广义相对论——纯粹理性思维的巅峰之作

General relativity:the pinnacle of creation by pure thought

相对论的发展是一个长达300余年的思想历程,在爱因斯坦1915年奠立广义相对论的那一刻达到了顶峰。相对论是纯粹理性思维的胜利,是物理现实的内在和谐与数学表达的形式美学之间完美的相互激励。物理规律的变换不变性是相对论的核心思想。沿着朴素相对论、伽利略相对论经由狭义相对论抵达广义相对论,这一条绵密的思想河流上有最激动人心的关于物理学创造的历史画卷。

The development of relativity is a process of creation by thought lasting for more than 300 years, reaching its pinnacle at the moment when Einstein laid the foundation for general relativity in 1915. The theory of relativity, which seeks the invariance under transformation for the physical laws, is a marvelous victory of human＇s pure mind, an exemplar of mutual excitation between the inner harmony of physical reality and the formal aesthetic of mathematical representation. In the current article the author endeavors to reveal, along the thought flow from the primitive relativity, Galilean relativity to Einstein＇s generalized relativity via special relativity, a panoramic view of the construction of a pillar of moderu physics.