Name: Relativity
ISBN: 9781451002164

Relativity

An accesible version of Einstein's masterpiece of theory, written by the genius himself According to Einstein himself, this book is intended "to give an exact insight into the theory of 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." When he wrote the book in 1916, Einstein's name was scarcely known outside the physics institutes. Having just completed his masterpiece, The General Theory of Relativity--which provided a brand-new theory of gravity and promised a new perspective on the cosmos as a whole--he set out at once to share his excitement with as wide a public as possible in this popular and accessible book. Here published for the first time as a Penguin Classic, this edition of Relativity features a new introduction by bestselling science author Nigel Calder. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

What Hacker News says

zeven7Dec 2017

Yeah, the whitepaper is very approachable. It's amazing how simple it is.

Along similar lines (complex topics explained beautifully and simply by their creators), I recommend Relativity: The Special and General Theory[1] by the man himself. It's a great explanation of relativity without the need to have a strong math background. He explains it in the form of thought experiments, as only he could do. "What if you were in a cage in space with a rope tied to the top and it was being pulled upward by a giant at a constant acceleration (simulating gravity)? How would you perceive the world?" (Spoiler: This is gravity.) "What if you were on a spinning disk and had a ruler and tried to calculate pi?" "What if you were on a train moving really fast and two lightning bolts struck at the same time?"

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Relativity-Special-General-Albert-Ein...

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babeshSep 2016

This is because you are being closed minded. Guess what, most books are crap but there are great ones out there. Just like any other media you have to go out and look for them and the ones being fed to you are crap. They represent many thousands of years of collected intelligence and wisdom many written by the intellect that created the ideas underlying today's society. Check out Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin or Relativity by Albert Einstein.

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arsJul 2012

The first half of this is from the excellent book:

Relativity: The Special and General Theory by Albert Einstein

It's written for the interested layman, the article is from part 3 of the book where Einstein explains this.

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iterationxOct 2010

http://www.amazon.com/Relativity-Special-General-Masterpiece...

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hgaSep 2010

Supposed to be a good exposition, although not entirely easy; for modern editions you can buy:

http://www.amazon.com/Relativity-Special-General-Masterpiece...

http://www.amazon.com/Relativity-Special-General-Classic-Rep...

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s_q_bMay 2016

I am not looking for an answer. I just suspect the answer is "It's not currently known." And that's fine. By definition, the answer is probably unknowable. But that event did occur, and everything you see around you is a result of it.

I must respectfully disagree with regard to the role of the question "Why?" in the scientific method. "Why" is very much a core part of science. Science almost always begins with the question of "Why?"

Why is the sky blue? Why does an apple drop to the Earth? Why doesn't the movement of the Earth through the Ether deflect light? Why is there a spike in the cosmic microwave background radiation 2.725 Kelvin? Why are the laws of physics the way they are, instead of some completely different set of laws?

Most importantly, what caused the universe expand rapidly from a single point? What was that event? This is the question I've posed.

So far I've seen three answers:

>>1. The math stops giving us answers that seem physical.

>>2. That question can't be answered because it happened before the existence of the universe.

>>3. That's not science because it's not falsifiable.

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To answer each of these in turn:

1. Math is not divine. (Gasp!)

It is merely a human tool for the communication of ideas.

"The math breaks down" usually means one of three things:

>>a. It would be far easier to explain this with a more precise and efficient language for communicating these ideas. Can we switch to mathematics to discuss?

>>b. The mathematics makes sense logically, and renders sound predictions, but doesn't correspond to any human experience of the physical world, so it can't be explained.

>>c. I don't know, but that's what my [teacher, professor, Feynman's ghost] told me.

In the case of (a.), sure, no problem. We're a fairly mathematical bunch around here. With regard to (b.), let's say I was constructing a theory of the universe in very precise German. Then one day, my German model started giving descriptions that didn't seem physical, I would assume the bug was in my German. If your mathematics stop giving answers that seem physical, maybe it's the math that's off, not the universe.

So the question remains: what caused the universe to expand to its current size from a single point? What was that event? If you can't answer, or believe the answer to be extant but unknowable, then we're back to square one.

2. Math is hard, and while not all of us are Physics PhDs, this isn't exactly a lay audience either, so do your best to explain in English.

Physicists use analogies all the time. Einstein was famous for his thought experiments, which communicated tremendously complex ideas with analogies so simple and elegant that someone with less than a secondary school education could grasp them.

Einstein even wrote Relativity: The Special and General Theory as a "popular" science text, so that as many scientists in as many fields as possible could understand the implications of his theories.

As has often been said on HN, "if you can't explain it, you probably don't really understand it."

3. What is your evidence that all possible hypotheses about the cause of the expansion of the universal singularity cannot be falsified?

----

It seems to me that you want to have an existential fight over the meaning of life, wherein mighty Physics slays the godly believer in the name of truth, justice, and the scientific method.

All I want is an answer to a single simple physical question: What caused this singularity to suddenly expand?

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