Einstein meets Hilbert: At the crossroads of physics and mathematics (Q5954194)

This detailed study of the early history of general relativity sheds new light on the episode that is known as the race between Albert Einstein and David Hilbert to uncover the correct form of the gravitational field equations. Drawing on recent studies and newly found sources, the author focusses his attention on the mathematical issues at the heart of Einstein's theory, and on the contributions that were made by several other mathematicians like Tullio Levi-Civita, Hermann Weyl, Felix Klein, and Klein's assistant Hermann Vermeil. He convincingly demonstrates that the development of new mathematical methods was a central point in the history of the genesis of the Theory of Relativity, by which modern differential geometry was decisively reshaped.