THE EQUIVALENCE OF MASS AND ENERGY IN CONTEMPORARY PHYSICS

Perhaps no other concept is more fundamental to the understanding of the physics of energy—what it is and how it behaves—than the 20th century theorem about the relationship between mass and energy, formulized in the iconic equation, E=mc2. The purpose of this book is to guide the reader through a tour of the efforts made by physicists, philosophers, and historians to understand not only the consequences of mass-energy equivalence but also efforts to display clearly the theoretical relationship among this result and the foundations of special relativity. The book will re-examine the attempts made by Einstein to explain the logical basis for the theory, as well as to examine more recent attempts to clarify the meaning of mass-energy equivalence by physicists. The book closes with a with a critical examination of the philosophical literature on the equivalence of mass and energy, much of which has been dedicated to at dispelling misunderstandings of mass-energy equivalence, while at the same time creating new sets of philosophical challenges.