.
Additional text
From the reviews:
“This book celebrates the 100th anniversary of Minkowski’s work on four-dimensional spacetime … . In this work Minkowski introduces spacetime as a new fundamental concept from which space and time can be derived. … All in all this is a very impressive work, not only because of the groundbreaking new ideas and the great impact it has had. It is also nicely written and the language is a very pleasant contrast to the dry style most publications use nowadays.” (Michael Keyl, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1220, 2011)
“Vesselin Petkov, the editor of the volume, has succeeded in assembling a number of interesting, enlightening, and thought-provoking papers, all of them authored by competent experts in their fields, which illuminate various aspects of the concept of Minkowski spacetime. The collection transcends the disciplinary boundaries of theoretical physics, history of science, and philosophical reflection in a most productive way.” (Tilman Sauer, Metascience, February, 2013)
Report
From the reviews:
"This book celebrates the 100th anniversary of Minkowski's work on four-dimensional spacetime ... . In this work Minkowski introduces spacetime as a new fundamental concept from which space and time can be derived. ... All in all this is a very impressive work, not only because of the groundbreaking new ideas and the great impact it has had. It is also nicely written and the language is a very pleasant contrast to the dry style most publications use nowadays." (Michael Keyl, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1220, 2011)
"Vesselin Petkov, the editor of the volume, has succeeded in assembling a number of interesting, enlightening, and thought-provoking papers, all of them authored by competent experts in their fields, which illuminate various aspects of the concept of Minkowski spacetime. The collection transcends the disciplinary boundaries of theoretical physics, history of science, and philosophical reflection in a most productive way." (Tilman Sauer, Metascience, February, 2013)
