Web Directory

» Bondi, Hermann (1919-2005)
   Biography of the Austrian-born, British cosmologist whose name is associated with steady-state cosmology, Tolman-Bondi solutions, accretion onto black hole, and the k-calculus; from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (University of St. Andrews).
   http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Bondi.html

» Carter, Brandon (1942-)
   Wikipedia article about the Australian physicist, one of the pioneers of black hole mechanics.
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Carter

» Chandrasekhar, Subrahmanyan (1910-1995)
   Biographical sketch of the Indian astrophysicist who was the first to model stellar stability using both relativity and quantum theory; from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (University of St. Andrews).
   http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Chandrasekhar.html

» De Sitter, Willem (1872-1934)
   Brief biography of the Dutch astronomer who was one of the first to think about the theory's cosmological applications (de Sitter space); from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (University of St. Andrews).
   http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Sitter.html

» Dicke, Robert H. (1916-1997)
   Wikipedia article about the American physicist who was involved in a number of observational tests of general relativity and who developed a generalization of Einstein's theory (Jordan-Brans-Dicke theory).
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Dicke

» Eddington, Arthur (1882-1944)
   Biographical sketch of the English astrophysicist who performed the first observational test of the gravitational bending of light near the Sun; from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (University of St. Andrews).
   http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Eddington.html

» FitzGerald, George (1851-1901)
   Biographical sketch of the physicist who postulated relativistic length contraction before the publication of Einstein's special relativity; from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (University of St. Andrews).
   http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/FitzGerald.html

» Freundlich, Erwin (1885-1964)
   Biographical sketch of the German astronomer who worked with Einstein on the question of how to test the predictions of general relativity using astronomical observations; from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (University of St. Andrews).
   http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Freundlich.html

» Friedmann, Aleksandr (1888-1925)
   Brief biography of the Russian mathematician who found the first expanding-universe cosmological solution of Einstein's equations; from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (University of St. Andrews).
   http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Friedmann.html

» Grossmann, Marcel (1878-1936)
   A brief biography the mathematician who, as his fellow student and friend, helped Einstein to understand the mathematical tools (mostly differential geometry) needed to formulate general relativity; from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (Univer
   http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Grossmann.html

» Hilbert, David (1862-1943)
   Biographical sketch of the German mathematician who wrote down the first action principle for Einstein's general theory of relativity; from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (University of St. Andrews).
   http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Hilbert.html

» Hoyle, Fred (1915-2001)
   Biographical sketch of the physicist who contributed both to the steady-state models of cosmology and to calculations of the creation of light elements in the hot early universe; from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (University of St. Andrews)
   http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Mathematicians/Hoyle.html

» Israel, Werner (1931-)
   Wikipedia article about the Canadian physicist, one of the pioneers of research on black holes (uniqueness theorems).
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Israel

» Kaluza, Theodor (1885-1954)
   Biography of the German mathematician who was the first to introduce a higher-dimensional version of general relativity in an attempt to unify gravity and electrodynamics; from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (University of St. Andrews).
   http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Kaluza.html

» Kerr, Roy P. (1934-)
   Wikipedia article about the mathematician from New Zealand who found the first solutions of Einstein's equations to describe rotating black holes.
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Kerr

» Klein, Oskar (1894-1977)
   Biographical sketch of the Swedish chemist and physicist who was the first to introduce compactified ("rolled-up") dimensions into higher-dimensional versions of general relativity; from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (University of St. Andre
   http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Klein_Oskar.html

» Lorentz, Hendrik (1853-1928)
   Brief biography of the Dutch physicist who, before Einstein developed his special theory of relativity, developed much of that theory's formalism (Lorentz contraction, Lorentz transformation); from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (University o
   http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Lorentz.html

» Milne, Arthur (1896-1950)
   Biography of the British mathematician and astrophysicist who developed a kinematic model of cosmology based on special relativity; from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (University of St. Andrews).
   http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Milne.html

» Minkowski, Hermann (1864-1909)
   Biographical sketch of the mathematician who was the first to develop the concept of spacetime as the geometric essence of special relativity (and starting point of general relativity); from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (University of St. A
   http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Minkowski.html

» Nordström, Gunnar (1881-1923)
   Wikipedia article about the Finnish physicist, who developed a relativistic theory of gravity that was an early competitor of general relativity, and who (together with Hans Reissner) found the solution to Einstein's field equations now known to describe
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunnar_Nordstr%C3%B6m

» Penrose, Roger (1931-)
   Biographical sketch of the British mathematician and physicist who developed the methods of global geometry, proved the first singularity theorem, invented a method for extracting energy from rotating black holes, and posited the cosmic censorship hypothe
   http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Penrose.html

» Poincaré, Henri (1854-1912)
   Biographical sketch of the French physicist who developed many of the concepts of special relativity before Einstein's publication; from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (University of St. Andrews).
   http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Poincare.html

» Ricci-Curbastro, Gregorio (1853-1925)
   Brief biographical sketch of the mathematician who developed important mathematical tools (tensor calculus) that later would be used for formulating general relativity; from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (University of St. Andrews).
   http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Ricci-Curbastro.html

» Riemann, Bernhard (1826-1866)
   Brief biography of the mathematician who, before Einstein's birth, developed the geometrical tools that allowed Einstein and Großmann to formulate general relativity; from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (University of St. Andrews).
   http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Riemann.html

» Schwarzschild, Karl (1873-1916)
   Biography of the German astronomer who was the first to find a non-trivial solution to Einstein's field equations (which we now know describes a black hole); from the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (University of St. Andrews).
   http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Schwarzschild.html

» Shapiro, Irwin I.
   Wikipedia article about the American astrophysicist, one of the pioneers of solar-system tests of general relativity (Shapiro effect, deflection of light by gravity, perihelion precession of various planets).
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irwin_Shapiro

» Thorne, Kip (1940-)
   Wikipedia article about the American theoretical physicist, who has made significant contributions to the physics of gravitational waves and black holes.
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kip_S._Thorne

» Weyl, Hermann (1885-1955)
   Brief biography of the German mathematician who made pioneering contribution to group theory and the concept of symmetry, and was one of the first to formulate a unified theory of electromagnetism and general relativity; from the MacTutor History of Mathe
   http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Weyl.html

» Wheeler, John Archibald (1911-)
   Wikipedia article about the American physicist who was the driving force of the general relativity revival in the US in the 1950s and, among other things, introduced the terms "black hole" and "wormhole".
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Archibald_Wheeler