Einstein and Relativity (Big Idea)

Rating:
Summary: A short historical summary... certainly not worth it's cost.
Review: Paul Strathern is known for concise "in a nutshell" publications, such as his excellent "The Philosophers in 90 Minutes" series of books. However, "The Big Idea" doesn't live up to that legacy, and anybody with a few moments and an internet connection can find all sorts of web pages that are more elucidating than his "Big Idea" books.

While his books provide a historical viewpoint that presents pertinent background information about each subject, one is certainly better off with books such as The Elegant Universe, by Brian Greene which does everything Strathern tries to do but with much more substance (and all in just the first few chapters).

Strathern's "Big Idea" books, with their large 14-pt print are elementary\middle-school level reading; and while they would probably make great educational gifts, they don't have much value outside that age group.

Final verdict: If you're interested in physics and relativity, there read "Relativity Visualized" by Epstein or "The Elegant Universe" by Green; or better yet, spend some time browsing the net and you'll be surprised at what you can find.

Rating:
Summary: A short historical summary... certainly not worth it's cost.
Review: Paul Strathern is known for concise "in a nutshell" publications, such as his excellent "The Philosophers in 90 Minutes" series of books. However, "The Big Idea" doesn't live up to that legacy, and anybody with a few moments and an internet connection can find all sorts of web pages that are more elucidating than his "Big Idea" books.

While his books provide a historical viewpoint that presents pertinent background information about each subject, one is certainly better off with books such as The Elegant Universe, by Brian Greene which does everything Strathern tries to do but with much more substance (and all in just the first few chapters).

Strathern's "Big Idea" books, with their large 14-pt print are elementary\middle-school level reading; and while they would probably make great educational gifts, they don't have much value outside that age group.

Final verdict: If you're interested in physics and relativity, there read "Relativity Visualized" by Epstein or "The Elegant Universe" by Green; or better yet, spend some time browsing the net and you'll be surprised at what you can find.

Rating:
Summary: the theory that lead to a masacare
Review: This book, while interesting to read was a little basic in the scientific knowledge it displayed. It spent too long on Einstein's background and his general history and not enough on his ground breaking ideas that changed the view from the classical physics of Newton's era. The book describes Einstein's struggle for intellectual knowledge; how he was bored at school and ended up being expelled for not trying hard enough.

The book, while centring on Einstein does give concise information on the other physicists of his time and how there work helped Einstein's. Strathern discusses the scientific work done by such influential people as Heinrich Hertz, Max Plank and Isaac Newton.

Einstein's most famous theory, that of his paper on `General Theory of Relativity' is described by Strathern in an easily understood way but the skeleton of the theory remains. Einstein's theory is basically that over vast distances space and time become relative, only the speed of light remains constant. The formula that Einstein achieved and which eventually led to the bomb was that e = mc2 where e is energy released, m is mass and c is the speed of light. Also as a result of this theory scientists have been able to trace the history of the universe to within a fraction of a second after the Big Bang. Einstein's theory of relativity is truly one of the most revolutionary theories on parallel with that of Newton law and Darwin's theory of revolution.

Unfortunately while Einstein's work led to huge developments in physics and him being awarded the Noble Prize for physics in 1921 it also led to the worlds most powerful weapon and the ultimate killing machine; the atomic bomb. While Einstein warned Roosevelt in 1939 about the splitting of the atom his anti-nuclear stance led to him being investigated by the FBI and denounced by McCarthy.

Strathern has written this book in a historical and descriptive style; while also keeping the reader of the book informed about Einstein's work it does not over work his theories and instead keeps them short and to the point. Strathern uses an approach to Einstein that does not scare the reader of and entices them to read more. It is both understandable to the non-scientists while also being informative enough for those who want a more in depth view into Einstein.

If one wants a book based purely on Einstein's work this is not the one to read; but for the more curious reader who wants an introduction to life and work of a genius then the book will fulfil them.