Two Words, One Answer.
Relativity:
 The Einstein Theory of Relativity $3.99 Professor Lorentz is credited by Einstein with sharing the development of his theory. He is doubtless better able than any other man - except the author himself - to explain this scientific discovery.  Relativity: The Special and the General Theory, The Masterpiece Science Edition, $6.99 Einsein says he wrote this small book so everyone of college calibre could understand Relativity, with a little thought and discipline. Unfortunately, he wrote it in 1916, in Germany (Switzerland?) where college calibre people knew more math than most current college calibre types. So even though he thinks he's being clear and logical, unless you have the math knowledge you won't be able to follow his thinking. Besides, my understanding is that, even over 100 years after he published the theory, very few people actually understand it. Kudos to him for trying to explicate his reasoning - but unfortunately simple and clear to Einstein is something different to the rest of us!  Relativity A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) $11.95 When "Time" magazine chose Albert Einstein as the person of the century for the 20th century it was due to his incredible intellectual achievements. Among those, two stand as particularly remarkable, becoming forever uniquely associated with their inventor, in minds of general public and professional scientists alike. These are the special and general theories of relativity. Their reputation is fully deserved. The two theories of relativity forever changed the way that we look at the space, time and matter. They touch upon our deepest understanding of physical reality and their core principles have stood the test of time, a remarkable achievement after a century full of usurpations of some of our most cherished notions. The special and general relativity also have a reputation of being incredibly complex and hard to understand. In the case of special relativity this has primarily to do with the non-intuitive way that the world of four dimensions appears to us. In the case of general relativity, however, the complexity is substantially increased by the use of very advanced mathematical structures that it requires. And yet, all of the mathematical and conceptual implications of relativity stem from a few very simple ideas: the relativity of all reference frames, the constancy of the speed of light, and the equivalence of acceleration and gravitational field. It is a remarkable achievement of Thomas Dixon's book to explain so much with just a very basic application of those principles. This makes it possible for a general reader to appreciate these beautiful theories without having to get bogged down in heavy mathematics. All examples in the book are intuitive and accessible. The illustrations are clear and serve to reinforce the main points in the text. One of the particularly remarkable features of this thin book is that it gives a full treatment of the "Twins Paradox" taking into the account the principles of general relativity - something that is usually brushed over in many other treatments. The only problem with the book that I have concerns a few math examples that are used. The math notation is not quite clear, and even as simple a math symbol as a square root is printed in a very inadequate way. Also, there are a few glaring math mistakes (3/5 is not .67), but overall these are minor points that don't distract too much from the main content of the book. I would strongly recommend this book as a good starting point for learning about relativity.  Einsteins Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists, 2nd Edition (Teaching Company, Course No. 153) $64.99 This updated lecture series from the esteemed Teaching Company explains the intricacies of quantum physics in a manner designed to help the listener fully grasp the concepts. The accompanying course guidebooks include lecure outlines, illustrations, suggested readings, and questions to consider. Course lecture titles: 1. Time Travel, Tunneling, Tennis, and Tea 2. Heaven and Earth, Place and Motion 3. The Clockwork Universe 4. Let There Be Light! 5. Speed c Relative to What? 6. Earth and the EtherA Crisis in Physics 7. Einstein to the Rescue 8. Uncommon SenseStretching Time 9. Muons and TimeTraveling Twins 10. Escaping Contradiction-Simultaneity Is Relative 11. Faster than Light? Past, Future, and Elsewhere 12. What about E=mc2, and Is Everything Relative? 13. A Problem of Gravity 14. Curved Spacetime 15. Black Holes 16. Into the Heart of Matter 17. Enter the Quantum 18. Wave or Particle? 19. Quantum UncertaintyFarewell to Determinism 20. Particle or Wave? 21. Quantum Weirdness and Schrdinger's Cat 22. The Particle Zoo 23. Cosmic Connections 24. Toward a Theory of Everything |
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