Chapter II: 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

CHAPTER VI
THE NEW CONCEPTION OF GRAVITATION

_Geometry and reality—Euclid’s geometry and
others—Contingency of Poincaré’s criterion—The
real universe is not Euclidean but Riemannian—The
avatars of the number π—The point of view of the
drunken man—Straight and geodetic lines—The new
law of universal attraction—Explanation of the
anomaly of the planet Mercury—Einstein’s theory of
gravitation_ pp. 124-147

CHAPTER VII
IS THE UNIVERSE INFINITE?

_Kant and the number of the stars—Extinct stars and
dark nebulæ—Extent and aspect of the astronomical
universe—Different kinds of universes—Poincaré’s
calculation—Physical definition of the infinite—The
infinite and the unlimited—Stability and
curvature of cosmic space-time—Real and virtual
stars—Diameter of the Einsteinian universe—The
hypothesis of globes of ether_ pp. 148-159

CHAPTER VIII
SCIENCE AND REALITY

_The Einsteinian absolute—Revelation by
science—Discussion of the experimental bases of
Relativity—Other possible explanations—Arguments in
favour of Lorentz’s real contraction—Newtonian space
may be distinct from absolute space—The real is a
privileged form of the possible—Two attitudes in
face of the unknown_ pp. 160-172

CHAPTER IX
EINSTEIN OR NEWTON?

_Recent discussion of Relativism at the Academy
of Sciences—Traces of the privileged space
of Newton—The principle of causality,
the basis of science—Examination of M.
Painlevé’s objections—Newtonian arguments and
Relativist replies—M. Painlevé’s formulas of
gravitation—Fecundity of Einstein’s theory—Two
conceptions of the world—Conclusion_ pp. 173-185