Geometry, Relativity and the Fourth Dimension: Amazon.ca: Rudolf Rucker: Books

Product Description

Exposition of 4th dimension, concepts of relativity as Flatland characters continue adventures. Popular, easily followed yet accurate, profound. Topics include curved space time as a higher dimension, special relativity, and shape of space-time. Accessible to lay readers but also of interest to specialists. Includes 141 illustrations.

Inside This Book (Learn More)

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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

12 Reviews

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.8 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars an extra dimension, July 10 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Geometry, Relativity and the Fourth Dimension (Paperback)

This book is mainly concerned with exactly what the title says and I have been searching for a book like this for a very long time. because for one, it provides a very detailed explanation of topics that are intersting in the realm of physics. Such as the fourth dimension. it is very visual and explains things in a way that I can understand. I also like this book because it doesn't spend half the book telling you about which scientist hated the other scientist, Or the entire biography of Dr. Planck before they tell me what the planck length is

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but Missing a Few Things, Nov 28 2003

By

W. Watson (Nevada City, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Geometry, Relativity and the Fourth Dimension (Paperback)

I haven't completely read this book, but I've read several like it. I want to point out some things that other reviewers haven't touched on. There is no index to the Dover edition. Maybe the original one had an index. That automatically knocks off one star in any book rating I give. It has some pretty sturdy exercises at the end of each chapter. There are no answers in the book. That's OK though. One can get some additional sense of the subject by looking at the questions. There is a very good annotated bibliography at the end of the book. It is not tied into page numbers, but I get the feeling the order of the list and their reference in the book are in the same order. There's good and bad news about the list. He makes many of these books sound very appealing, but many are long out of print. Rucker's book was produced around 1975.

There are times when I wish the author would have pressed a little harder one some seemingly simple points. Maybe by giving an alternative view. For example, early on in the book he talks about a flatlander being inside a balloon as he expands the balloon from the inside. Suddenly the flatlander is on the outside. Maybe it's me, but how that happens is not clear. I've found other such passages. However, a studious reader will find the topics interesting. The price is certainly right.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

5.0 out of 5 stars Weird in all the right ways, Dec 13 2002

By

John S. Ryan "Scott Ryan" (Cuyahoga Falls, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Geometry, Relativity and the Fourth Dimension (Paperback)

I really enjoy Rudy Rucker's nonfiction, and some of his fiction too (_White Light_ is great). He's very good at presenting mind-blowingly cool ideas in accessible expository prose, and he knows _just_ when to throw in the bombs.

This particular book is published by Dover, and it's not one of their usual reprints; it was _originally_ published by Dover. (In 1977, but the geometry of spacetime hasn't changed much since then.) It's an exploration of just what the title says: the geometry of the four-dimensional spacetime that the theory of relativity says is Really Out There.

Well, this is a good book on the subject, but you can get others (although one of the best -- Cornelius Lanczos's delightful _Space Through the Ages_ -- has long been out of print). What's coolest about this one is that Rudy Rucker wrote it.

Which means you get those little bombs thrown in at all the right places. Of course Rucker gives you what any competent mathematician will give you -- a sound introductory presentation of the mathematics of 4D spacetime and relativity theory, which are weird enough if you haven't encountered them before (and maybe even if you have) -- but he doesn't stop there. You also get an argument that the apparent passage of time is an illusion, and a little speculation about how this might tie in with the Many-Worlds Interpretation of quantum mechanics. And even that isn't all: you get a suggestion that it's possible to _develop a spacetime consciousness_ via some sort of meditation techniques or mystical insight, together with an entry in the annotated bibliography referring you (cautiously) to Robert A. Monroe's _Journeys Out of the Body_, whose experiments Rucker himself has tried.

It's like Raymond Smullyan on acid, if you know what I mean. But honest, it really does make sense. And it really will knock your mind loose from your brain even without the use of chemical aids.

This is the sort of thing Rucker does best. He does it in _Infinity and the Mind_, too (with which this volume has a little bit of overlap, but you won't care). Check out that book as well, along with _White Light_. Mathematical hippie mysticism just doesn't get any better.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 12 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Want to see more reviews on this item?

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 23 reviews 4.5 out of 5 stars

Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars great book, easy to understand.
This book is short and sweet. It is a very good introduction to the topics. and good to read if they aren't new to you. H(Ighly recomended.

Published on Sep 18 2002 by Matthew E Rentz

4.0 out of 5 stars Geometry: It's Not Just Lines, Angles, and Circles Anymore
Don't let the title frighten you.

Clear, concise, and not overly daunting....this tome can be read and understood by anyone--even if you haven't had calculus yet. Read more