- General relativity Mathematical Physics index History Topics Index General relativity is a theory of gravitation and to understand the background to the theory we have to look at how theories of gravitation developed. Aristotle's notion of the motion of bodies impeded understanding of gravitation for a long time. He believed that force could only be applied by contact, force at a distance being ...www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/General_relativity.html