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neoweb
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Simply Einstein: Relativity Demystified
by Richard Wolfson
Undoubtedly one of the best primers on special and general relatively in my view. Finished reading it a few weeks back and am delighting in dipping into various sections again. By far the best book I've read on the topic so far - and I've read a few!
No baffling equations (the one or two that are in the book are easily understood - i surprised even myself! There's some higher math in the optional appendix on Time Dilation), a step-by-step build up of each salient point, wonderfully clear explanations and diagrams, and the author's conversational writing style, all contribute towards a book that, as one reviewer put it, "takes the fear out of Einstein's relativity theory."
Wolfson provides a useful and enjoyable historical overview, introducing all the key players through the years (Galileo, Newton, Maxwell, Einstein et al) and shows how their individual work contributed to the bigger picture... the section on Maxwell is superb.
A selection from the table of contents: Ether Dreams, Stretching Time, Star Trips and Squeezed Space, Past, Present, Future, and ... Elsewhere, Faster than Light?, Is Everything Relative?, A Problem of Gravity, Einstein's Universe... and more.
Certainly, i think most readers will attain a good, overall grounding in special relativity in particular, whilst a little more effort will be needed to get an equally good grasp of general relativity.
I can highly recommend this book.
by Richard Wolfson
Undoubtedly one of the best primers on special and general relatively in my view. Finished reading it a few weeks back and am delighting in dipping into various sections again. By far the best book I've read on the topic so far - and I've read a few!
No baffling equations (the one or two that are in the book are easily understood - i surprised even myself! There's some higher math in the optional appendix on Time Dilation), a step-by-step build up of each salient point, wonderfully clear explanations and diagrams, and the author's conversational writing style, all contribute towards a book that, as one reviewer put it, "takes the fear out of Einstein's relativity theory."
Wolfson provides a useful and enjoyable historical overview, introducing all the key players through the years (Galileo, Newton, Maxwell, Einstein et al) and shows how their individual work contributed to the bigger picture... the section on Maxwell is superb.
A selection from the table of contents: Ether Dreams, Stretching Time, Star Trips and Squeezed Space, Past, Present, Future, and ... Elsewhere, Faster than Light?, Is Everything Relative?, A Problem of Gravity, Einstein's Universe... and more.
Certainly, i think most readers will attain a good, overall grounding in special relativity in particular, whilst a little more effort will be needed to get an equally good grasp of general relativity.
I can highly recommend this book.
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