Pt. I. Null experiments. Eörvös experiment -- Space isotropies -- The ether drift experiments -- pt. II. Three famous tests of general relativity. The gravitational red shift -- The gravitational deflection of light -- The perihelion rotation of Mercury -- Cosmic experiments -- Appendix I. Experimental tests of Mach's principle -- Appendix II. Mach's principle and invariance under transformation of units -- Appendix III. Long-range scalar interaction -- Appendix IV. Field theories of gravitation -- Appendix V. Cosmology, Mach's principle and relativity -- Appendix VI. Significance of spatial isotropy -- Appendix VII. Mach's principle and a relativistic theory of gravitation -- Appendix VIII. Lee-Yang vector field and isotropy of the universe -- Appendix IX. The earth and cosmology -- Appendix X. Implications for cosmology of stellar and galactic evolution rates -- Appendix XI. Dating the galaxy by uranium decay -- Appendix XII. Dirac's cosmology and the dating of meteorites.

This volume is a collection of scholarly articles on the Mach Principle, the impact that this theory has had since the end of the 19th century, and its role in helping Einstein formulate the doctrine of general relativity. 20th-century physics is concerned with the concepts of time, space, motion, inertia and gravity. The documentation on all of these makes this book a reference for those who are interested in the history of science and the theory of general relativity

The Marcel Grossmann Meetings have been conceived with the aim of reviewing recent advances in gravitation and general relativity, with particular emphasis on mathematical foundations and physical predictions. The overall programme includes the broad categories of mathematical techniques, cosmology, quantum gravity, astrophysics, gravitational radiation and experimental developments.The proceedings contain invited and contributed papers.