Einstein at the University

This part of the site provides course material and links relevant for the teaching of the history of General Relativity.

"Einstein for Everyone"

As a starting point we present materials developed for a freshman-level course called "Einstein for Everyone" taught at the University of Minnesota by Michel Janssen, a regular visitor at the Max Planck Institute for History of Science. The core of material is a set of handouts:

• The Postulates of STR and Their Strange Consequences.
• STR and Minkowski Space-Time. 19th-Century Ether Theory.
• Reconsidering a Scientific Revolution: the Case of Einstein versus Lorentz. The Trouton Experiment and E = mc2
• The Einstein-Besso Manuscript: A Glimpse Behind the Curtain of the Wizard
• The Einstein-De Sitter Debate and Its Aftermath.
• God Does Not Play Dice: He Just Does Not Make Up His Mind.

In addition there are slides for each weekly lecture. Click here for the schedule of the course with links to these materials.