Product Description

Ask a dozen people to name a genius and the odds are that 'Einstein' will spring to their lips. Ask them the meaning of 'relativity' and few of them will be able to tell you what it is. The basic principles of relativity have not changed since Russell first published his lucid guide for the general reader. The ABC of Relativity is Bertrand Russell's most brilliant work of scientific popularisation. With marvellous lucidity he steers the reader who has no knowledge of maths or physics through the subtleties of Einstein's thinking. In easy, assimilable steps, he explains the theories of special and general relativity and describes their practical application to, amongst much else, discoveries about gravitation and the invention of the hydrogen bomb.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #322645 in Books
• Published on: 1997-07-03
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Synopsis
Ask a dozen people to name a genius and the odds are that "Einstein" will spring to their lips. Ask them the meaning of "relativity" and few of them will be able to tell you what it is. The basic principles of relativity have not changed since Russell first published his guide for the general reader. In the text Russell steers the reader who has no knowledge of maths or physics through the subtleties of Einstein's thinking. In easy, assimilable steps, he explains the theories of special and general relativity and describes their practical application to, amongst much else, discoveries about gravitation and the invention of the hydrogen bomb.

Customer Reviews

Lucid and detailed explanation of Einstein's theory.
If you are looking for an introduction to the Theory of Relativity, then this is the book for you. It does not require a science background. Russell is very clear in his ideas about the theory and he takes you step by step to the relativity theory. It explains the difference between special and general theory of relativity. The book takes you to Einstein's Law of gravitation and then to Hydrogen bombs. With a section on Universe, the book concludes with a philosophical input "Emotion that can be destroyed by a little mathematics is neither genuine nor valuable." A must read if you want to know anything about the theory of relativity. It would awe you by the sheer genius and the years of effort it took to reach the Theory of Relativity. The pre-conceptions, the interpretions of the experiments and the beliefs before the special theory and the comformation of those to special theory are beautifully captured in this masterpiece.