An Introduction to Electrodynamics from the Standpoint of the Electron Theory

The purpose of this book is to present the logical development of the theory of electromagnetism based on the principle of relativity. The universal procedure was to base the equations of electrodynamics on the experimental findings of Coulomb, Faraday and Ampere, even in books on the principle of relativity, going no further than showing that these equations are covariant for the Lorentz-Einstein transformation. The first chapter contains a summary of the principle of relativity. In the second chapter, on the basis of this principle, the retarded equations of the field of a point charge are derived, and the third chapter discusses in more detail the simultaneous field of a moving charge. In the fourth chapter, the dynamical equation of the electron is obtained, and in the fifth chapter the general field equations are derived. Chapter six deals with the radiation of energy by electrons, and chapters seven and eight contain some applications of electromagnetic equations to material media, chosen both to illustrate the theory and because of their fundamental importance. Throughout this time, tremendous efforts have been made to distinguish between definitions and assumptions and to conduct physical reasoning as rigorously as possible. It is hoped that the book will be useful to those teachers and students studying electrodynamics who are looking for a logical rather than a historical description of science. The course covers topics suitable for a one-year postgraduate course in Electrodynamics and Electromagnetic Theory of Light.