On the Utility of Textbooks in Understanding the Renaissance of General Relativity

Abstract

This paper argues for the historical utility of general relativity textbooks written during, or shortly before, the Renaissance of general relativity. More so than research papers, textbooks offer a narrative account of the field--one that may differ substantially from the accounts of other authors addressing the same subject. Textbooks on general relativity therefore constitute a distinctive form of testimony to the intellectual forces that shaped general relativity, particularly during its reinvention period from 1955 to the mid-1970s. A second pillar of this argument is the observation that nearly all principal investigators at the research centers previously identified by Lalli et al.--centers that functioned as intellectual epicenters of the Renaissance of general relativity--eventually produced a textbook associated with their own school of thought. To situate this observation within the broader development of the field, the paper presents a concise history of general relativity textbooks from the theory's inception in 1915-16 to the 1980s. This history illustrates one way in which textbooks can serve as sources for reconstructing the intellectual dynamics of the Renaissance of general relativity.