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First Sentence
In your schooldays most of you who read this book made acquaintance with the noble building of Euclid's geometry, and you remember-perhaps with more respect than love-the magnificent structure, on the lofty staircase of which you were chased about for uncounted hours by conscientious teachers. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
In your schooldays most of you who read this book made acquaintance with the noble building of Euclid's geometry, and you remember-perhaps with more respect than love-the magnificent structure, on the lofty staircase of which you were chased about for uncounted hours by conscientious teachers. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Everybody should read this all important text (with excellent clarifications by R. Geroch) about one of the most devastating scientific discoveries, together with quantum physics and Darwinism, ever made by a human mind. It reveals that time and space are not absolute (Kant would say `a priori'), but relative. Einstein's insights shattered existing philosophical, theological, ideological and scientific dogmas.
A basic knowledge of mathematics is necessary for the understanding of the whole text. However, the main reasoning can be followed without the math.
Special and general relativity
The special theory is based on the principle of relativity between uniformly moving co-ordinate systems devoid of rotation, and the constant speed of light (in vacuo) for all observers.
The general theory incorporates gravity. Space-time is curved through attraction by the gravitational force. The shortest distance between two points in the universe is not a straight line, but a curve.
Cosmological constant
As R. Penrose notes in his excellent introduction, Einstein's `greatest mistake', the cosmological constant, has been re-introduced in modern cosmology. It implicates that the remote future of the universe will be an exponential expansion.
Personal comment (promises shattered)
In his equally excellent afterword, D. Cassidy shows that Einstein's bright vision of science `ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual toward freedom' turned rather into `moral decay'.
As B. Russell said, `science is ethically neutral. It confers power, but for evil as much as for good.' Not every scientist is a Faraday. Science produced the atom bomb and politicians used it.
Today there is a new backlash against reason (science) for apparently religious and ideological reasons. But those are merely a veil for vested `sinister' (B.R.) interests.
This book is a must read for all those who want to understand the universe we live in.
A basic knowledge of mathematics is necessary for the understanding of the whole text. However, the main reasoning can be followed without the math.
Special and general relativity
The special theory is based on the principle of relativity between uniformly moving co-ordinate systems devoid of rotation, and the constant speed of light (in vacuo) for all observers.
The general theory incorporates gravity. Space-time is curved through attraction by the gravitational force. The shortest distance between two points in the universe is not a straight line, but a curve.
Cosmological constant
As R. Penrose notes in his excellent introduction, Einstein's `greatest mistake', the cosmological constant, has been re-introduced in modern cosmology. It implicates that the remote future of the universe will be an exponential expansion.
Personal comment (promises shattered)
In his equally excellent afterword, D. Cassidy shows that Einstein's bright vision of science `ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual toward freedom' turned rather into `moral decay'.
As B. Russell said, `science is ethically neutral. It confers power, but for evil as much as for good.' Not every scientist is a Faraday. Science produced the atom bomb and politicians used it.
Today there is a new backlash against reason (science) for apparently religious and ideological reasons. But those are merely a veil for vested `sinister' (B.R.) interests.
This book is a must read for all those who want to understand the universe we live in.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I won't comment on the quality of the text itself, but please stay away from this edition of the book. The layout is just shameful. 1/It's ugly. 2/It's full of obvious spelling mistakes, the kind a 1990s spellchecker would find immediately 3/It's unclear. For instance the book is made of many chapters and Einstein keeps referring to previous ones by number. However, each chapter's number is nowhere to be found save in the general summary (no header, no footer, not even at the start of the chapter). This makes it painful to go back and forth. 4/The few equations in the book are barely readable. Once again, the equation editor in a 10y old Word produces better results.
Would have expected such a scientific book to be edited in LaTeX which would have solved most issues - as it is it looks like a cheap, quick and dirty edition which really spoils the read.
Would have expected such a scientific book to be edited in LaTeX which would have solved most issues - as it is it looks like a cheap, quick and dirty edition which really spoils the read.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a manuscript that has undergone no proof-reading whatsoever and is littered with errors which go beyond mere typos. I suspect it has been scanned using OCR, given the nature of the errors. For example, a fragment that should have read, "clocks and material points under the influence of the gravitational field" is rendered "docks and material points tinder the... ."
Likewise the (few) algebraic equations are odd: 1 is often rendered as I; primed variables are depicted with superscript 1; variables v and V in the same equation are conflated; omega and rho are replaced with w and p and so on.
Aside from this, the book is an attempt at explaining relativity in a non-mathematical way - a brave undertaking. Some of the arguments made in the book might still be opaque to readers with no grounding in classical mechanics.
Finally I should say that the poor quality of the manuscript is at least commensurate with the very low price, so you could say that I got what I paid for.
Likewise the (few) algebraic equations are odd: 1 is often rendered as I; primed variables are depicted with superscript 1; variables v and V in the same equation are conflated; omega and rho are replaced with w and p and so on.
Aside from this, the book is an attempt at explaining relativity in a non-mathematical way - a brave undertaking. Some of the arguments made in the book might still be opaque to readers with no grounding in classical mechanics.
Finally I should say that the poor quality of the manuscript is at least commensurate with the very low price, so you could say that I got what I paid for.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
relativity: the special and genaral theory by A. Einstein
This book covers both the theories by einstein himself...but aimed at the reasonably educated layman. Read more
Published 1 month ago by bobby
Meh
It's good but alot like a text book.
It is usefull with other things, but not on its own.
It's quite specific for a general book too.
It is usefull with other things, but not on its own.
It's quite specific for a general book too.
Published 10 months ago by Ringo
A Stubbornly Persistent Illusion
Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson
Reviewed by Mark Bristow
"Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. Read more
Reviewed by Mark Bristow
"Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. Read more
Published on 7 July 2009 by Mr. M. A. Bristow
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