Intended for a popular audience, the book remains one of the most lucid explanations of the special and general theories ever written. Space, time, and newtonian physics, maxwell, e and m, and the ether, einstein and inertial frames, minkowskian geometry, accelerating reference frames, dynamics, relativity and the gravitational field, general relativity and curved spacetime, black hole, cosmology. This is connected with the fact that the velocity c plays a funda mental role in this theory. The special and the general theory, einstein describes the theories that made him famous, illuminating his case with numerous examples and a smattering of math nothing more complex than highschool algebra. An accesible version of einsteins masterpiece of theory, written by th. Einstein breaks this book down into small digestible chunks that take anywhere between ten minutes to half an hour to read. Between 1902 and 1905, einstein sat in the patent office and may have made calculations on old pieces of paper that were once patent drafts. With the publication of albert einsteins special and general theories of relativity, however, traditional approaches to solving the riddles of space and time. First, the book introduces special relativity in a simple way. Motion mountain relativity of the adventure of physics.
The special and general theory written by one of the worlds most brilliant minds. Relativity the special and general theory by einstein. In 1921, five years after the appearance of his comprehensive paper on general relativity and twelve years before he left europe permanently to join the. The special and general theory by albert einstein free ebook project gutenberg.
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. The special and general theory dover books on physics. The special and the general theory ebook written by albert einstein, general press. Generalized theory of gravitation the theory of the pure gravitational field on the basis of the general theory of relativity is therefore readily obtainable, because we may be confident that the fieldfree minkowski space with its metric in conformity with 1 must satisfy the general laws of field. One of these was the dutch physicist hendrik lorentz, who wrote the articles collected in this book for a lay audience. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. The aim of this book is to introduce people without a strong physics or even scientific background to the special and general theories of relativity theories that einstein was the primary developer of. The first edition of the novel was published in 1916, and was written by albert einstein.
Albert einstein described relativity as a popular explosion of his famous theory. The special and the general theory by albert einstein. Einsteins theory of relativity dover books on physics. Einsteins theory fits in an unusual place for introductory books on the topic. Sean carroll, california institute of technology this book will play a vital role in introducing new readers to einstein and the many fascinating questions surrounding his work. The new book by jeffrey bennett introduces einsteins theory of relativity to a lay audience, explaining why black holes dont suck and other phenomena. This is an introduction to einsteins theories of special and general relativity. When he wrote the book in 1916, einstein s name was scarcely known outside the physics institutes. Having just completed his masterpiece, the general theory of relativity which provided a brandnew theory of gravity and promised a new perspective on the cosmos as a whole he set out at once to share his excitement with as wide a public as.
Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read relativity. There is no shortage of literature on einstein and relativity, yet crelinsten succeeds in providing a novel and fruitful perspective on how einsteins theory of general relativity was received in its early years. Lorentz transformations the transformation equations used to calculate the coordinate changes under special relativity. Einsteins pathway to the special theory of relativity. Since the theory of relativity uses involved higher mathematics, it is considered notoriously difficult to grasp, and at the time it was published, it was claimed that only 12 people in the world were able to fully understand it. By 1916, albert einstein was a worldfamous professor of physics at the university of berlin, and he had seen several scientists and popularizers write books about his special theory of relativity. By focusing on the astronomers rather than the physicists, and america rather than europe, he adds a valuable chapter to the history of modern science in which scientific and social. First published in 1916 by the nobel laureate, einsteins research and theories explain, using minimum of mathematical terms, the basic ideas and principles of the theory which have shaped the world we live in today. Aczel, whose book about fermats last theorem was an enjoyable romp through the history of mathematics, now turns his attention to einsteins theory of general relativity and its implications for cosmology. The most famous work of einsteins life also dates from 1905 a busy year for him, when he applied the ideas of his relativity paper to come up with the equation emc2 that represents the relationship between mass m and energy e in a nutshell, einstein found that as an object approached the speed of light, c, the mass of the object increased. One hundred years ago, einsteins theory of general.
A handsome annotated edition of einsteins celebrated book on. This popular book is downloaded over 40 000 times per year and guarantees to be captivating and surprising on every page. According to the theory of relativity, action at a distance with the velocity of light always takes the place of instantaneous action at a distance or of action at a distance with an in finite velocity of transmission. The special and the general theory translation by einstein, albert isbn. Buy einsteins theory of relativity dover books on physics revised edition by born, max isbn. One can imagine einstein trying to hide from his boss, writing notes on small sheets of paper, and, according to reports. To be honest i imagine that selflearning relativity to be quite difficult. A handsome annotated edition of einsteins celebrated book on relativity. This a quite excellent explanation of the special and general principles of relativity. Einstein wrote a book too, and it remains in print to this day. What made the experience of listening to einsteins relativity and the quantum revolution. Including the relativistic theory of the nonsymmetric field fifth edition. The special and the general theory began as a short paper and was eventually published as a book written by albert einstein with the aim of giving. Einsteins theory of general relativity the more comprehensive theory, which treats gravity as.
The special and the general theory 100th anniversary edition. Buy einsteins theory of relativity dover books on physics book online at best prices in india on. There are a great number of really excellent books on relativity, but no particular book is good for everyone. The special and the general theorya clear explanation that anyone can understand by einstein, albert and a great selection of related books, art. A summary of general relativity in s albert einstein. The meaning of relativity princeton university press. Regarded as a seminal work in modern physics, relativity.
Written in 1916, it introduced the lay audience to the remarkable perspective that had overturned theoretical physics. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project. Albert einstein and the theory of relativity solutions series paperback october 26, 1987 by. Im sure many people have heard about einsteins theory of relativity, but most of them dont really know what it is all about. Einsteins theory of special relativity localized behavior of objects in inertial frames of reference, generally only relevant at speeds very near the speed of light. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of pages and is available in paperback format. What is the best book for selflearning special and. After completing the final version of his general theory of relativity in november 1915, albert einstein wrote relativity. Modern physics for nonscientists, 2nd edition the most enjoyable. The main characters of this science, non fiction story are. Albert einstein and the theory of relativity solutions. Having just completed his masterpiece, the general theory of relativitywhich provided a brandnew theory of gravity and promised a new perspective on the cosmos as a wholehe set out at once to share his excitement with as wide a public as possible in this popular and accessible book. Einsteins book is not casual reading, but for those who appreciate his work without diving into the arcana of theoretical physics, relativity will prove a stimulating read. Albert einstein 5 preface december, 1916 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.
Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. An accesible version of einsteins masterpiece of theory, written by the genius himself. A handsome annotated edition of einsteins celebrated book on relativity after completing the final version of his general theory of relativity in november 1915, albert einstein wrote a book about relativity for a popular audience. This book pieces together the jigsaw puzzle of einsteins journey to discovering the special theory of relativity. How better to learn the special theory of relativity and the general theory of relativity than directly from their creator, albert einstein himself. According to einstein himself, this book is intended to.
When he wrote the book in 1916, einsteins name was scarcely known outside the physics institutes. Einstein wrote this book for people who are interested in understanding the theory of relativity but arent experts in scientific and mathematical principles. But in the popular imagination, relativity remained deeply. Its now been converted to adobes portable document format. While many people will have looked through wikipedia and or physics texts in an attempt to understand relativity, einstein explains his counterintuitive theories in a nonacademic, down to earth and thoroughly understandable manner. An accesible version of einsteins masterpiece of theory, written by the genius himself according to einstein himself, this book is intended 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. Theres nothing quite like learning relativity from einstein. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of albert einstein and what it means. Theory of relativity audiobook by albert einstein youtube. But in the popular imagination, relativity remained deeply mysterious. General relativity, or the general theory of relativity, is the geometric theory of gravitation published by albert einstein in 1916 and the current description of gravitation in modern physics.
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