Albert Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity: Emergence (1905) and Early Interpretation (1905-1911) (re-ed. 1998)

Miller uses the paper to provide a window into the intense intellectual struggles of physicists in the first decade of the 20th century: the interplay between physical theory and empirical data, the fiercely held notions that could not be articulated clearly or verified experimentally, the great intellectual investment in existing theories, data, and interpretations -- and associated intellectual inertia -- and the drive to the long-sought- for unification of the sciences. 

Since its original publication (in 1981), this book has become a standard reference and sourcebook for the history and philosophy of science; however, it can equally well serve as a text in the history of ideas or of twentieth-century philosophy. 

From reviews of the previous edition: �Miller� has written a superb, perhaps definitive, historical study of Einstein's special theory of relativity.... One comes away from the book with a respect for both the creative genius of the man and his nerve: he simply brushed aside much of the work that was going on around him. - The New Yorker