The special theory of relativity / David Bohm ; with a foreword by Basil Hiley and a new preface by John Barrow.

Originally published: New York : W.A. Benjamin, 1965.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- Pre-Einsteinian notions of relativity -- The problem of the relativity of the laws of electrodynamics -- The Michelson-Morley experiment -- Efforts to save the ether hypothesis -- The Lorentz theory of the electron -- Further development of the Lorentz theory -- The problem of measuring simultaneity in the Lorentz theory -- The Lorentz transformation -- The inherent ambiguity in the meanings of space-time measurements, according to the Lorentz theory -- Analysis of space and time concepts in terms of frames of reference -- Contents -- Common-sense concepts of space and time -- Introduction to Einstein's conceptions of space and time -- The Lorentz transformation in Einstein's point of view -- Addition of velocities -- The principle of relativity -- Some applications of relativity -- Momentum and mass in relativity -- The equivalence of mass and energy -- The relativistic transformation law for energy and momentum -- Charged particles in an electromagnetic field -- Experimental evidence for special relativity -- More about the equivalence of mass and energy -- Toward a new theory of elementary particles -- The falsification of theories -- The Minkowski diagram and the k calculus -- The geometry of events and the space-time continuum -- The question of causality and the maximum speed of propagation of signals in relativity theory -- Proper time -- The "paradox" of the twins -- The significance of the Minkowski diagram as a reconstruction of the past -- Appendix : Physics and perception.

Bohm presents the theory of relativity as a unified whole, making clear the reasons which led to its adoption and explaining its basic meaning. He also reveals the limited truth of some of the assumptions which stop us appreciating it.