Customer Reviews

Was Einstein Right?: Putting General Relativity to the Test

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Everyone knows that Einstein revolutionized the theory of gravity. But only experiment can tell whether he got it right. Will recounts in clear and nontechnical language the story of how Einstein's theory was put to the test in earth- and satellite-based experiments from the 1950's to the 1980's. He describes how it is actually possible to see space curve by making very accurate measurements in the solar system, and he explains how those measurements were made by the Mariner probe to Mars, by radar surveying of the planets, and by bouncing laser beams off the moon. From these highlights to the three naked Stanford professors whose experiment is still waiting to go up in the Shuttle, Will sets out every aspect of this fascinating story

"Was Einstein Right" is the first book (out of 37 on relativity which I own) that I offer someone interested in learning about Einstein's theories. It is interesting, clear and to the point. I have re-bought this book three times, as my copies are lent out and don't always make it back! haha I don't blame them!

If this was 1995, I'd give this book five stars. It's an excellent, readable book on an important scientific topic. The trouble is that this second edition, which dates back to 1993, is now out of date. It came before some important tests of General Relativity (Gravity Probe B, Cassini-Huygens), and it also came before the discovery of the nonzero cosmological constant.