The present book is intended, as far as possible, to give an exact insight into the theory of Relativity to those readers who, from a general scientific and philosophical point of view, are interested in the theory, but who are not conversant with the mathematical apparatus of theoretical physics. The author has spared himself no pains in his endeavor to present the main ideas in the simplest and most intelligible form, and on the whole, in the sequence and connection in which they actually originated.

Traces the life and work of the physicist whose theory of relativity revolutionized scientific thinking.

A renowned astrophysicist’s approachable introduction to Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity and its application in our daily lives. It is commonly assumed that if the Sun suddenly turned into a black hole, it would suck Earth and the rest of the planets into oblivion. Yet, as prominent author and astrophysicist Jeffrey Bennett points out, black holes don't suck. With that simple idea in mind, Bennett begins an entertaining introduction to Einstein's theories of relativity, describing the amazing phenomena readers would actually experience if they took a trip to a black hole. The theory of relativity reveals the speed of light as the cosmic speed limit, the mind-bending ideas of time dilation and curvature of spacetime, and what may be the most famous equation in history: E = mc2. Indeed, the theory of relativity shapes much of our modern understanding of the universe. It is not “just a theory”―every major prediction of relativity has been tested to exquisite precision, and its practical applications include the Global Positioning System (GPS). Amply illustrated and written in clear, accessible prose, Bennett's book proves anyone can grasp the basics of Einstein's ideas. His intuitive, nonmathematical approach gives a wide audience its first real taste of how relativity works and why it is so important to science and the way we view ourselves as human beings. “Well-written and uniquely readable . . . Bennett carefully avoids bombastic statements and “spectacularization” of the subject.” —Alberto Nicolis, Columbia University “I have read lots of introductions to relativity, but none is as clear and compelling as this one.” —Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer, SETI Institute

The theory of relativity, explained by the greatest mind of the 20th century. Albert Einstein discusses the special and general theories of relativity, and the core concepts of modern cosmology, including time dilation, the spacetime continuum, and the energy-mass relationship, in simple non-mathematical terms.

Albert Einstein, a Nobel laureate, has changed the world with his research and theories. He is regarded as the founder of modern physics. Besides ‘Relativity’, he worked on Photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, Special relativity, and Mass-Energy equivalence (E=mc2). They reformed the views on time, space and matter. Allert Einstein developed the general theory of ‘Relativity’. He published ‘Relativity: The Special and the General Theory’ in German. Its first English translation was published in 1920. The book deals with the special theory of relativity, the general theory of relativity, and the considerations on the universe as a whole The book gives an exact insight into the theory of Relativity. It covers, the system of Co-ordinates; The Lorentz Transformation; The experiment of Fizeau; Minkowski’s four dimensional space; The Gravitational Field; Gaussian Co-ordinates; The structure of space, and lot many other scientific concepts thus will be highly beneficial to the Readers. A must have book for everyone related to modern physics.

This book provides an introduction to the theory of relativity and the mathematics used in its processes. Three elements of the book make it stand apart from previously published books on the theory of relativity. First, the book starts at a lower mathematical level than standard books with tensor calculus of sufficient maturity to make it possible to give detailed calculations of relativistic predictions of practical experiments. Self-contained introductions are given, for example vector calculus, differential calculus and integrations. Second, in-between calculations have been included, making it possible for the non-technical reader to follow step-by-step calculations. Thirdly, the conceptual development is gradual and rigorous in order to provide the inexperienced reader with a philosophically satisfying understanding of the theory. The goal of this book is to provide the reader with a sound conceptual understanding of both the special and general theories of relativity, and gain an insight into how the mathematics of the theory can be utilized to calculate relativistic effects.