This, however, is the fault, not of M. Nordmann himself, but of a phase of the subject. With the subject in its other aspects he deals with the incomparable lucidity of a Frenchman. I know no book better adapted than the one now translated to give the average English reader some understanding of a principle, still in its infancy, but destined, as I believe, to transform opinion in more regions of knowledge than those merely of mathematical physics. _Haldane_ CONTENTS PREFACE BY THE RT. HON. VISCOUNT HALDANE, O.M. pp. 5-8 INTRODUCTION pp. 13-15 CHAPTER I THE METAMORPHOSES OF SPACE AND TIME _Removing the mathematical difficulties—The pillars of knowledge—Absolute time and space, from Aristotle to Newton—Relative time and space, from Epicurus to Poincaré and Einstein—Classical Relativity—Antinomy of stellar aberration and the Michelson experiment_ pp. 17-31 CHAPTER II SCIENCE IN A NO-THOROUGHFARE _Scientific truth and mathematics—The precise function of Einstein—Michelson’s experiment, the Gordian knot of science—The hesitations of Poincaré—The strange, but necessary, Fitzgerald-Lorentz hypothesis—The contraction of moving bodies—Philosophical and physical difficulties_ pp. 32-52 CHAPTER III EINSTEIN’S SOLUTION _Provisional rejection of ether—Relativist interpretation of Michelson’s experiment—New aspect of the speed of light—Explanation of the contraction of moving bodies—Time and the four dimensions of space—Einstein’s “Interval” the only material reality_ pp. 53-72 CHAPTER IV EINSTEIN’S MECHANICS _The mechanical foundation of all the sciences—Ascending the stream of time—The speed of light an impassable limit—The addition of speeds and Fizeau’s experiment—Variability of mass—The ballistics of electrons—Gravitation and light as atomic microcosms—Matter and energy—The death of the sun_ pp. 73-100 CHAPTER V GENERALISED RELATIVITY _Weight and inertia—Ambiguity of the Newtonian law—Equivalence of gravitation and accelerated movement—Jules Verne’s projectile and the principle of inertia—Why rays of light are subject to gravitation—How light from the stars is weighed—An eclipse as a source of light_ pp. 101-123