Einstein's Universe: The Layperson's Guide [Paperback]

Nigel Calder (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0141020563 | ISBN-13: 978-0141020563 | Publication Date: April 26, 2005

Nigel Calder’s landmark book has been acclaimed for making Albert Einstein’s theories of relativity accessible to the public. The universe that Einstein built is an astonishing skyscape of bent starlight, high-speed astronauts, black holes, stormy galaxies, and exploding spacetime. Today it seems more certain than ever that we live in the cosmos he described—yet often we still fail to understand it. Einstein’s Universe unlocks the secrets of an astounding vision of the world. How can a black hole keep you young? Why does a falling person feel no force of gravity? Answering these and many other questions, Einstein’s Universe makes plain the debt that humanity owes to the man who completely reshaped our ideas of energy, time, and motion.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A valuable contribution to the de-mystification of relativity. (Nature) Calder’s gift for simplifying the complex has rarely been better demonstrated. (San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle)

About the Author

Nigel Calder is a prolific science writer who has contributed to both British and American publications, including Science and Nation. He wrote the script for the television series Einstein’s Universe. His book Magic Cosmos was shortlisted for the 2004 Aventis Science Book Prize.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (April 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141020563
• ISBN-13: 978-0141020563
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #806,807 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Relativity for Dummies, December 6, 2003

By 

Avid Reader (Franklin, Tn) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Einstein's Universe: Guide to the Theory of Relativity (Pelican) (Paperback)

I hesitated on the title because it could imply that this book is for "dummies" when in actuality one must have a "relative" understanding of science (phyics and math) in order to truly tackle the subject. But Nigel Calder has made the whole thing a lot easier.

This is NOT one of those small books with large writing and illustrations every over page. It is condensed but not obtuse - no difficult equations or esoteric 11 dimensional theory. The author tackles two subjects - Einstein and his work. Both are interesting to study but as time passes the focus will swing to the latter.

The book has chapters on almost every aspect of the theory - time, gravity, space, acceleration, light, energy, matter... It is almost too much to grasp but Calder does a fine job of organizing the material. Good book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book!, September 3, 2008

By 

kclam (Hong Kong, China) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Einstein's Universe: The Layperson's Guide (Paperback)

Nigel Calder's illuminating account of relativity in plain language is amazing. The summary notes in italics at the beginning of each chapter are particularly useful. I enjoy most reading the "Afterword 2005". As the author puts it: "Einstein's questioning of the quantum theory backfired. Discoveries bolster his theories of gravity and cosmology. In the melting pot of ideas, relativity remains untamed. Dawdling spacecraft hint at a flaw in Einstein's theory. Whatever happens, his achievement is indelible."

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars E=mc² finally makes sense, January 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Einstein's Universe: The Layperson's Guide (Penguin Science) (Paperback)

For the first time I had the impression I could grasp some of the ideas behind the Relativity Theory. I had read a couple of books before this and did not go much further than understanding the principles of Doppler effect. But Calder's explanations and examples managed to give someone completely innocent of anything but the basics of Newton's gravitation laws some understanding of the relations between energy, mass, acceleration and gravity. The reading is always interesting, the chaining of ideas makes sense most of the time, and the understanding of this quite counter-intuitive theory is enormously rewarding.