More than a century ago, Einstein made the theory of relativity workable by assuming the constant speed of light, he showed that time passes more slowly in a moving system. But another of his conclusions that a moving object must shrink in the direction of motion remained a matter of debate.

To examine the latter conclusion the author very precisely followed Einsteins line of thought and he found that this conclusion was the result of an incorrect physical insight. The inevitable outcome of t...

Changes and additions to the new edition of this classic textbook include a new chapter on symmetries, new problems and examples, improved explanations, more numerical problems to be worked on a computer, new applications to solid state physics, and consolidated treatment of time-dependent potentials.