Overview

This expanded second edition of Relativity and the Nature of Spacetime c- tains several major changes and a number of additions to different ch- ters. Two chapters (Chaps. 6 and 7), which discussed two speci?c groups of arguments against the reality of spacetime, have been transformed into - pendices (A and B). Two new chapters (Chaps. 6 and 10) have been added. Chapter 6, entitled Why Is the Issue of the Nature of Spacetime So Imp- tant?, elaborates on what was Sect. 5. 6 of the ?rst edition, and addresses some recent work on the nature of spacetime – for example, the growing (or evolving) block universe model of the world, which has recently been - vived by several physicists as what appears to be the last remaining alter- tive to the Minkowski absolute four-dimensional world (after it had become an undeniable fact that three-dimensionalism, or presentism, contradicts the relativistic experimental evidence). Chapter 10, entitled Spacetime and the Nature of Quantum Objects and based on what used to be Sects. 6. 2 and 6. 3 in the ?rst edition, explores the implications of the issue of the nature of spacetime for quantum physics, in order to see whether it can provide some insight into the nature of quantum objects. Two new sections have been included, namely, Sect. 5. 6 entitled Re- tivization of Existence and Observers in General Relativity and Sect. 7. 6 - titled Probing the Anisotropic Velocity of Light by a Terrestrial Experiment.

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Reviews

From the reviews of the second edition: The book under review is mainly devoted to the physical consequences of special relativity and to the unveiling of the very nature of spacetime. ! The book is clear and well written and the bibliographic references are very good. It is recommended to physicists and to philosophers of science. (Francesco Sorge, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2011 i)

Aus den Rezensionen: ! eine Buchreihe ... Begrundet und redaktionell betreut von Physikerin Angela Lahee, hat sie das Ziel, den Lesern eine Erweiterung und Reflexion der eigenen Wissensgrenzen zu ermoglichen. ! Petkov zeigt, dass keiner der relativistischen Effekte und experimentellen Befunde moglich waren, wenn physikalische Objekte dreidimensional waren, und er diskutiert die Konsequenzen: Zeit und Willensfreiheit sind blosse Illusion. ! ausserordentlich lesenwert. 'was wir brauchen, ist nicht der Wille zu glauben, sondern der Wille herauszufinden' ! Die interdisziplinare, unkonventionelle Frontiers Collection ! hat ihn sogar zu ihrem Leitspruch erhoben. (Rudiger Vaas, in: Naturwissenschaftliche Rundschau, 2007, Vol. 60, Issue 4, S. 212 ff.)

From the reviews of the second edition: The book under review is mainly devoted to the physical consequences of special relativity and to the unveiling of the very nature of spacetime. ... The book is clear and well written and the bibliographic references are very good. It is recommended to physicists and to philosophers of science. (Francesco Sorge, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2011 i)

Author Information

Presently: Assistant Professor, Science College, Concordia University (in fact, I am associated with three departments - Liberal Arts College, Philosophy Department, and Science College) 1984 -1989: Adjunct Professor, Philosophy Department, Sofia University 1986 -1989: Researcher, Institute of Philosophy, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Doctoral degrees in theoretical physics (1997, Concordia University) and philosophy of science (1988, Institute of Philosophy, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences).

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