Relativity: The Special and General Theory

Somehow a review I wrote of an excellent product was posted for this.
This item was not what it was supposed to be, it was a poorly arranged and abridged version of the original book.
I am going to try to return it.

This product arrived on Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) at May 24 and it hasn't gotten in my home yet (the planner time is June 14). I would like to know if it is possible to the seller change post-brazil arrival process for futures orders? I mean, when I had been in U.S. the same seller has always been delivering at good times (normally, early than planner time), but it is always taking so long for delivery to Brazil (all of that cases were BOOKS).

Thank you for your attention given to this review!

Translated from the original German, some of Einsteins character may have been lost. Also references are continually made to section numbers but there are no section numbers in the book, this makes it difficult to find the references. It is a good window into what Albert Einstein was thinking in 1916, and I was able to spot the point where he went off track.

My mom bought me this when I was a teenage young man, and I hated her for it because I was not prepared to read this garbage. A lot of pressure for a 15 year old who was being forced to take some precalculus type class, to be given a book containing tensor equations and Riemann differential geometry. I had no clue what this stuff was, but it mystified me and I had to learn it, I knew that. So it really took my head out of the clouds of little baby precalculus thinking I was learning some math, and realized I have a lot higher of a mountain to ascend. So that was good, for inspiration. However, upon reading the actual book, who is this guy? No, I didn't like it. I don't like his language, it's not gentle. Yes, it's somewhat Newtonian in trying to derive theory from basic principles, but it is not written in a Newtonian, axiomatic format at all. So all of the sudden you can get lost and you don't quite know why. Because he's using a lot of math and advanced physics that isn't really explained that you need it as a prerequisite. Does he tell you what he expects you to know in physics or math before he does all that? Nope? So he has the habit of many scientists in general, to write their works assuming your some sort of expert in the field, which has the consequence of making the reader feel like an idiot if he is not adequately prepared. At least tell us what references we are working with, what we need to look up before we begin. Newton didn't really assume squat in his introduction, all pretty basic. That is the way it should be.

That said, there is some physical insight in here, but I still haven't seen a really great GR text, no matter where you look. This includes Einstein. The best I have seen so far is in Modern Geometry by Dubrovin and Novikov, but it's mainly good because it derives the necessary physics quit succinctly and is mathematically complete. Most GR texts written by physicists side step a lot of the important math, and don't develop it properly using the correct formalism and taking their time not to bruise the equations with their lack of care.

I was wondering why this book had so many low ratings! Looks like one of the editions is really bad. Luckily, I have an older, hardcover edition, so as far as I know, I'm not missing anything. Anyway, this basically lays out Einstein's case for general and special relativity, as one might infer from the subtitle. The basic book is divided into three parts. Part One deals with special relativity. Part Two deals with general relativity and Part Three basically goes over the greater cosmological implications of both Parts One and Two. Later editions, depending on which one it is, will likely have various appendices, as well.

I don't intend to lay out the specifics of what Einstein argues in the book, just to most of it being at least fairly well-known and also due to there existing so many reviews on here. The book is intended for a lay audience, and most of it is digestible, though when he gets into most of the equations, he will lose me - but that's just due to those types of things being one of my many weak points. I just wanted to note that many average readers will get a basic grasp of both concepts and their greater implications for one of the most important theories of the last century or so. Definitely worth reading.

I'm a scientist--not a physicist--and have had this book on my shelf for years--decades in fact. I finally decided to understand relativity, and so I spent a few weeks reading it--after I read the description of relativity in a few Einstein biographies as introduction. It turns out the most lucid descriptions of the thought experiments and deductions are given by Einstein himself. He is a very clear thinker, as you might expect.
The most astounding result of all this analysis of coordinate transformations in straight and curved space is that gravity is a result of the inherent curvature of space caused by the presence of large masses--planets and stars. The earth literally "squishes" the spatial coordinates radially around it--which in turn "squish" back in reaction, pinning us and everything else around us to the earth's surface.
That's gravity. Action-reaction. Were it not for this spatial distortion near the planet, we would be floating around much like those astronauts in the movie "Gravity". And the planets would not be rotating around the sun. Nothing would be as it is. Perhaps nothing would be.
It is incredible that these deductions could come from "simple" observations about moving trains and rotating disks. Einstein himself said the most incredible thing about nature is that it is comprehensible. At least to some, I should add.
This little book should be read by every college and advanced high school student. The math is high school level as presented.
It will change your view of the world. All is not as it appears. It is much more subtle.

Einstein is a man of the people who happened to think deeper than those around him. But he never seems to write or give the impression that he ever felt he was above or better than anyone. He states his views and theories very simply in this book. If I complain at all it is because he doesn't go into the math enough, but one must remember that this book was not written for the physicist, but for the person who wants a general understanding.

**** Edit****This review is for the Crown 1961 edition, not the modern garbage re-printings, Kindle refuse, etc.
However, those that complain about the math being either difficult or reproduced poorly, get real. The original math in this book is 10th grade at best. No Calculus, no differential equations, no PDF's or state vectors; scratches the surface with tensors. If you want or require math, go to the "Principle of Relativity" which includes original papers by Einstein, Weyl, Lorentz, etc.****end Edit****

You can not possibly do better. I first read through this when a struggling university Engineering Physics student; did not understand one measly concept; way over my under-developed head.

Persistently revisited it throughout the years and much later, after finally crowning my studious achievements with Landau, Misner-Thorne-Wheeler, Schwartz (Principles of Electrodynamics) and others, came to truly appreciate Einstein's genius. One revelation he had is ominously critical:

"There is no space empty of field"

Which I came to realize in my own fit of illumination, does NOT mean that all of "empty space" is subsequently or eventually filled with some kind of matter or field, regardless of where one observes.

No

What it means is that there is no such thing AT ALL as empty space, period. Meaning that if one were to somehow remove all the matter, electromagnetic fields, light, heat, quantum mechanical fluctuations, etc. If one were to remove EVERYTHING; ALL SOURCES OF FIELD, one would not be left with empty space.

One would be left with NOTHING at all.

The Fields and Space are indistinguishable. The fields themselves do not extend into space.

Rather:

FIELD

IS

SPACE

This notion has struck me as probably the most beautiful and elegant idea in physics ever presented to me. When it occurred it made me feel like a child again. Einstein's words, narratives and explanations throughout imply strongly that he believed it. All the physics I had learned so far became worthy of study again.

Unfortunately, I think it may not be falsifiable, or disprovable. Therefore, it must remain an idea only at this point, but is serves as a motivation to continue looking, searching for implications, validation, verification in a quest to understand the universe.

Somebody please prove me wrong. I beg you

Einstein is amazing, this review is about the edition bearing the ISBN number: 9781619491502

There are numerous publication problems with this book. The mathematical formulae have i's where 1's should be. There are also a number of spelling mistakes or punctuation errors that no human would make. I think it was run through OCR at some point and then never cleaned up.

There is also no copyright page--which is where I would go to put together my citation. In fact, there is nothing beyond "Printed in the USA" to identify the origin, translation, or edition of the book. Since these things can not be uniquely identified, I am going to have to go through my paper and map each cited page number to a different edition of the book. Which means I am going to have to get a different edition of the book. Before tomorrow.

I feel like some robot reached into a database full of pieces of a once good book, assembled them without human oversight, removed any information that could lead me to its source, printed it out, and charged me for it.

EINSTEIN'S OWN EXPLANATION OF HIS THEORIES

Other books that Einstein wrote or co-wrote that address relativity are The Meaning of Relativity,The Principle of Relativity,Sidelights on Relativity, and The Evolution of Physics. [NOTE: page numbers below refer to the 164-page 1961 hardcover edition.]

He wrote in the Preface to this 1916 book, "The present book is intended, as far as possible, to give an exact insight into the theory fo Relativity to those readers who, from a general scientific and philosophical point of view, are interested in the theory, but who are not conversant with the mathematical apparatus of theoretical physics... The author has spared himself no pains in his endeavor to present the main ideas in the simplest and most intelligible form, and on the whole, in the sequence and connection in which they actually originated... I make no pretense of having withheld from the reader difficulties which are inherent to the subject... May the book bring some one a few happy hours of suggestive thought!" (Pg. v-vi)

He gives an illustration of a long train, where lightning strikes the rail both in front of, and behind, the train, and asks, "Are two events (e.g., the two strokes of lightning...) which are simultaneous with reference to the railway embankment also simultaneous relatively to the train? We shall show that the answer must be in the negative... Events which are simultaneous with reference to the embankment are not simultaneous with respect to the train, and vice versa... Every reference-body ... has its own particular time; unless we are told the reference-body to which the statement of time refers, there is no meaning in a statement of the time of an event." (Pg. 25-26)

He explains, "a ray of light is transmitted rectilinearly with the velocity 'e.' It can easily be shown that the path of the same ray of light is no longer a straight line when we consider it with reference to the accelerated chest... From this we conclude, that, in general, rays of light are propagated curvilinearity in gravitational fields." (Pg. 75)

He states, "If we desire to adhere to our 'old-time' three-dimensional view of things, then we can characterize the development which is being undergone by the fundamental idea of the general theory of relativity as follows: The special theory of relativity has references to ... domains... in which no gravitational field exists.... In gravitational fields there are no such things as rigid bodies with Euclidean properties; thus the fictitious rigid body of reference is of no avail in the general theory of relativity. The motion of clocks is also influenced by gravitational fields, and in such a way that a physical definition of time which is made directly with the aid of clocks has by no means the same degree of plausibility as in the special theory of relativity." (Pg. 98)

He notes, "this universe has a finite area that can be compared with the area of a square constructed with rods. The great charm resulting from this consideration lies in the recognition of the fact that the universe of these beings is finite and yet has no limits." (Pg. 109) He continues, "the behaviour of measuring-rods and clocks is influenced by gravitational fields, i.e., by the distribution of matter. This in itself is sufficient to exclude the possibility of the exact validity of Euclidian geometry in our universe. But it is conceivable that our universe differs only slightly from a Euclidean one, and this notion seems all the more probable.. We might imagine that, as regards geometry, our universe behaves analogously to a surface which is irregularly curved in its individual parts, but which nowhere departs appreciably from a plane: something like the rippled surface of a lake. Such a universe might fittingly be called a quasi-Euclidian universe. As regards its space it would be infinite... [But] such a universe would not be inhabited by matter everywhere.. the universe will be quasi-spherical. But it will be necessarily finite." (Pg. 113-114)

He summarizes, "We are now in a position to see how far the transition to the general theory of relativity modifies the concept of space... according to the special theory or relativity, space... has an existence independent of matter or field... On the basis of the general theory of relativity... space... has no separate existence... There is no such thing as an empty space, i.e., a space without field. Space-time does not claim existence on its own, but only as a structural quality of the field." (Pg. 154-155)

While the statement on the book's cover, "With only a high school education the reader can understand Albert Einstein's Explanation of his Epoch-Making Theory" [which was written by the publisher, not Einstein] is an exaggeration, this book remains one of the most interesting expositions of Relativity---the more so being written by "the MAN" himself.

Other books that Einstein wrote or co-wrote that address relativity are The Meaning of Relativity,The Principle of Relativity,Sidelights on Relativity, and The Evolution of Physics. [NOTE: page numbers below refer to the 164-page 1961 hardcover edition.]

He wrote in the Preface to this 1916 book, "The present book is intended, as far as possible, to give an exact insight into the theory fo Relativity to those readers who, from a general scientific and philosophical point of view, are interested in the theory, but who are not conversant with the mathematical apparatus of theoretical physics... The author has spared himself no pains in his endeavor to present the main ideas in the simplest and most intelligible form, and on the whole, in the sequence and connection in which they actually originated... I make no pretense of having withheld from the reader difficulties which are inherent to the subject... May the book bring some one a few happy hours of suggestive thought!" (Pg. v-vi)

He gives an illustration of a long train, where lightning strikes the rail both in front of, and behind, the train, and asks, "Are two events (e.g., the two strokes of lightning...) which are simultaneous with reference to the railway embankment also simultaneous relatively to the train? We shall show that the answer must be in the negative... Events which are simultaneous with reference to the embankment are not simultaneous with respect to the train, and vice versa... Every reference-body ... has its own particular time; unless we are told the reference-body to which the statement of time refers, there is no meaning in a statement of the time of an event." (Pg. 25-26)

He explains, "a ray of light is transmitted rectilinearly with the velocity 'e.' It can easily be shown that the path of the same ray of light is no longer a straight line when we consider it with reference to the accelerated chest... From this we conclude, that, in general, rays of light are propagated curvilinearity in gravitational fields." (Pg. 75)

He states, "If we desire to adhere to our 'old-time' three-dimensional view of things, then we can characterize the development which is being undergone by the fundamental idea of the general theory of relativity as follows: The special theory of relativity has references to ... domains... in which no gravitational field exists.... In gravitational fields there are no such things as rigid bodies with Euclidean properties; thus the fictitious rigid body of reference is of no avail in the general theory of relativity. The motion of clocks is also influenced by gravitational fields, and in such a way that a physical definition of time which is made directly with the aid of clocks has by no means the same degree of plausibility as in the special theory of relativity." (Pg. 98)

He notes, "this universe has a finite area that can be compared with the area of a square constructed with rods. The great charm resulting from this consideration lies in the recognition of the fact that the universe of these beings is finite and yet has no limits." (Pg. 109) He continues, "the behaviour of measuring-rods and clocks is influenced by gravitational fields, i.e., by the distribution of matter. This in itself is sufficient to exclude the possibility of the exact validity of Euclidian geometry in our universe. But it is conceivable that our universe differs only slightly from a Euclidean one, and this notion seems all the more probable.. We might imagine that, as regards geometry, our universe behaves analogously to a surface which is irregularly curved in its individual parts, but which nowhere departs appreciably from a plane: something like the rippled surface of a lake. Such a universe might fittingly be called a quasi-Euclidian universe. As regards its space it would be infinite... [But] such a universe would not be inhabited by matter everywhere.. the universe will be quasi-spherical. But it will be necessarily finite." (Pg. 113-114)

He summarizes, "We are now in a position to see how far the transition to the general theory of relativity modifies the concept of space... according to the special theory or relativity, space... has an existence independent of matter or field... On the basis of the general theory of relativity... space... has no separate existence... There is no such thing as an empty space, i.e., a space without field. Space-time does not claim existence on its own, but only as a structural quality of the field." (Pg. 154-155)

While the statement on the book's cover, "With only a high school education the reader can understand Albert Einstein's Explanation of his Epoch-Making Theory" [which was written by the publisher, not Einstein] is an exaggeration, this book remains one of the most interesting expositions of Relativity---the more so being written by "the MAN" himself.

I found it very interesting to read an explanation of the theories of relativity by the developer of those theories. However, it is important to remember that the inventors of science theories aren't always the best ones to explain them. Isaac Newton is a prime example. Another thing to remember is that today there are a lot of books and online graphics that use clever pedagogic techniques and visualizations to assist you in understand these theories, and naturally this book does not contain any of that. This book was originally written in 1916 and updated in 1920 and since then it has been reprinted/edited several times (as this book is an example of). I should say that the General Theory of Relativity had just been published so there weren’t much else out there for laymen at the time.

I’ve already read many good books on relativity and I believe I understand special relativity pretty well, but my understanding of general relativity is partial. I did not buy this book to understand relativity. The reason I bought this book was to gain another perspective on the subject. If you just want learn and understand relativity I would recommend Relativity Visualized by Lewis Carroll Epstein instead.

"Relativity: The Special and the General Theory" features no derivations of the formulas in relativity (except in the appendix) and no visualizations demonstrating relativistic effects and phenomena. The book is focused on the conceptual foundations of relativity and physics. For example, what are Geometrical propositions, what does it mean to measure the length of a rod, or the time of an event, what do we mean by speed, what is simultaneity, what is the difference between what we observe and what we measure, etc? Einstein spends one and a half page explaining addition of velocities in classical-pre-relativistic kinematics (w = v + u) and what assumptions that are inherent with the approach. In that sense the book is quite philosophical, which is what I meant by “another perspective”. The book covers both the Special Theory of Relativity and the General Theory of Relativity. However, the sections on the General Theory of Relativity are quite short and very introductory.

There are some issues with the book. In appendix 1 Einstein derives the Lorentz transforms. However, it is not, in my opinion, the best derivation from a pedagogical standpoint and it also had typos in it. As far as I can tell the formula on page 50 is wrong unless what Einstein means with the "m" is "additional relative mass" and not actual "mass" as stated. The book features an addition written in 1920 where he is discussing an ad hoc modification to his theory that he had previously made but it turned out to be unnecessary (related to cosmology). The language is also very old fashioned. On the other hand this kind of stuff make you feel as if you travel back in time to when the theories of relativity were being churned out.

I don’t recommend the book for learning the theories of relativity but overall I liked the book. It focuses very much on basic concepts and near philosophical aspects of time, space and relativity. The book presents a valuable perspective if you already understand what the theories of relativity are about.

Other books that Einstein wrote or co-wrote that address relativity are The Meaning of Relativity,The Principle of Relativity,Sidelights on Relativity, and The Evolution of Physics. [NOTE: page numbers below refer to the 164-page 1961 hardcover edition.]

He wrote in the Preface to this 1916 book, "The present book is intended, as far as possible, to give an exact insight into the theory fo Relativity to those readers who, from a general scientific and philosophical point of view, are interested in the theory, but who are not conversant with the mathematical apparatus of theoretical physics... The author has spared himself no pains in his endeavor to present the main ideas in the simplest and most intelligible form, and on the whole, in the sequence and connection in which they actually originated... I make no pretense of having withheld from the reader difficulties which are inherent to the subject... May the book bring some one a few happy hours of suggestive thought!" (Pg. v-vi)

He gives an illustration of a long train, where lightning strikes the rail both in front of, and behind, the train, and asks, "Are two events (e.g., the two strokes of lightning...) which are simultaneous with reference to the railway embankment also simultaneous relatively to the train? We shall show that the answer must be in the negative... Events which are simultaneous with reference to the embankment are not simultaneous with respect to the train, and vice versa... Every reference-body ... has its own particular time; unless we are told the reference-body to which the statement of time refers, there is no meaning in a statement of the time of an event." (Pg. 25-26)

He explains, "a ray of light is transmitted rectilinearly with the velocity 'e.' It can easily be shown that the path of the same ray of light is no longer a straight line when we consider it with reference to the accelerated chest... From this we conclude, that, in general, rays of light are propagated curvilinearity in gravitational fields." (Pg. 75)

He states, "If we desire to adhere to our 'old-time' three-dimensional view of things, then we can characterize the development which is being undergone by the fundamental idea of the general theory of relativity as follows: The special theory of relativity has references to ... domains... in which no gravitational field exists.... In gravitational fields there are no such things as rigid bodies with Euclidean properties; thus the fictitious rigid body of reference is of no avail in the general theory of relativity. The motion of clocks is also influenced by gravitational fields, and in such a way that a physical definition of time which is made directly with the aid of clocks has by no means the same degree of plausibility as in the special theory of relativity." (Pg. 98)

He notes, "this universe has a finite area that can be compared with the area of a square constructed with rods. The great charm resulting from this consideration lies in the recognition of the fact that the universe of these beings is finite and yet has no limits." (Pg. 109) He continues, "the behaviour of measuring-rods and clocks is influenced by gravitational fields, i.e., by the distribution of matter. This in itself is sufficient to exclude the possibility of the exact validity of Euclidian geometry in our universe. But it is conceivable that our universe differs only slightly from a Euclidean one, and this notion seems all the more probable.. We might imagine that, as regards geometry, our universe behaves analogously to a surface which is irregularly curved in its individual parts, but which nowhere departs appreciably from a plane: something like the rippled surface of a lake. Such a universe might fittingly be called a quasi-Euclidian universe. As regards its space it would be infinite... [But] such a universe would not be inhabited by matter everywhere.. the universe will be quasi-spherical. But it will be necessarily finite." (Pg. 113-114)

He summarizes, "We are now in a position to see how far the transition to the general theory of relativity modifies the concept of space... according to the special theory or relativity, space... has an existence independent of matter or field... On the basis of the general theory of relativity... space... has no separate existence... There is no such thing as an empty space, i.e., a space without field. Space-time does not claim existence on its own, but only as a structural quality of the field." (Pg. 154-155)

While the statement on the book's cover, "With only a high school education the reader can understand Albert Einstein's Explanation of his Epoch-Making Theory" [which was written by the publisher, not Einstein] is an exaggeration, this book remains one of the most interesting expositions of Relativity---the more so being written by "the MAN" himself.

Other books that Einstein wrote of co-wrote that address relativity are The Meaning of Relativity,The Principle of Relativity,Sidelights on Relativity, and The Evolution of Physics.

He wrote in the Preface to this 1916 book, "The present book is intended, as far as possible, to give an exact insight into the theory fo Relativity to those readers who, from a general scientific and philosophical point of view, are interested in the theory, but who are not conversant with the mathematical apparatus of theoretical physics... The author has spared himself no pains in his endeavor to present the main ideas in the simplest and most intelligible form, and on the whole, in the sequence and connection in which they actually originated... I make no pretense of having withheld from the reader difficulties which are inherent to the subject... May the book bring some one a few happy hours of suggestive thought!" (Pg. v-vi)

He gives an illustration of a long train, where lightning strikes the rail both in front of, and behind, the train, and asks, "Are two events (e.g., the two strokes of lightning...) which are simultaneous with reference to the railway embankment also simultaneous relatively to the train? We shall show that the answer must be in the negative... Events which are simultaneous with reference to the embankment are not simultaneous with respect to the train, and vice versa... Every reference-body ... has its own particular time; unelss we are told the reference-body to which the statement of time refers, there is no meaning in a statement of the time of an event." (Pg. 25-26)

He explains, "a ray of light is transmitted rectilinearly with the velocity 'e.' It can easily be shown that the path of the same ray of light is no longer a straight line when we consider it with reference to the accelerated chest... From this we conclude, that, in general, rays of light are propagated curvilinearly in gravitional fields." (Pg. 75)

He states, "If we desire to adhere to our 'old-time' three-dimensional view of things, then we can characterize the development whcih is being undergone by the fundamental idea of the general theory of relativity as follows: The special theory of relativity has references to ... domains... in which no gravitational field exists.... In gravitational fields there are no such things as rigid bodies with Euclidean properties; thus the fictitious rigid body of reference is of no avail in the general theory of relativity. The motion of clocks is also influenced by gravitional fields, and in such a way that a physical definition of time which is made directly with the aid of clocks has by no means the same degree of plausibility as in the special theory of relativity." (Pg. 98)

He notes, "this universe has a finite area that can be compared with the area of a square constructed with rods. The great charm resulting from thsi consideration lies in the recognition of the fact that the universe of these beings is finite and yet has no limits." (Pg. 109) He continues, "the behaviour of measuring-rods and clocks is influenced by gravitational fields, i.e., by the distribution of matter. This in itself is sufficient to exclude the possibility of the exact validity of Euclidian geometry in our universe. But it is conceivable that our universe differs only slightly from a Euclidean one, and this notion seems all the more probable.. We might imagine that, as regards geometry, our universe behaves analogously to a surface which is irregularly curved in its individual parts, but which nowhere departs appreciably from a plane: something like the rippled surface of a lake. Such a universe might fittingly be called a quasi-Euclidian universe. As regards its space it would be infinite... [But] such a universe would not be inhabited by matter everywhere.. the universe will be quasi-spherical. But it will be necessarily finite." (Pg. 113-114)

He summarizes, "We are now in a position to see how far the transition to the general theory of relativity modifies the concept of space... according to the special theory or relativity, space... has an existence independent of matter or field... On the basis of the general theory of relativity... space... has no separate existence... There is no such thing as an empty space, i.e., a space without field. Space-time does not claim existence on its own, but only as a structural quality of the field." (Pg. 154-155)

While the statement on the book's cover, "With only a high school education the reader can understand Albert Einstein's Explanation of his Epoch-Making Theory" [which was written by the publisher, not Einstein] is an exaggeration, this book remains one of the most interesting expositions of Relativity---the more so being written by "the MAN" himself.

Other books that Einstein wrote of co-wrote that address relativity are The Meaning of Relativity,The Principle of Relativity,Sidelights on Relativity, and The Evolution of Physics.

He wrote in the Preface to this 1916 book, "The present book is intended, as far as possible, to give an exact insight into the theory fo Relativity to those readers who, from a general scientific and philosophical point of view, are interested in the theory, but who are not conversant with the mathematical apparatus of theoretical physics... The author has spared himself no pains in his endeavor to present the main ideas in the simplest and most intelligible form, and on the whole, in the sequence and connection in which they actually originated... I make no pretense of having withheld from the reader difficulties which are inherent to the subject... May the book bring some one a few happy hours of suggestive thought!" (Pg. v-vi)

He gives an illustration of a long train, where lightning strikes the rail both in front of, and behind, the train, and asks, "Are two events (e.g., the two strokes of lightning...) which are simultaneous with reference to the railway embankment also simultaneous relatively to the train? We shall show that the answer must be in the negative... Events which are simultaneous with reference to the embankment are not simultaneous with respect to the train, and vice versa... Every reference-body ... has its own particular time; unelss we are told the reference-body to which the statement of time refers, there is no meaning in a statement of the time of an event." (Pg. 25-26)

He explains, "a ray of light is transmitted rectilinearly with the velocity 'e.' It can easily be shown that the path of the same ray of light is no longer a straight line when we consider it with reference to the accelerated chest... From this we conclude, that, in general, rays of light are propagated curvilinearly in gravitional fields." (Pg. 75)

He states, "If we desire to adhere to our 'old-time' three-dimensional view of things, then we can characterize the development whcih is being undergone by the fundamental idea of the general theory of relativity as follows: The special theory of relativity has references to ... domains... in which no gravitational field exists.... In gravitational fields there are no such things as rigid bodies with Euclidean properties; thus the fictitious rigid body of reference is of no avail in the general theory of relativity. The motion of clocks is also influenced by gravitional fields, and in such a way that a physical definition of time which is made directly with the aid of clocks has by no means the same degree of plausibility as in the special theory of relativity." (Pg. 98)

He notes, "this universe has a finite area that can be compared with the area of a square constructed with rods. The great charm resulting from thsi consideration lies in the recognition of the fact that the universe of these beings is finite and yet has no limits." (Pg. 109) He continues, "the behaviour of measuring-rods and clocks is influenced by gravitational fields, i.e., by the distribution of matter. This in itself is sufficient to exclude the possibility of the exact validity of Euclidian geometry in our universe. But it is conceivable that our universe differs only slightly from a Euclidean one, and this notion seems all the more probable.. We might imagine that, as regards geometry, our universe behaves analogously to a surface which is irregularly curved in its individual parts, but which nowhere departs appreciably from a plane: something like the rippled surface of a lake. Such a universe might fittingly be called a quasi-Euclidian universe. As regards its space it would be infinite... [But] such a universe would not be inhabited by matter everywhere.. the universe will be quasi-spherical. But it will be necessarily finite." (Pg. 113-114)

He summarizes, "We are now in a position to see how far the transition to the general theory of relativity modifies the concept of space... according to the special theory or relativity, space... has an existence independent of matter or field... On the basis of the general theory of relativity... space... has no separate existence... There is no such thing as an empty space, i.e., a space without field. Space-time does not claim existence on its own, but only as a structural quality of the field." (Pg. 154-155)

While the statement on the book's cover, "With only a high school education the reader can understand Albert Einstein's Explanation of his Epoch-Making Theory" [which was written by the publisher, not Einstein] is an exaggeration, this book remains one of the most interesting expositions of Relativity---the more so being written by "the MAN" himself.

This edition of Einstein's wonderful book was, according to the publisher, "...recreated from the original using Optical Character Recognition software to keep the cost of the book as low as possible. Therefore, could you please forgive any spelling mistakes, missing or extraneous characters that may have resulted..."

It's obvious that the publisher didn't bother to proof read the result of the OCR scan. There are many errors throughout the book. Some are obvious, others make it hard to read, or understand what the original text said. Here's an example from Section 2:

m
SPACE AND TIME IN CLASSICAL MECHANICS
"rTTHE purpose of mechanics is to describe how I bodies change their position in space with time."

Another example from section 3, which shows an incorrect formula: W = C | V.
It is supposed to read: w = c-v

Footnotes are jumbled, and references to the footnotes are left out.

The edition is readable, thus two stars. But the poor or non-existant editing makes it harder. Avoid this edition and get one where you don't trip over all the errors introduced by OCR.

I am far from being an expert in physics (philosophy is my field) but I have a layman's interest in developments in modern science and have done a little light reading on relativity on my own. I still found this book to be quite accessible as long as you are not afraid of a few algebraic equations. The section on general relativity is a little challenging in places but I actually thought Einstein's discussion of Gaussian coordinates (to take one example) was clearer than other presentations I have tried to read.

What I truly appreciated about this book was the logical order of Einstein's presentation. Einstein begins by laying out two principles: a restricted principle of relativity and the law of the propagation of light in vacuo and then shows how the two principles seem to contradict each other. Rather than discarding either principle, however, Einstein explains that we need to rethink our conceptions of time and space in a way that makes them compatible. Einstein then goes on to explain precisely how our notions of time and space need to be modified according to the special theory of relativity (basically space and time measurements will not be equal for bodies of reference moving relatively to each other but will be related through the Lorenz transformations).

Einstein then goes onto explain why the special theory of relativity needs to be replaced with a general theory which will take into account reference bodies that are accelerating in relation to each other. He explains how acceleration can be considered equivalent to being at rest in a gravitational field, and why the general theory cannot be based on a Euclidean continuum, as well as how to conceive a Non-Euclidean continuum using Gaussian coordinates all in a very logical manner. In other words, Einstein does not simply explain the theory but he explains why the theory needs to be formulated (why previous theories are inadequate) and why the theory needs to be formulated in the form it is actually formulated in.

The book is terse so you probably should not begin with this book if you have not read anything else on relativity theory. If you are looking for a good first book I would recommend Inside Relativity by Delo Mook and Thomas Vargish.

ADDENDUM: I noticed when browsing through reviews today that certain editions of this book have received negative reviews from a lot of customers. Unfortunately, the store continues to lump all the editions together on a single page. The edition I read, and reviewed, was the edition published by Broadway (with the black and white horizontal stripes on the lower half). I definitely recommend anyone interested in the book pick up the Broadway edition. The print is clear, the equations are clear, and it is very reasonably priced.

Read this over my winter break from college '08/'09. Picked up a soft-cover copy from the B&N Library of Essential Reading. I remember these 100 pages taking me 30+ days to complete as I wrested with concepts in Gedankenexperiement much the way they are relayed to the reader in 'snow-globe' examples of closed systems.

In the introduction Amit Hagar recounts: "...this book explains both theories in their simplest and most down-to-earth form, intending it for "those readers who, from a general scientific and philosophical point of view, are interested in the theory, but who are not conversant with the mathematical apparatus.""

I appreciated this translation by Robert W. Lawson as it was defensible from a lay perspective, and made many notes in the margin where timeless concepts overlapped my regular coursework. SR is surprisingly more simplistic and more readily understandable than GR.

Most importantly this work has helped me to overcome thinking about mechanics in a few very specific ways, and what I took away from reading this was: "...there's no such thing as an independently existing trajectory..." and "...there's no rectilinear motion."

It seems as if at least two or three books are published every year to explain the concepts of special and general relativity to the public. I haven't encountered another one as good as this.
Contrary to widespread misconception, Albert Einstein was not an exceptionally expert mathematician. His justly deserved fame rests on the fact that he had an incredible intuition for physics, and a willingness to think the unthinkable whenever that seemed to be where the physics led. So it's not surprising that he could explain both the concepts of special relativity and those of general relativity in clear, simple language suitable for the non-technical reader. The result is a masterpiece, especially the discussion of general relativity.
The mathematics of general relativity in its applications is esoteric, to say the least; any reader who wishes to glimpse this can take a look at Robert M. Wald's book "General Relativity." But the underlying ideas are very simple, simple enough to be easily grasped by any 11th or 12th grade student in an "academic" curriculum. The problem with them is that for most people the ideas are counterintuitive. The other books for laypeople that I've looked at go through all sorts of contortions to make the ideas plausible. Einstein doesn't. He proceeds steadily, simply and logically to show how special relativity follows from direct observation. Then he points out that special relativity is only useful in certain exceptional cases, and asks himself (and us) what properties a more general physical theory must have to be consistent both with observation and with special relativity. General relativity just lands in our laps as a result of this simple train of thought.
I treasure this book.

There are many versions of Einstein's book on relativity, written for a general audience. This book was written in 1916, in German and then translated into English. The book being reviewed here uses a 1920 edition, but it is far from being the newest one that Einstein wrote. The newest, the 15th edition, was written in 1952, and it is the most complete, as it contains several appendices that are not in earlier editions, as well as some corrections of errors that appeared in earlier editions. I have read both the 15th edition and this one, and if you want the best version of Einstein's text I would definitely get the 15th edition, as opposed to the one being reviewed here. However, the edition being reviewed here has been augmented with new material, and I think that this makes it a better choice than the 15th edition.

This book contains an interesting introduction by Roger Penrose, which provides some insights concerning Relativity Theory and the cosmological advances that have grown out of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. The book contains lengthy commentaries by Robert Geroch that clarify many of Einstein's chapters. Finally, there is an essay by David Cassidy on the "Cultural Legacy of Relativity Theory". In my opinion these additions more than make up for the appendices that are provided in the more complete 15th edition of Einstein's book.

I liked this book and recommend it over the 15th edition, but I cannot give it 5 stars. I found Einstein's prose to be typical of 19th century scientific prose, that is to say somewhat tedious and less than clear. This is especially true of the latter half of the book, which is devoted to the General Theory. To make matters worse, it was originally written in German and may have lost some clarity in the translation. There is a final chapter on cosmology that because of the rapid advances in this field make this section largely only of historical interest.

I recommend this book if you really want to read Einstein, albeit in translation, but there are better choices if you want an introduction to Relativity Theory. If you want a better introductory treatment of Relativity, I highly recommend Martin Gardners "Relativity Simply Explained" and if you want an introductory treatment with a little more scientific detail (but still without any math) I recommend Richard Wolfson's "Simply Einstein - Relativity Demystified".

Great for the young student of Physics!
This is an excellent book, written in the "Master's" own style and faithfully translated from the German by Robert Lawson. The translation dates to 1920 and new readers may find the English a little quaint, but for all that, it is a great effort at presenting in "plain speak", the concepts of Relativity.
The book starts with a lucid explanation of the Train and Platform example of Galelian Relativity and then proceeds to highlight the incompatibility between the principle of relativity and the constancy of the speed of light. Without encumbering the reader with the Maths (found in the appendices) the ideas of time dilation and length contraction are discussed. The General Theory is developed via a fine example: that of an observer on a rotating disk.
This is a good complement to the overtly scientific/mathmatical books on the subject. Unfortunately,, despite its many qualities, just like many of the alternatives of this genre, Einstein's book does not fully succeed in explaining the complex concepts to the lay reader. Rather, this is a nice little book that will be suitable for a good calibre Maths/Physics student in the sixth form/high school.

Measuring-rods and clocks in a continuum of non-rigid reference-bodies. This is how Einstein explains his theories of relativity to those "who are not conversant with the mathematical apparatus of theoretical physics." No offense to Einstein, but others have published more readily comprehensible descriptions of relativity. Einstein's accounts are rather belabored compared to those of physicists like Brian Greene. However, if you have a basic appreciation of geometry, you will soon attain a foggy glimpse of Einstein's two great theories in this small volume. Read this book as a curiosity, to encounter Newton's intellectual heir, and his vision of the universe, in his own words.
As the author promises, the book is well organized, moving through Relativity's essential aspects in a systematic progression and examining the difficulties he had to overcome in its development. In his preface Einstein says, "despite the shortness of the book, a fair amount of patience and force of will on the part of the reader" will be demanded. If you are curious, strap on your thinking-cap and enjoy this read in Einstein's finite but perhaps unbounded universe.

As at least one reviewer has noted there are several editions of this book. (This exact edition is also available in paperback.) Definitely get this one (or another 15th edition) because it is the 1952, fifteenth edition, which is the last one that Einstein prepared and is the one that contains all five of his appendices. My local bookstore has several editions put out by different publishers. Side by side were two, one was a 1916, third edition, that contained only three appendices and the other was the complete 1952, fifteenth edition, which actually cost a dollar LESS than the incomplete version. The 1916 version is in public domain, so the publisher does not have to pay anything to the Einstein estate. Thus, the publisher makes more money from purchasers who are not savvy enough to realize that they are getting an inferior edition for the same or even a higher price than a complete one. Caveat emptor.

The four stars do not in any way refer to my view of Einstein or his work. Were they the basis of the review I would have given it five stars. I am qualifying my recommendation because I believe that only some readers will find the book to be suitable for their needs. Thus, I am giving it only four stars because this book is too elementary for someone studying relativity in a graduate course but too complex for someone with little or no physics background. Thus, the readership is somewhat limited.

Pros:
1) This book is Einstein's classic presentation of his special and general theories of relativity, prepared for a general audience. As such, it has interesting historical value as well as being illuminating for some readers. The fifteenth edition contains all of Einstein's corrections and all of his appendices.
2) A reasonably good presentation of the special theory.
3) Good for someone with a physics background (engineers, physicists at the BS or MS level, chemists, etc.) It is, however, too elementary for someone studying relativity at a graduate level. For them, it is primarily useful as a historical document. They would probably get more from Einstein's papers than from this book, which was written for the general public.
Cons:
1) The bulk of this book was written in 1916, in German, and then translated into English. As such, it is somewhat convoluted in places and generally has the typical flavor of 19th century prose.
2) I feel that while the special theory is presented in a reasonably straightforward manner the general theory is not. Einstein uses a little math here, but it is insufficient for a physicist and is probably incomprehensible for someone with little or no math or physics background. I believe that Martin Gardner's book "Relativity Simply Explained" is a better choice for someone with little or no science background. It does a very much better job of explaining the general theory for a general audience.
3) While Einstein explains how the basic assumptions of his theories differ from those of classical physics, these differences are not, in my opinion, highlighted sufficiently. I recommend Isaacson's recent biography of Einstein for those who want these differences more clearly delineated. Isaacson clearly shows why Einstein's theories were so radical a departure from those of Newton.

All in all, this is a good book for the right audience.

Albert Einstein is the eidos of the Smart Guy. I chose to read Robert W. Lawson's authorized translation of Einstein's popular exposition of the topic of Relativity because I didn't think I knew anything about it. Well, that isn't true. That was why I chose to buy it; I have a whole special collection of uncracked literature in my library relating to my personal ignorance. I chose to read it because of both the above stated reason and because it was small enough to tote with me on the train to and from work. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Although I got a big fat B in my undergraduate physics course, all I understood about Relativity was 1) it has something to do with Energy being equal to the product of Mass and the speed of light squared, and 2) there is something wrong with Newtonian mechanics when one is trying to explain the orbit of Mercury. Relativity turns out to be a good chunk more interesting than that. By spelling it out using simple examples like trains, Euclidian geometry and math no fancier than algebra, Einstein seemed to make a pretty good case for the over-simplicity of the good old laws of inertia and momentum. Sure, my clock is at rest with respect to me and will remain so until something moves it, but observed from a distant star, it is accelerating through four-dimensional space-time quite rapidly. Moreover, the perception of my clock (and time) from that remote reference point is influenced by the finite yet constant speed of light. That guy was really thinking.
In summation, spending 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the evening with this book made me feel like I had the gist of Relativity. Now back to my stack of ignorance.

I bought this book in the early '60s and was enthused when I read that a high school student could understand it. My physics in high school was taught by a biology professor who had trouble explaining the subject. When I tried to study Einstein's book, I was at a total loss. Later after 3 years of university physics and a B.S. in math, it was fairly easy to understand Einstein's book. For non physics and/or non math majors, I agree with the other reviewer that it will be somewhat difficult. I suggest that such a person first read a non-technical book on relativity to get the concepts of Special relativity (no gravity) and the General theory (Einstein's theory of gravity). There are quite a few popular books out there.

This is relativity explained by Einstein himself, without using math. There might have been a plain English explanation that is slightly more crisp, however, would you not want to read it from the master himself? The special relativity section is especially clear, and detailed. Almost all the important ideas were explained well there. The section on general relativity is rather brief, and gives you the sense that it is just a flavor, not the full story. Yet it gives you enough to be very interested. The English translation from German could be better, but it really does not make it inexplicable. Those who complain that the translation could not be understood probably would not understand the book even if it is translated better. All in all, I would recommend reading it after some other exposition on the subject. After that, this is an excellent piece of food for thought.

I would like to take a minute to thank Audio Scholar for abridging Relativity to audio. I thoroughly enjoyed the abridged audio novel and was very happy that I could share it with my 18 month old son who gets to listen to it to as one of his bedtime stories. I would like to encourage Audio Scholar to produce more of these types of edutainment audio programs on tape or CD. I love listening to scientific books on my way to work and also love to share them with my 18 month old son as his bedtime stories. Actually I initially started buying them for my son and then got hooked on them myself. Now we both get to enjoy high quality educational entertainment! In addition the high level of clear announciation in the Audio Scholar work is fantastic, it really helps my son to learn new words, concepts and the organization of the english language. More than he would ever obtain in normal everyday speech. I do not have time in my busy daily schedule to read very much, but do I have five hours a day to listen and learn. If you make it I will support it. Arnold D Veness

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.

This is an update of the review below, posted anonymously June 20, 1999. People seem to have found it useful and I thought I would add what I consider to be important information about different editions of this book.

Various editions of this book differ in an important respect. Some of them are more complete than others! The reason is that Einstein wrote the first edition over 80 years ago, and it is in the public domain; I believe later additions to the book are still under copyright, which is under the control of Einstein's heirs and whomever the heirs have given publishing rights. In the 2005 celebration of Einstein's "miracle year", lots of publishers cashed in, but not all of the editions, including some of the more expensive ones, have the complete deal.

The very critical thing to look for in the various editions is the Appendices, in particular the piece "Relativity and the Problem of Space" which Einstein wrote near the end of his life. This is an extremely serious and profound meditation on the subject matter, whether written for a "popular" audience or not. Part of the essay is a brief discussion of something whose significance is still very actively debated, usually under the rubrics of "background independence" and "diffeomorphism invariance". You will not find these words in Einstein's essay, but these notions are at the heart of the sometimes bitter disagreements about various approaches to quantum gravity, e.g. loop quantum gravity (which takes an Einsteinian view) and string theory (which takes a view based on particle physics and quantum field theory). Einstein did not enter into these contemporary debates about quantum gravity, but his meditations in the essay in this book are very much at the source of the current controversies.

A leading quantum gravity person of the Einsteinian-based persuasion told me several years ago that he had been a professional practitioner in relativity and quantum gravity for years before he really appreciated what Einstein was getting at here.

Another person, of the string persuasion, told me that he was "deeply shaken" from reading a Scientific American critique of the string theory program by a person of the loop quantum gravity school, who stressed the lack of "background independence" in the string program.

So, by all means, check the table of contents of different editions to make sure the appendices are all there, make sure the "Relativity and the Problem of Space" essay is there. You will find much to ponder and mystify you there, and much that can be related to contemporary debates at the frontiers of quantum theories of space and time!

mastermind at work, June 20, 1999

Reviewer: A reader

The reviewer of April 13 from Moscow, Idaho says this is not the book to read unless you already understand the theory. Maybe fair enough. It was written when Einstein had achieved youthful fame, though, not in his dotage, if he had such a thing. It may be a little more difficult for the translation, but not much. Contrary to some reviewers, it is not that easy to follow, and if it seems like an easy read, you probably haven't understood it. There are many books written since where it is probably easier to learn about special relativity, to say nothing of the basic ideas of general relativity. But once you have started to get the hang of things, this book is a masterpiece of exposition! It allows one to follow Einstein's actual thought process in arriving at these theories -- pretty much by a process of pure thought -- more or less in the steps he probably took himself. There is not a word in the exposition that was not carefully thought out. So, learn the theory somewhere else and then read this book -- you'll understand the theory better for reading Einstein's book -- or read this book first, keep going back to it 'til it starts to make sense, and maybe consult some other, more "user-friendly" textbook at the same time. Einstein claims his book allows a lay reader with only high school math to understand relativity. To which a friend of mine replied "Yeah, if you have an IQ of 800". To which I say, have patience, keep thinking about it and going back to it.

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.

I own this book and have read it a few times and each time I am impressed by the clarity with which it is written. It explains the concepts of relativity in words only. It avoids (technical) calculations and formulas, not for the usual 'commercial' reasons, but because the author shows he can do without. And ask yourself: how many authors are capable of doing that?
The strength of the book is its conciseness: the author forces you to think things through, before moving on to the next chapter. I think this little book is great to own next to a more advanced textbook because it really adds value, for a small price.
Buy this book for its content only: it contains no fancy graphics or other 'eye catchers'. Because the author (obviously) knows what he is talking about, he was able to keep the book thin without making compromises. Again an achievement.

Professor Einstein wrote this book for the general audience who had an education "comparable to that of a university matriculation examination", as he felt there was a great need of introducing the idea to the public; however, the original papers were too technical. He did warn that reading the book would require the reader to exert some effort, and I certainly did. However, I derived some solace from the fact that out of all the books on relativity in the (university) library, this book is one of the few that is comprehensible to me!

He first sets out conventional thinking of the day on relative motion and invites us to consider the "truth" carefully. He reviewed the concept of reference frame (i.e. coordinate system) and the use of Euclidean geometry to describe relative motion, including the 'intuitive' addition of velocity. Then he reveals that this line of thought is problematic.

At this point it is worth digressing into the means which he presents the theory of relativity. His presentation is elegant - not in the linguistic sense, but in the structure of his argument. Normally, one can start with a set of empirical data and try to work out a pattern, from there on, a theory. One can also formulate questions, let imagination and reasoning suggest a hypothesis, then find experimental data to test the hypothesis.

Einstein did it another way still, at least in this book. His general pattern is to explore some thought experiments and to see their implications. From there, he formulates the postulates and work out a coherent theory from the postulates. Experiments only come much later in his style of presentation. In particular, he postulates that (i) the speed of light is constant for all observers and (ii) physical laws are the same for observers in all reference frames. He then conducts a thought experiment, the now-famous train/lightning experiment. The two lightning bolts appear to reach the stationary observer "at the same time", but not so for the observer on the train - the notion of "simultaneity" is in doubt.

He gives credit to Lorentz - for his work of Lorentz Transformation - and incorporates it into his Special Theory of Relativity. Relative motion is no longer a simple additive relation but a more complicated one - though still manageable.

Only then he mentions the Michelson-Morley experiment but in a way that makes it appear to be peripheral to the development of his theory. He also introduces Minkowski's (his teacher) spacetime quite late, in spite of the fact that the idea is central to Special Theory of Relativity from a physics and mathematics point of view. To put it simply, it is the Pythagorean Theorem with an additional dimension of time (albeit with a form much more complicated than the 3D theorem).

He introduces the General Theory of Relativity by highlighting that the conditions which the Special Theory is valid - i.e. constant velocities - severely restrict its descriptive power. Mathematically, Euclidean geometry does not work when a given region of space is not "equally dense," as in the case above. He introduces Gaussian Coordinates, which is the generalization of geometrical continua, with Euclidean geometry being a special case.

Special Relativity and General Relativity are different because spacetime is "equally dense" (i.e. flat) in Special Relativity, since only constant velocity cases are considered; but this is not so in General Relativity. The Gaussian coordinate system is necessary to describe them. GR can then be formulated as "All Gaussian coordinate systems are essentially equivalent for the formulation of the general laws of nature." He concluded by considering the application of GR in cosmology, with such implications as perihelion of Mercury and unbounded yet finite universe.

By this point (that is, if you had patiently read this far), you might question my addition of the precis of the book here. "Couldn't I just google it?" But chances are that introductions to Special and General Relativity are similar elsewhere, and this is how Professor Einstein did it. If you had read Walter Issacson's Einstein: His Life and Universe or Abraham Pais's Subtle Is the Lord: The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein (the latter is even more technical), this book should also demonstrate how Einstein thinks - idea first, mathematics second!

True, the theories are not something simple to grasp; but I am doing economics yet enjoy reading it - not to mention I am able to get the idea! The style of English is admittedly a little archaic but that is a relatively (no pun intended) small impediment of appreciating this great work. I would recommend that you set apart some moments in a quiet surrounding so that you could concentrate on following his arguments - that's the best way of reading the book IMHO!

In this book, Einstein appears to be explaining things to those people who have a hard-time digesting the ideas of relativity. I do not consider it to be a means to learn relativity. However, it can very well be used in parallel with some other book -- you read some other book, and if you find it hard to agree to the ideas mentioned, revert to this book. In my opinion, that is also what Einstein would have had in mind when he wrote that book.
If you are serious about relavity, read his original papers. They are not as difficult as they say they are. In fact, since Einstein mentions everything in full detail, he sounds much more convincing and clearer than all those authors who hide intricate details of the subject.

The the store blurb asks, "How better to learn the Special Theory of Relativity and the General Theory of Relativity than directly from their creator, Albert Einstein himself?" Answer: Reading a book by someone who makes a living as a writer. Einstein might be the greatest scientist of the 20th century, but he is not the greatest writer.

Forgive me, Einstein, but your book is boring. I had to force myself to finish reading it. It does not begin to convey the excitement and strangeness of the discovery. It only gives a few brief examples of thought experiments illustrating the point of relativity. Also, beware that this is a translation of Einstein's German. The translation could stand to be updated into less cumbersome prose.

In his wonderful biography, Isaacson writes, "To make sure that the average person would fathom [his book Relativity], he read every page out loud to Elsa's daughter Margot, pausing frequently to ask whether she indeed got it. `Yes, Albert,' she invariably replied, even though (as she confided to others) she found the whole thing totally baffling." (p. 232)

The book's main selling point is reading about the thought experiments from the horse's mouth --- the train thought experiment illustrating the impossibility of simultaneity (Ch 9), the chest in space thought experiment demonstrating the equivalence between gravity and acceleration (Ch 10), and the disc thought experiment illustrating that accelerated motion takes place in a non-Euclidean warped space (Ch 23). He also says he is trying to write about the concepts "in the sequence and connection in which they actually originated," so there is some value in that.

There are a couple really good quotes:
"...we entirely shun the vague word `space,' of which, we must honestly acknowledge, we cannot form the slightest conception...." - Einstein p. 9
"Every reference body (co-ordinate system) has its own particular time; unless we are told the reference-body to which the statement of time refers, there is no meaning in a statement of the time of an event." - Einstein p. 26

If you want to see how Einstein explained relativity, then read this book. But if you want to understand relativity, look elsewhere.

For the layperson interested in a good non-mathematical introduction to relativity, I recommend Relativity Simply Explained by Martin Gardner. Chapters 2 and 3 of The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene also present a brief, lucid explanation; and Chapters 2 and 3 of The Fabric of the Cosmos go more in-depth into general relativity and the spacetime. For more historical information as well as a lucid explanation, I recommend Chapter 6 (Special) and Chapter 9 (General) of Isaacson's Einstein.

If you want to read Einstein's book on relativity, you might as well buy A Stubbornly Persistent Illusion: The Essential Scientific Works of Albert Einstein, which includes the entire text of Relativity in addition to numerous other books and original papers.

Enjoy studying this fascinating subject!

cheers
:)

This book was written by Einstein. It tells his theories, while referencing several others - including Newton.

It covers geometric propositions, several systems of co-ordinates, the meaning of simultaneity, velocity, gravity fields, magnetic fields, several theories of the shape of the universe. Relativity applies to all of that and much more.

Obviously the average reader wont understand most of the material. Still anyone who reads this will gain knowledge and understanding from it. No matter what this book will expand the mind.

This book is probably the best place to start in understanding the theory that revolutionized science. It is lucid enough for practically anyone to understand. I should know, I'm still in junior high school and I understand it. Einstein conveyed the nature of his own genius into a prose that clearly explained nearly all there is to know on the basis of modern physics. The Cosmological Supplement was, in my opinion, the most interesting part. Natural science is an amazing branch of knowledge and some even say that physics is defined as the only true science. I reccommend this book to all readers who are interested in Einstein's work and even those who don't have a clue. It is all just basic science.

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.

It seems as if at least two or three books are published every year to explain the concepts of special and general relativity to the public. I haven't encountered another one as good as this. Contrary to widespread misconception, Albert Einstein was not an exceptionally expert mathematician. His justly deserved fame rests on the fact that he had an incredible intuition for physics, and a willingness to think the unthinkable whenever that seemed to be where the physics led. So it's not surprising that he could explain both the concepts of special relativity and those of general relativity in clear, simple language suitable for the non-technical reader. The result is a masterpiece, especially the discussion of general relativity.

This book is very interesting glimpse of where einstein was coming from. this is a book that is still interesting if you understand relativity, because einsein gives a very thorough look at the circumstances surrounding the development of the theory. Including a delineation of the specific problems with newtonian mechanics which neccesitated development of the special and general theories of relativity, which I have never found in any other book on the subject.
He also does a wonderful job of explaining why the special theory was insufficient, and the steps with which he developed the general theory of relativity.
This book is a look at the most wildly hyped theory of the twentieth century, and explains it so that almost anyone should be able to understand it and also undestand why Einstein once said he spent the vast majority of his life trying to understand quantum mechanics, and not relativity.

In Relativity, Einstein trys to bring his theory of relativity to the masses. When the special and general theorys of relativity were concieved of by Einstein, they revolutionized our perception of space and time. This revolution was so complete that many of the most significant physicists of the time believed that it was nonsense. When Einstein won the Nobel prize for his work on the photoelectric effect, his certificate unequivocally stated that the award was NOT given for his theory of relativity. For much of his life, even Einstein was unwilling to accept some of the predictions of his own work such as black holes.
This is all very good, interesting science and history which should be read and understood by everyone. The problem is, though, that Einstein was not a particularly good writer. Einstein is too brilliant for his own good and it shows through frequently in this attempt to stoop to our level. His explanations are usually hard to follow and unintuitive(and I study physics even!). This book exists on an uncomfortable middle ground between rigor and easy reading.
If you would like to read this book simply because of its (and its author's) historical significance then I couldn't discourage that. If you know little physics and want to try to understand relativity, however, read Kip Thorne's Black Holes and Time Warps or the first few chapters of Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe.

In his effort to create a "simple explanation [of relativity] that anyone can understand" Einstein comes close to perfection.
His language is clear and lucid, and the thought problems he suggests in order to prompt his reader into understanding the faults of classical theory vs. the extraordinary coherence and power of the theory of relativity are downright fun. But make no mistake--this book is not easy.
The concepts behind relativity are difficult to understand and require some patience on the part of the reader. At times, this difficulty is exasperated by Einstein's desire to keep his explanations succinct.
I would start with Einstein's "The Evolution of Physics" in order to get a feeling for the general concepts behind relativity and behind physics in general before attacking this excellent but challenging book.
That having been said, I LOVED every minute I spent reading this book and happily recommend it to anyone interested in twisting their brain around some wild problems with wilder solutions.

I won't lie to you, the theory of relativity is not simple. The special relativty is easily understood, yet it is a topic covered in university as an speciality in majors more involved with physics, and general relativity is coverd in masters. Both topics can be quite esoteric, and the mathematical explanation for the relativistic deformation of the time-space due to speed uses Fourier's transforms, so most people will have to just have faith in what Einstein is trying to explain. However, he does simplify the subject enough, so anyone with a basis of physics could grasp some of the most important ideas behind his theory.
Furthermore, this book is important in the fact that by proving that relativity was a real fact in physics, the shape of the world in the twentieth century took a great change. I believe that without Einstein's work, the nihilism porfethized by Nietzsche, toghether with the despotic regimes that the will of power would create guided by deviations of the "übermensch" might not have com in such strenght as it did.

This appears to have been written by Einstein sometime around 1916 in German. The writing process is not made clear in the book itself (whether it was dictated or co-authored, and the extent of changes by editors or translators). New editions could stand to have a forward that provides a little more context.

There are better books around for a beginner to understand relativity, but this is certainly not the worst. There is always something to be said for reading primary sources, and the book is fairly short and can be read quickly. Students may want to stick to Part I (Special Relativity) and consult more contemporary books for General Relativity.

The language is understandable for the most part. It is not as clean and simple a writing style as is common today -- in some places it is fairly elegant but in a few it is pointlessly baroque and awkward (perhaps a problem in the translation from German). Chapter 8 is an especially bad example: it could easily be written more clearly with about half the verbiage. In the older editions the translation is credited to Robert Lawson (apparently British) but this credit disappears in other versions.

For people already familiar with the history of science, there are a lot of interesting little details, such as seeing how Einstein originally presents the description of the moving train, and seeing all the people that Einstein credits as having made an important impression on him and contributions to the theory and experiments. (I find guys like Stephen Wolfram interesting as well, but it sure is a refreshing contrast to read the modesty of someone like Einstein and all the people he generously and conscientiously credits.)

This is a superb introduction to Special Relativity, which this writer, who is certainly no genius, was able to work through at age 18 (not without effort). The material on General Relativity (GR) is no harder, but much less detailed, so that one cannot hope to get a realistic idea of what GR is really about from this book alone. In fact, one needs considerable preparation in Physics and Math to even begin to understand the nature of GR.
Unfortunately, the quality of American education has deteriorated enormously over the past three decades, so that even the typical senior Physics major at all but a dozen or so American universities can no longer be expected to cope with this book. This book is a serious introduction and not meant for the present American high school graduate with A's in English but typically eighth-grade reading skills, and whose Math skills consist only of a few faint memories. Nor does the American university, which has responded to the lowering of standards in the high schools by continually lowering its own standards, prepare the student for books like this. Customers who whine that this book shows that Einstein couldn't write English betray not only their own very low reading level and poor preparation (the book requires nothing more than non-AP high-school Math and Physics), but also their foolishness in believing that Einstein, rather than a native speaker of English, prepared the translation into English.
For the dedicated reader, for whom learning is a mission, and who has learned his high school Math and Physics, this is an excellent book. It gives the dedicated and prepared reader the chance to interact with one of the greatest minds of all time. Einstein himself believed that any high-school student would be able to read this book with understanding, a belief was shown to be wrong even in 1917. (A reporter in Berlin asked Einstein's niece, then a high-school student if she had read and understood the book. "Oh yes," she replied happily, "everything but the part about coordinate systems!")
That this book has endured so long (more than eight decades) in popularity is a testament to the genius of its author and his ability to explain Physics clearly. This is a book which richly repays the effort taken to read it.

I have rated this book four stars, not because I feel that it is well above average but not spectacular, as that would normally indicate, but because I do not feel qualified to rate it and wish to have as little effect on its average rating as possible. I am a reasonably intelligent, reasonably well-educated individual with a good facility for numbers. Still, this book was well over my head. If you're planning a career in Mathematics or Physics, this book is probably necessary to your education, but unless you're truly brilliant, don't be surprised if you need qualified instruction to understand it. But if you're simply an intelligent, curious individual with a desire to comprehend Einstein's theories, don't be surprised if you can't make hash of this book.

You know, Albert Einstein was a genius.

I mean, he would have been a genius without ever communicating a single thought clearly to any other human being. But this book makes him, like, genius squared.

The first part of this book covers special relativity. It's about 62 pages. I've never read anything like it. I'm not exaggerating when I say special relativity is a difficult topic. Einstein's presentation is clearer than I would ever have thought possible, concise but never rushed.

Some pages may require many readings. But everything you need is there on the page.

I would appreciate a looser translation; in a few places Lawson's translation reads to me like German with English words. Nonetheless: 5 stars. One of the most enlightening science books you'll ever read.

This is a good, concise exposition of general and special relativity from the man who wrote the book. However, it will be above the heads of some... If you're interested in reading this book, I'd suggest looking for it in the library to see if it's really the book for you. Or even browse the text in a bookstore before you buy. If you think you'll need a course in Calculus, find a review of the theories that you can follow.

If you are interested in understanding the basic concepts of Relativity Theory, even if you have little mathematical background, then read this book. If you are a student or technical person that wants more of a "plain text" supplement to a technical course or presentation, then read this book. I read it many, many years ago when I was 14, and it had a profound effect on my outlook from that point onward. I labored over several topics sometimes for a week, but then, I was 14! When I finally finished it - I read it again! My point is that the text is well written, the concepts are at times a bit difficult to grasp, but the explanations are very understandable, and if you understand basic algebra, then what little math there is - a few equations essentially - will be quite clear. The main reason I even suggest the algebra is to better understand the relationships expressed within those equations. Bottom line - it is an excellent and "gentle" introduction to relativity and definitely worth reading! Enjoy.

The author of the theory of relitivity offers a clear explination of this complicated concept.All mathematical and technical aspects were clearly defined.Anyone interested and attentive could easily understand this book.Although short in length,it requires the reader to ingest the information slowly in order to obtain its full value.I would not recommend this book to anyone who has not graduated high school.

Einstein's explanation of special relativity left me feeling warm and fuzzy, but when he moved on to the general theory, things took a turn for the worse. I'll be the first to admit that a failure of information flow from Einstein to me is most likely a problem on the receiving end. However, in this case, Einstein completely left out important parts of the theory. It was as if he tried to explain a bicycle by describing the front wheel. Perhaps he felt that explaining the whole bicycle without leveraging concepts from elsewhere in physics and math was not possible. That may be true, but it doesn't change the fact that reading this book isn't going to give you a very clear understanding of the general theory of relativity.

I believe in reading primary source material. You can't get much closer to the source of the theory of relativity! My high school math and science classes did help me through this book.
I like it because it's not my normal subject matter. Einstein helped me think out of the box in terms of how things in the world (and universe) relate. Even though I won't remember all (or any) of the equations, I'll definitely remember his wonderful word pictures.

Lawson's translation of Einstein's description of his theory of relativity is still the primary translation as far as this reviewer is concerned. It is clear and well-presented. This one is difficult to find but well worth the search for anyone interested in the special and general theories of relativity from Einstein himself.

I believe Einstein had a language problem. As an example, please pay attention to his demonstration of relativity of simultaneity. He mixed up [seeing by the observer] with [occurrence at the origin]. Therefore Einstein had no right to say that the two events did not occur simultaneously when the observer did not [see] them simultaneously. Let us say, we saw an explosion(A) of a star in 1998, and it was recorded that there was another explosion (B) many years ealier. An observer on earth could only say that he saw B earlier and A later; he could not say B exploded earlier and A later; nor could he say B and A did not explode simultaneously. Einstein's demonstration of his relativity of simultaneity was therefore neither convincing nor fundimentally sound. Einstein's language problem could also be seen in his free switch between the words [clock] and [time]. A clock may and can slow down, but can time slow down? Unless we get this language problem cleared up I believe Einstein's theory will remain controversial.

I've used this book with my high school students - very slow going. You can definitely understand the issues involved in relativity, even as a layman, from reading this book, but THIS IS NOT AN EASY READ! A mature, dedicated reader will get through this book. I'm proud of my high school students for struggling through this book, but readers at that age mostly do not have the intensity to really appreciate it.

This is a Theory that started a envolution not only in physics and math but humanity to. Albert Einstein was so head of his times i,m very facinated by him physicist are like Magician of reality and another thing a good Physicist is a good teacher of physics. For Laymens read other scienctific books before this one like Brian Greene's The elegant universe to get the full ideal of Relativity i dont know if i should but this down or not but go to bartleby.com to read the book for free online

This book, written by Albert Einstein, is about the concept that changed our approach to physics and to the universe. This book requires a lot from a reader, in which the reader will probably have to reread passages all over again to grasp the math behind this theory. The math isn't difficult, it's understanding how it leads to the theory that requires a lot of thinking. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the theory of relativity from Einstein's approach. However the reader should have a minimum of understanding of the theory before attempting to read this book.

This is still an excellent intro to the subject, though some of the material is obsolete, of course. Since it was written the definition of the constant c has changed from "velocity of light" to "speed of light". Velocity includes direction and speed does not, so the "problem" Einstein had to address in chapter XXII no longer exists. The velocity of light changes direction due to the bending of light by gravity in General Relativity, but the speed of light, c, remains constant.

This was my first bad experience with the Kindle. Had I picked this book up at a store, I would've flipped through the pages and realized that it was poorly formated. There are carriage returns at all the wrong places, it's nearly impossible to read. I wish I'd paid a few bucks more and gotten one of the other versions.

If you're a kindle owner - go elsewhere.

What can you say about einstein's relativity? well a lot. Einstein spearheaded the revolution of physics with his annus miribalis (1905) papers. You can't study physics without reading this book and taking in its profound effect on the universe as we know it.

While reading the reviews I noticed something. The special case was considered well written, while the general theory was considered difficult to follow. There is a simple explanation to this, Leopold Infeld (protege of Einstein's) helped in the rewriting of the Special Case, his English was much more fluent than that of Einstein. Infeld was also a superb teacher, as such he had a fluency and a rhythm with words that is easy to follow. I highly recommend any of Einstein's writings but also caution you as to his readability... On the other hand Einstein recognized this and coauthored with Infeld, (or rewrote with him previous writings), as such I highly recommend that you get those books coauthored or written by Leopold Infeld.

Even though this book is marketed (and meant) as an accessible exposition of relativity theory, with the considerable advantage of being by Einstein himself, it is not as easy to read as the presentation may imply. Einstein says in his introduction that his reasoning will demand no more than high-school knowledge of the relevant subjects. Maybe this was true in his time, but nowadays the book demands way more than that. I'm myself a grad student in the field of literature and I simply couldn't follow the presumably basic mathematical demonstrations Einstein relies upon to make his points. Some concepts are also less than obvious for the non-specialist ('galilean coordinates'?). This is not to say that the book itself is not good, but that it is targeted at a readership which is not necessarily trained enough to benefit from it.

Einstein's theory of relativity is still about the only advanced science theory that I am able to fully understand. His book is the Bible of Relativity, unfortunately like the Bible it is a bit difficult to understand because he is not very fluent in English and although correct he uses words which we modern English speaking people are not familiar with. He is so long and drawn out that one often loses concentration and forgets the start of a topic before getting to the end. This is why I took off one star. If I were to rate Einsteins genius as a ten, then Hawking and others would be a one!