Jordan-Brans-Dicke Theory

This is primarily an historical survey of the origins and evolution of only one of a variety of many scalar-tensor (ST) alternatives to the standard Einstein equations of General Relativity. This review will only address itself to what has become known as the Brans-Dicke, or more properly Jordan-Brans-Dicke, theory based on the 1961 publications of Brans and Dicke. These papers substantially duplicate much of the work of Jordan and his group. However, for several reasons, including the stature of Dicke, this theoretical work from the 1960's was seminal in triggering an explosion of interest, both theoretical and experimental, into Einstein's theory and its alternatives. Until that time the early corroboration of Einstein's equations seemed to preclude interest in investigation of alternatives. From the 1960's on however, ST theories provided a remarkable impetus for renewed exploration into gravitational physics. Perhaps this has been their most significant contribution to the field of space-time physics, now especially in cosmology.