Physics and Cosmology (Offprint) The Observatory, Vol. 82, No. 929, 1962, pp. 133-143

1962. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION, RARE OFFPRINT OF AN IMPORTANT LECTURE DELIVERED BY BONDI AT OXFORD IN MAY OF 1962; this is the first printed version. The following represent just a few scientists whose work Bondi speaks of in his lecture: Michelson-Morley, Milne, Lorentz, Einstein, Maxwell, Wheeler, Feynman, Hogarth, Penrose, Gold, Percival, Carathéodory.

In 1957 and in a paper we offer separately, Hermann Bondi demonstrated that gravitation waves indeed carry energy, and furthermore that in order to carry energy (and momentum), gravitational waves must be nonlinear. Gravitational waves, or ripples in the fabric of spacetime, were first predicted by Einstein's 1916 general theory of relativity. In February 2016, the September 2015 detection of gravitational waves - waves first predicted by Einstein over a hundred years ago - was announced.

Bondi's 1957 paper firmly established the physical reality of gravitational waves; his later work in the early 1960s - and this is one of those papers -- would put "their physical properties such as energy and momentum flux on a rigorous mathematical footing" (Denef, Science, Feb. 2016).

In this 1962 lecture, Bondi states: "If we suppose that there are some models of the Universe in which the disequilibrium between past and future depends on the actual cross-section for absorption, then we are led to consider whether this is large enough in all cases, and naturally our minds turn to neutrinos. As you know, their interaction cross-section is very small. Could it be that with neutrinos the disequilibrium between past and future is not sufficient to produce a sense of time?" (Bondi, "Physics and Cosmology," 1962). CONDITION & DETAILS: First edition offprint. 4to. 9 X 6 inches; 225 x 150mm. Very tiny fold at the right foot, not impacting any text; the same small fold on the final page is starting to break loose but is holding. Bright and clean. Very good condition.