{
  "abstract": "This paper argues for the historical utility of general relativity textbooks written during, or shortly before, the Renaissance of general relativity. More so than research papers, textbooks offer a narrative account of the field--one that may differ substantially from the accounts of other authors addressing the same subject. Textbooks on general relativity therefore constitute a distinctive form of testimony to the intellectual forces that shaped general relativity, particularly during its reinvention period from 1955 to the mid-1970s. A second pillar of this argument is the observation that nearly all principal investigators at the research centers previously identified by Lalli et al.--centers that functioned as intellectual epicenters of the Renaissance of general relativity--eventually produced a textbook associated with their own school of thought. To situate this observation within the broader development of the field, the paper presents a concise history of general relativity textbooks from the theory's inception in 1915-16 to the 1980s. This history illustrates one way in which textbooks can serve as sources for reconstructing the intellectual dynamics of the Renaissance of general relativity.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2610.13562",
  "author_total": 1,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Bernadette Lessel"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/48nqmhyvqsm0z.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2610.13562",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "48nqmhyvqsm0z",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.13562",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "LicenseRef-arXiv-nonexclusive-1.0",
  "licence_label": "arXiv licence",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "gr-qc"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.hist-ph"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3103|Relativity and Gravitational Theory"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221568823",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2610.13562",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-09",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/48nqmhyvqsm0z.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:28:36Z",
      "native_id": "2610.13562",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.13562"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:gr-qc",
      "subfield": "gravitation"
    }
  ],
  "title": "On the Utility of Textbooks in Understanding the Renaissance of General Relativity",
  "title_text": "On the Utility of Textbooks in Understanding the Renaissance of General Relativity",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:28:36Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/48nqmhyvqsm0z",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}