Redesigned inside and out to have a fresh, appealing look, this new edition of a classic Crown Trade Paperback is a collection of Einstein's own popular writings on his work and describes the meaning of his main theories in a way virtually everyone can understand.
Relativity (Routledge Classics)
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
How better to learn the Special Theory of Relativity and the General Theory of Relativity than directly from their creator, Albert Einstein himself? In Relativity: 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 high-school algebra). Einstein's 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.
Review
'He was unfathomably profound - the genius among geniuses who discovered, merely by thinking about it, that the universe was not as it seemed.' - Time
'Much of the book is a delight.' - Stephen Battersby, New Scientist
'[Einstein] is a far better populariser of science than Stephen Hawking ... you'll feel as though you have a ringside seat at a revolution in human understanding.' - Guardian --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
'Much of the book is a delight.' - Stephen Battersby, New Scientist
'[Einstein] is a far better populariser of science than Stephen Hawking ... you'll feel as though you have a ringside seat at a revolution in human understanding.' - Guardian --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
117 of 120 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
There is no doubt that Albert Einstein has been one of the most brilliant minds of the past century. His major contribution to science was the special and the general theory of relativity, which gave a new dimension to that we call today "Modern Physics". Many people feel frustrated because when they try to understand relativity, they find some authors that expound in their books a complex arrangement of equations referring to the mathematical part of the theory, namely, the books are accessible for people with certain levels of knowledge (that is the case of engineers, physicists, mathematicians, among others). Nevertheless, perceiving and anticipating this situation, Albert Einstein wrote this book (more than fifty years ago) whit the purpose of exposing the special and the general theory of relativity in such a way that anyone can understand it. I this sense, I think, Einstein succeeded because despite the shortness of the book, the same covers the most important aspects of relativity in a clear and concise form. Moreover, the book has appendixes where the author makes reference to some interesting subjects like the problem of space and relativity, the experimental confirmation of the theory, to name a few. If you have decided to learn something about relativity, and you do not have vast knowledge in physics and mathematics, I sincerely recommend you this book. On the other hand, if you were a reader looking for more technical information (mathematical foundation of general relativity), I would choose the book "Gravitation" written by Misner, Wheeler y Thorne. This text represents an encyclopedia about general relativity.
84 of 86 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the introduction to relativity written by Einstein. It is NOT the book which contains the original works, which is a very difficult book (just think that Planck had to ask for several clarifications before he understood Einstein's breakthrough paper). Here the great scientist set to himself the goal of explaining to the educated, but not specialized, man.
Einstein was, of course, very deep. When he talked about any topic in physics, chances are that he went deeper than anyone else who thought about the same theme, for a comparable time span. Now, imagine relativity. When he wrote this book he had thought about this matter for several decades. Nobody reached this depth, then and afterwards. The fruits of his thought, like black-holes, are being proved true now, after so much time!
So, the difference between this book and all other introductory books on relativity is proportional to the difference between Einstein himself and the other authors. You don't have to believe me: just read the excerpts! You'll not remain indifferent to the majesty of his ideas. Put yourself in the right mood: Einstein was a very simple man who was, in writing this book, sincerely interested in explaining his creation to you. Follow his path, read attentively, and, above all, think!
The reward will be great.
Einstein was, of course, very deep. When he talked about any topic in physics, chances are that he went deeper than anyone else who thought about the same theme, for a comparable time span. Now, imagine relativity. When he wrote this book he had thought about this matter for several decades. Nobody reached this depth, then and afterwards. The fruits of his thought, like black-holes, are being proved true now, after so much time!
So, the difference between this book and all other introductory books on relativity is proportional to the difference between Einstein himself and the other authors. You don't have to believe me: just read the excerpts! You'll not remain indifferent to the majesty of his ideas. Put yourself in the right mood: Einstein was a very simple man who was, in writing this book, sincerely interested in explaining his creation to you. Follow his path, read attentively, and, above all, think!
The reward will be great.
130 of 137 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
Before buying have read reviews. There are 49 out of 86 five star ones. So opted to buy to get a chance to touch the work of a genius. It never happened though. The book begins with text references to Fig. 1, Fig 2, Fig. 3, etc. No such diagrams.....Nada, just empty spaces... As a matter of fact, not a single drawing in the book! I mean, the book is reprinted with NO crucial accompanying the text drawings. Probably, the latter were in a separate file which they didn't copyright to make it cheaper, anyway it rendered the book useless. I would've sentenced the editor to a jail time.
Ah...here it is: Publisher: General Books LLC (August 19, 2009) ISBN-10: 0217982360 ISBN-13: 978-0217982368
"We recreated the book from the original using Optical Character Recognition to keep the cost of the book as low as possible. Therefore could you please forgive...etc. "
What they're apologizing here for is that they have committed a fraud. And "Look Inside" browser feacher shows you another book edition!
In hindsight, I suspect most 5-4 star reviews are fictitious...OR... they combined all reviews from different publications into one file. Buyer be aware!
Joseph Zacharow.
Update: Yep, Amazon throws DIFFERENT reviews of the same book under DIFFERENT publications (Einstein, Relativity), and DIFFERENT publications of DIFFERENT books of the SAME author (Albert Einstein, Relativity - The Special and The General Theory) in ONE big deceitful pile.
Thank you Amazon!
Ah...here it is: Publisher: General Books LLC (August 19, 2009) ISBN-10: 0217982360 ISBN-13: 978-0217982368
"We recreated the book from the original using Optical Character Recognition to keep the cost of the book as low as possible. Therefore could you please forgive...etc. "
What they're apologizing here for is that they have committed a fraud. And "Look Inside" browser feacher shows you another book edition!
In hindsight, I suspect most 5-4 star reviews are fictitious...OR... they combined all reviews from different publications into one file. Buyer be aware!
Joseph Zacharow.
Update: Yep, Amazon throws DIFFERENT reviews of the same book under DIFFERENT publications (Einstein, Relativity), and DIFFERENT publications of DIFFERENT books of the SAME author (Albert Einstein, Relativity - The Special and The General Theory) in ONE big deceitful pile.
Thank you Amazon!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great review.
The book is nice review of past events, however it should have contained the relavant equations with the backstory. Read more
Published 4 days ago by David R Reed Jr
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating
This gives a very interesting description of how I suspect Dr. Einstein viewed the world while trying to solve one of the most difficult scientific mysteries of all time. Read more
Published 5 days ago by J. Kunkel
5.0 out of 5 stars
Insightful
I'm using this book to inspire me and also as a blue print as I write my book on author Ernest Hemingway and my theory that he may have lived most of his life with lead poisoning. Read more
Published 15 days ago by Scott J. Rossi
4.0 out of 5 stars
written for the general public
lots of examples and the kind of thought problems Einstein used to create the theory. tough reading at times but worth it. Read more
Published 20 days ago by Kurt B. Benson
4.0 out of 5 stars
relativity
Einstein's way of looking at the problem is of interest, but sometimes hard to follow. He has very great imagination.
Published 25 days ago by Leo A. Whelan
5.0 out of 5 stars
An important foundation to satisfy cosmic curiosity.
Easy for Albert; difficult for me. Nevertheless, if one want to pursue
cosmic knowledge beyond looking at the stars on a cloudless night,
carefully study this ultimately... Read more
cosmic knowledge beyond looking at the stars on a cloudless night,
carefully study this ultimately... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Bill Weston
1.0 out of 5 stars
The worst publishing quality ever
The font, spacing, equations, images are completely terrible. Some equations cannot even be read. I need to buy another version from another publisher. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Ahmet Hungari
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome product
It was everything I expected and more..... I did, however, expect more mathematical formulas within the text but, overall, it satisfied my inquiry into a fundamental work of 20th... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Vladimir Mavar
4.0 out of 5 stars
Thought provoking
While a certain few individuals can appreciate this area of interest this book is well and simply explained for the matter discussed it uses very little math and does a good job... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Joel Brumfield
1.0 out of 5 stars
Routledge Classics Kindle Edition is awful
The equations are illegible low res images. Crucial text is mangled. Charging $10 for this shoddy thing is a criminal act.
Published 2 months ago by Ray Ryan
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 11
books:
See all 11 books this book cites
- Theory of Relativity (International Series of Monographs on Physics) by C. Mřller in Back Matter
- The Expanding Universe: Astronomy's 'Great Debate', 1900-1931 (Cambridge Science Classics) by Arthur Eddington in Back Matter
- The Theory of Relativity: & Other Essays by Einstein in Back Matter
- Albert Einstein, Philosopher-Scientist: The Library of Living Philosophers Volume VII by Paul Arthur Schilpp in Back Matter
- The Evolution of Physics by Albert Einstein in Back Matter
See all 11 books this book cites
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