Einstein and Relativity: The Big Idea [Paperback]

Paul Strathern (Author)

Book Description

Series: Big Idea | Publication Date: April 20, 1999

We may know that Einstein was the epitome of genius, but how many of us know what his theory really means, and what its realistic implications are? Einstein and Relativity presents a distillation of Einstein's life and work within their historical and scientific contexts; and offers a truly accessible explanation of the concept that shaped the twentieth century. Just a few of the big ideas covered here are Einstein's discovery that light is both a particle and a wave; how Einstein proved the existence of molecules; why there is no such thing as real time; and how Einstein's brilliance led to his worst nightmare - the atom bomb.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Paul Strathern (Nietzsche in 90 Minutes, Plato in 90 Minutes) has turned his attention from big philosophers to big ideas, specifically Einstein and Relativity. (Other titles in his Big Idea series include Hawking and Black Holes and Newton and Gravity.) Like Strathern's previous books, Einstein and Relativity makes for good company at a coffee shop or on the bus, with its slick cover and fluid prose.

Not surprising for its size (just over 100 short pages), the book focuses more on the man than the science, recounting anecdotes that shaped Einstein's personal and intellectual growth. Tales of him as a quirky, curious youngster flow naturally into his days of iced coffee and pipe smoking in Zurich and run-ins with professors. The bulk of the book, though, deals with Einstein's annus mirabilis, 1905, when his three most influential papers were published, and the years of struggle, then criticism, then praise, that followed.

If you're looking for a good, readable primer on relativity, you're better off with Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe (and you'll learn about superstrings and the GUT, to boot). But if you just want to get acquainted with Albert Einstein and gain some familiarity with his work, Einstein and Relativity does the trick, and fast. --Paul Hughes

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Anchor; 1st Anchor Books ed edition (April 20, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385492448
• ISBN-13: 978-0385492447
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.3 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #562,592 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #57 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( E ) > Einstein, Albert

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A short historical summary... certainly not worth it's cost., August 15, 2000

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Einstein and Relativity: The Big Idea (Paperback)

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars the theory that lead to a masacare, September 4, 2004

By 

Jeff Pullan (East Anglia, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Einstein and Relativity: The Big Idea (Paperback)

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.

3.0 out of 5 stars What idea?, April 28, 2008

By 

Mitch Baywatch (Brighton, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Einstein and Relativity: The Big Idea (Paperback)

As the official Amazon review for this book mentions, it is more about the man than the ideas. It's not until past page 30 of this 90 pager that we even come into contact within any ideas whatsoever. And when Strathern gets to the ideas, he doesn't do much to aid our understanding of the difficult concepts.