Relativity: The Special and General Theory [Mass Market Paperback]

Albert Einstein (Author), Roger Penrose (Introduction), Robert Geroch (Commentary)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 29, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0452287847 | ISBN-13: 978-0452287846 | Edition: 1st Paperback Edition

Albert Einstein’s classic guide to the theory of relativity—with insights from today’s leading experts

This new edition of Relativity—the first updated version in over fifty years—includes a wealth of original material written by some of today’s foremost scientific authorities. Bestselling author and physicist Roger Penrose puts Einstein’s work in historical context and details major developments in relativity theory over subsequent years. Relativity expert Robert Geroch provides commentary on key aspects of the special and general theories; and historian David Cassidy explores the profound impact of Einstein’s ideas on our culture at large. Now, over ninety years after its first publication, this definitive edition brings a classic text into the new millennium.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

"The additions to the original text give considerable insight and are a valuable addition, particularly for anyone approaching the subject for the first time."
—Choice

"It’s as though you are sitting in his classroom, watching [Einstein] alternate between gesticulating and chalking equations onto the blackboard."
—The Washington Post Book World

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Plume; 1st Paperback Edition edition (August 29, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452287847
• ISBN-13: 978-0452287846
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,301,744 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Bah!, August 10, 2007

By 

Scott Burger (Orcas Island, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Relativity: The Special and General Theory (Illustrated Edition) (Paperback)

No, Einstein's Relativity IS amazingly brilliant and eloquent, I assure you of this. My review, although, is a buyer beware scenario. I ordered this exact copy of the text and the one that arrived had all sorts of horrendous typos. One? Two? No, more like...a ton. In an example of this, the 'aether' where the character 'ae' is a single one, somehow in the process of printing it, the character got repaced by a space and question mark! So when Einstein talks about the 'process by which the? ther happens...' or some such example, I translate it as 'bad' and not 'aether'.

By all means, buy Einstein's copy of Relativity, but please be cautious when ordering from this particular publisher. I'm unaware of whether or not this problem is widespread, but to those who get the one with the maddening typos riddled all over it, just bear through it and appreciate Einstein's eloquence and not the translator or publisher's, in my own personal opinion, bad spellchecking.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still the Best, July 22, 2006

By 

William R. Franklin "Illuminatus" (Timonium, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Relativity: The Special and General Theory (Dover Books on Physics) (Paperback)

The first edition of this book was published just after the original paper on the general theory of relativity. In the ensuing ninety years, no one has produced a better layman's introduction to the special and general theories.

The alert reader will achieve not only a clear intuitive understanding of the important physics but will learn much about the awesome intellect that produced it.

In the centenary of Einstein's annus mirabilis, a number of reprints of this classic have appeared, some adorned with introductions by such luminaries as Roger Penrose or with additional appendices added in later editions. I have a personal preference for the Dover version because it reproduces the type face of the orginal 1916 translation that was the first science text I read at age seven. And the cover phtograph alone is worth the price of the book.

Enthusiastically recommended.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Harder than it needs to be, September 1, 2007

By 

Timothy Betts (Oregon USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Relativity: The Special and General Theory (Illustrated Edition) (Paperback)

This Dodo Press edition is riddled with annoying typos -- even in some equations and variable names. In addition the section numbers referred to in the text are only found in the table of contents, making navigation cumbersome.

A classic like this deserves better. Look for another edition.