<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Historically useful, but an useless introduction
Review: As an introduction to the theory of relativity this book fails hilariously. However, as a historical reference of how it was developed this book is very important and shows that the theory of relativity was not a magic idea from Einstein's mind, but a theory developed during years by many physicsits as George FitzGerald, Hendrik Lorentz, Henri Poincare, H. Minkowski, Marcel Grossman, David Hilbert and others. Compared to other books that explains the theory of relativity, such as Joseph Schwartz' "Einstein for beginners", this one is really difficult to understand (not impossible of course, however difficult). The deduction of Lorentz' transformation in the appendix is also very confusing compared to Schwartz. Well, this book is a bit old compared to Schwartz' book, thus it is normal to find out that the way Eistein expose the theory is hard compared to a more recent book. Also if you are an Einstein admire this book is nice to have a deeper view of what he thinks of the development of the theory.
Rating: 
Summary: Great for the young student of Physics
Review: Great for the young student of Physics!This is an excellent book, written in the "Master's" own style and faithfully translated from the German by Robert Lawson. The translation dates to 1920 and new readers may find the English a little quaint, but for all that, it is a great effort at presenting in "plain speak", the concepts of Relativity. The book starts with a lucid explanation of the Train and Platform example of Galelian Relativity and then proceeds to highlight the incompatibility between the principle of relativity and the constancy of the speed of light. Without encumbering the reader with the Maths (found in the appendices) the ideas of time dilation and length contraction are discussed. The General Theory is developed via a fine example: that of an observer on a rotating disk. This is a good complement to the overtly scientific/mathmatical books on the subject. Unfortunately,, despite its many qualities, just like many of the alternatives of this genre, Einstein's book does not fully succeed in explaining the complex concepts to the lay reader. Rather, this is a nice little book that will be suitable for a good calibre Maths/Physics student in the sixth form/high school.
Rating:
Summary: Relativity for the layman? Explained by its creator.
Review: In Relativity, Einstein trys to bring his theory of relativity to the masses. When the special and general theorys of relativity were concieved of by Einstein, they revolutionized our perception of space and time. This revolution was so complete that many of the most significant physicists of the time believed that it was nonsense. When Einstein won the Nobel prize for his work on the photoelectric effect, his certificate unequivocally stated that the award was NOT given for his theory of relativity. For much of his life, even Einstein was unwilling to accept some of the predictions of his own work such as black holes. This is all very good, interesting science and history which should be read and understood by everyone. The problem is, though, that Einstein was not a particularly good writer. Einstein is too brilliant for his own good and it shows through frequently in this attempt to stoop to our level. His explanations are usually hard to follow and unintuitive(and I study physics even!). This book exists on an uncomfortable middle ground between rigor and easy reading. If you would like to read this book simply because of its (and its author's) historical significance then I couldn't discourage that. If you know little physics and want to try to understand relativity, read Kip Thorne's Black Holes and Time Warps or the first few chapters of Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe.
Rating: 
Summary: mastermind at work
Review: The reviewer of April 13 from Moscow, Idaho says this is not the book to read unless you already understand the theory. Maybe fair enough. It was written when Einstein had achieved youthful fame, though, not in his dotage, if he had such a thing. It may be a little more difficult for the translation, but not much. Contrary to some reviewers, it is not that easy to follow, and if it seems like an easy read, you probably haven't understood it. There are many books written since where it is probably easier to learn about special relativity, to say nothing of the basic ideas of general relativity. But once you have started to get the hang of things, this book is a masterpiece of exposition! It allows one to follow Einstein's actual thought process in arriving at these theories -- pretty much by a process of pure thought -- more or less in the steps he probably took himself. There is not a word in the exposition that was not carefully thought out. So, learn the theory somewhere else and then read this book -- you'll understand the theory better for reading Einstein's book -- or read this book first, keep going back to it 'til it starts to make sense, and maybe consult some other, more "user-friendly" textbook at the same time. Einstein claims his book allows a lay reader with only high school math to understand relativity. To which a friend of mine replied "Yeah, if you have an IQ of 800". To which I say, have patience, keep thinking about it and going back to it.
Rating:
Summary: A Scientific Gem From the World's Greatest Genius
Review: This book is truly a scientific gem. Not only did the brilliant Einstein envision the theory of relativity, but he also felt compelled to inform non-scientists by writing this "less" technical explanation of his theory. The book's section on Special Relativity is not too difficult to grasp. However, having some basic understanding of algebra and classical mechanics is helpful. On the other hand, the section on General Relativity is quite profound, requiring the reader to imagine new concepts of space and time that are alien to one's sense of reality. Indeed, I had to read this section several times and I'm still not sure if I completely understand it. However, this is more of a function of my imagination skills rather than Einstein's literary abilities. For he uses an abundance of familiar terms and analogies to simplify the understanding of some of the more "unusual" implications of General Relativity. I would not recommend this book to someone averse to technical subjects. However, I do recommend it to those wishing to learn the basics of relativity theory.
Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece
Review: This book, written by Albert Einstein, is about the concept that changed our approach to physics and to the universe. This book requires a lot from a reader, in which the reader will probably have to reread passages all over again to grasp the math behind this theory. The math isn't difficult, it's understanding how it leads to the theory that requires a lot of thinking. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the theory of relativity from Einstein's approach. However the reader should have a minimum of understanding of the theory before attempting to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Straight from the horse's mouth
Review: What better person to here about relativity than Einstein himself? This is a great book for anyone interested in relativity. I do have one problem with this book--it's a crappy translation, even taking into account the fact that it was written in the dialect of Great Britain. The language is too lugubrious for my taste.
<< 1 >>
|
