- Paperback: 168 pages
- Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (April 9 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0415473829
- ISBN-13: 978-0415473828
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.7 x 1.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 222 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
-
Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#218,535 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #60 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Physics > Relativity
- #65 in Books > Science > Physics > Relativity
- See Complete Table of Contents
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
Book Description
First published in 1925, Bertrand Russell’s ABC of Relativity was considered a masterwork of its time, contributing significantly to the mass popularisation of science. Authoritative and accessible, it provides a remarkable introductory guide to Einstein’s theory of Relativity for a general readership. One of the most definitive reference guides of its kind, and written by one of the twentieth century’s most influential philosophers, ABC of Relativity continues to be as relevant today as it was on first publication.
About the Author
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970). A celebrated mathematician and logician, Russell was and remains one of the most genuinely widely read and popular philosophers of modern times.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
Everybody knows that Einstein did something astonishing, but very few people know exactly what it was. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Everybody knows that Einstein did something astonishing, but very few people know exactly what it was. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Philosopher who truly understands relativity,
By
This review is from: The ABC of Relativity (Paperback)
Bertrand Russel was an excellent writer, and one of the few philosophers who truly understood relativity. This book is also a classic. However, the book attempts to explain relativity to the layman using "text" only. The book is not mathematical, and it contains very few graphs or diagrams. This is not the best approach to explaining relativity. Good graphs/diagrams/images can to a certain extent replace equations. There are many modern introductory books and multimedia presentations that does a better at job at introducing relativity.I recommend this book as a "classic", but not as an introduction to relativity for the non-physicist.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.2 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews) 20 of 25 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Philosopher who truly understands relativity,
By Thomas Wikman "Texas Swede" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The ABC of Relativity (Paperback)
Bertrand Russel was an excellent writer, and one of the few philosophers who truly understood relativity. This book is also a classic. However, the book attempts to explain relativity to the layman using "text" only. The book is not mathematical, and it contains very few graphs or diagrams. This is not the best approach to explaining relativity. Good graphs/diagrams/images can to a certain extent replace equations. There are many modern introductory books and multimedia presentations that does a better at job at introducing relativity.I recommend this book as a "classic", but not as an introduction to relativity for the non-physicist. 9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
ABZ of Relativity,
By Cevat Cokol - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: ABC of Relativity (Paperback)
I think this book can justifiably be called ABZ of relativity. The author sincerely tries to tell us about relativity by building up from basic elements, but at the point it gets to the stuff that is supposed be really interesting, it becomes unintelligible for the less gifted. He gives three pages to tell us about the difference between mass and weight, but the central concept of "interval" is used for some pages before being poorly defined and explained. I am positively sure he understands relativity and all, and I am sure those definitions are correct in the strictest sense, however they didn't help a beginner, at least in this case. Having said this though, this book is still a very nice read and could be read even if only for its strange humor and wisecracks.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Sometimes the analogies miss the mark,
By Charles Ashbacher - Published on Amazon.com
The theories of relativity developed by Albert Einstein are contrary to what we experience in daily life and a complete understanding requires knowledge of high-level mathematics. Therefore, in the years after the theories first appeared in print, few people had a complete understanding of what the theories were. However, presented using the proper analogies, it is possible for the layperson to understand a great deal of the principles of relativity.This book is the attempt by British mathematician/philosopher Bertrand Russell to explain relativity to the masses. While the result is generally successful, the analogies are sometimes weak and more puzzling than revealing. If you are interested in explanations of science and relativity for the layperson, then my suggestion is that you read the popular science writings of Isaac Asimov instead. No one is better than Asimov at making science understandable and Russell lacks some of the necessary literary genes for expository writing. |
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
