Six Not-So-Easy Pieces: Einstein’s Relativity, Symmetry, and Space-Time
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- Author：Richard P. Feynman
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Summary
No twentieth-century American scientist is better known to a wider spectrum of people than Richard P。 Feynman （1918-1988） -- physicist， teacher， author， and cultural icon。 His autobiographies and biographies have been read and enjoyed by millions of readers around the world， while his wit and eccentricities have made him the subject of TV specials and even a theatrical film。 The spectacular reception of the book and audio versions of Feynman's Six Easy Pieces （published in 1995） resulted in a worldwide clamor for "More Feynman！ More Feynman！" The outcome is these six additional lectures， drawn from the celebrated three-volume Lectures on Physics。 Though slightly more challenging than the first six， these lectures are more focused， delving into the most revolutionary discovery in twentieth-century physics: Einstein's Theory of Relativity。 No single breakthrough in twentieth-century physics （with the possible exception of quantum mechanics） changed our view of the world more than that of Einstein's discovery of relativity。 The notions that the flow of time is not a constant， that the mass of an object depends on its velocity， and that the speed of light is a constant no matter what the motion of the observer， at first seemed shocking to scientists and laymen alike。 But， as Feynman shows so clearly and so entertainingly in the lectures chosen for this volume， these crazy notions are no mere dry principles of physics， but are things of beauty and elegance。 No one -- not even Einstein himself -- explained these difficult， anti-intuitive concepts more clearly， or with more verve and gusto， than Richard Feynman。
Reviews
Paolo Gini
，
Feynman è sempre molto bravo nel fornire una descrizione dei fenomeni fisici che vada oltre le formule matematiche e colga il senso fisico。Suppongo però che le parti matematiche che per me sono ovvie per i non addetti ai lavori siano un po' ostiche ， quindi non lo consiglio ad un lettore che ricerchi un testo divulgativo。Sul fronte specialistico non mi piace il fatto che Feynman， come quasi tutti negli anni 60， sostenga e utilizzi il concetto di massa relativistica che varia con la velocità， con Feynman è sempre molto bravo nel fornire una descrizione dei fenomeni fisici che vada oltre le formule matematiche e colga il senso fisico。Suppongo però che le parti matematiche che per me sono ovvie per i non addetti ai lavori siano un po' ostiche ， quindi non lo consiglio ad un lettore che ricerchi un testo divulgativo。Sul fronte specialistico non mi piace il fatto che Feynman， come quasi tutti negli anni 60， sostenga e utilizzi il concetto di massa relativistica che varia con la velocità， concetto ormai accantonato e sostituito dall'idea che la quantità di moto e l'energia dipendano dalla velocità mentre la massa sia un invariante esattamente come la carica elettrica o il numero leptonico， per questo motivo 4 stelle e non 5。 。。。more
Vikas
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One of those books I'd want to re-read each year One of those books I'd want to re-read each year 。。。more
Bernardo
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This book is supposed to be a follow up of Feynman’s other book， Six Easy Pieces， which was sort of an introduction to physics。 Here you will find a slightly more demanding book， as you’ll need some mathematics under your belt （pre-calculus should be fine）。 As the title says， the objective of this book is to introduce relativity， and Feynman does it in a superb and compelling way。Special relativity， in particular， gets the most attention。 Feynman uses mathematics， analogies and experiments in or This book is supposed to be a follow up of Feynman’s other book， Six Easy Pieces， which was sort of an introduction to physics。 Here you will find a slightly more demanding book， as you’ll need some mathematics under your belt （pre-calculus should be fine）。 As the title says， the objective of this book is to introduce relativity， and Feynman does it in a superb and compelling way。Special relativity， in particular， gets the most attention。 Feynman uses mathematics， analogies and experiments in order to provide an account of special relativity。 The relations between relativistic energy and momentum are greatly described in a full chapter。 I found it particularly interesting to get a closer look at the Michelson-Morley experiment and how it showed physicists that something was wrong with the existing idea at the time that space was filled with ether。 As a bonus， Feynman not only speaks about symmetry in the context of relativity， but later on also relates it to parity， antimatter and symmetry breaking situations。General relativity is only accounted for in the last chapter of the six total chapters。 Feynman does a great job in showing what curved space really means， ultimately getting to the relation between excess radius and mass。 The principle of equivalence is very well described， with an experiment involving clocks in a gravitational field being used as an example and equations to complement。 Unfortunately， most of general relativity and， as a consequence， Einstein’s field equation and equation of motion are not described mathematically， but only through words。 As Feynman says， these are difficult to describe without a higher level of mathematics， usually only taught in later years of physics programmes。Besides being one of the greatest physicists of his generation， Richard Feynman was also a fantastic educator of science。 It’s often uncommon to find scientists with both of these characteristics， as they don’t usually go hand in hand。 To anyone who has never watched any of his interviews or lectures， I vividly recommend doing so。 Even before reading any of his books。 To understand the reasoning and wittiness behind his words it’s essential to imagine Feynman speaking with his New York accent， and his characteristic humor and directness。Feynman provides a compelling account of relativity。 As usual， his clarity is evident， throwing away unnecessary complexities。 Featuring experiments， both with and without apparatuses， and then demonstrating the results with equations， Feynman’s style just improves upon everything else。 This book is a clear evidence of why the Feynman Lectures became so famous。Caltech has kindly provided the Feynman Lectures online for free， which you can access here: https://www。feynmanlectures。caltech。edu 。。。more
Gianmaria
，
Un bel libro creato dalle lezioni di fisica tenute da Feynman al Caltech。 Si evince fin da subito lo stile di Feynman nel raccontare fatti e cose。 Il che è interessante all'inizio ma alla lunga secondo me annoia！ Gli ultimi capitoli， pur essendo i più interessanti， sono stati anche i più lenti da leggere。 Nel complesso un libro che consiglio a tutti i fan della letteratura scientifica。 Un bel libro creato dalle lezioni di fisica tenute da Feynman al Caltech。 Si evince fin da subito lo stile di Feynman nel raccontare fatti e cose。 Il che è interessante all'inizio ma alla lunga secondo me annoia！ Gli ultimi capitoli， pur essendo i più interessanti， sono stati anche i più lenti da leggere。 Nel complesso un libro che consiglio a tutti i fan della letteratura scientifica。 。。。more
Elliot Evans
，
Six not-so-easy introduces 6 topics， each one building on-top of the last， culminating in the final topic of the geometry of spacetime。 Discussion includes just enough math as to pass on a real understanding without being overwhelming to someone without much of a background in physics， and to allow you to traverse from the relatively simple initial topic of vector algebra to the advanced final topic of spacetime。By the end of the book I had learned about the appearance of asymmetry of left and r Six not-so-easy introduces 6 topics， each one building on-top of the last， culminating in the final topic of the geometry of spacetime。 Discussion includes just enough math as to pass on a real understanding without being overwhelming to someone without much of a background in physics， and to allow you to traverse from the relatively simple initial topic of vector algebra to the advanced final topic of spacetime。By the end of the book I had learned about the appearance of asymmetry of left and right in living things， how to figure out how much energy is released when an atom splits， and how your clock will run fast if you live higher up。 Along with the fun and interesting examples， there is a deep underlying framework of understanding for modern physics。 。。。more
Attila
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Review:The book was a little bit interesting， I learned some new concepts。 It was a little bit dry for me， with too much calculation。Main points:（view spoiler）[vectors - the laws of physics are symmetrical for translational displacementswe can add and subtract vectorsthe laws of physics are not unchanged under a change of scale， this was discovered by Galileo， you can’t scale everything up and downNewton - The motions of bodies included in a given space are the same among themselves， whether tha Review:The book was a little bit interesting， I learned some new concepts。 It was a little bit dry for me， with too much calculation。Main points:（view spoiler）[vectors - the laws of physics are symmetrical for translational displacementswe can add and subtract vectorsthe laws of physics are not unchanged under a change of scale， this was discovered by Galileo， you can’t scale everything up and downNewton - The motions of bodies included in a given space are the same among themselves， whether that space is at rest or moves uniformly forward in a straight line。space and time are two properties of an object， they are not two different properties， but a mixture analogy: width and depthfour vectors: three of momentum and one is energy （time）space and time are curved near heavy objectsWe define a curved space to be a space in which the geometry is not what we expect for a plane， going in a straight line on a sphere（hide spoiler）] 。。。more
Freca
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Un libro per chi ha un'infarinatura di matematica e fisica di base， che divulga in modo eccellente， preciso e chiaro alcune delle nozioni fondamentali della fisica quantistica: non disdegna rappresentazioni matematiche che sono il fondamento della teoria ma anche non comprendendole appieno dà una buona idea dei concetti。Personalmente non sono mai stata una appassionata di fisica， preferendole sempre la matematica （nella sua pura teoria， astratta e pura， magnifica ed altera） o le scienza biologic Un libro per chi ha un'infarinatura di matematica e fisica di base， che divulga in modo eccellente， preciso e chiaro alcune delle nozioni fondamentali della fisica quantistica: non disdegna rappresentazioni matematiche che sono il fondamento della teoria ma anche non comprendendole appieno dà una buona idea dei concetti。Personalmente non sono mai stata una appassionata di fisica， preferendole sempre la matematica （nella sua pura teoria， astratta e pura， magnifica ed altera） o le scienza biologiche （con cui sporcarsi， mai davvero certe， in cui l'applicazione è l'aspetto fondamentale）， però questo libro mi ha aperto gli occhi sul suo fascino che al liceo faticavo a vedere: intrinsecamente legata alla filosofia， nel suo rispondere alle domande ontologiche e nel suo spiegare， astraendo e semplificando （per poi aggiungere ai modelli varianti fino a renderli talmente complessi da riflette con precisione chirurgica la realtà）， la natura e le sue leggi。La prosa non ha nulla da invidiare ad un'opera letteraria， coinvolgente， appassionata e limpida， precisa al millimetro， senza sbavature: ciò che parla è la natura stessa con il suo linguaggio matematico， e Feyman riesce a restituirle tutta la sua maestosità。 。。。more
нєνєℓ ¢ανα
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I love it！
Utsob Roy
，
আসলেই নট সো ইজি। একটু সময় লাগলো বেশি। ফাইনম্যান বরাবরের মতই ফাইন যদিও।
Jonathan
，
This was more difficult than the easy pieces and again disjointed and got lost but somehow I gleamed more facts I hadn’t ever quite grasped before - although the maths was beyond me of course。 Also somehow the genius of Feynman came through more。 He clearly understands it all in a way he needs no notes。 Some great explanations relating geometry to spacetime， in particular how a parabola can be the straightest line in a gravitation field， because it is the ‘shortest’ route through spacetime， bala This was more difficult than the easy pieces and again disjointed and got lost but somehow I gleamed more facts I hadn’t ever quite grasped before - although the maths was beyond me of course。 Also somehow the genius of Feynman came through more。 He clearly understands it all in a way he needs no notes。 Some great explanations relating geometry to spacetime， in particular how a parabola can be the straightest line in a gravitation field， because it is the ‘shortest’ route through spacetime， balancing the effects of gravity and acceleration。 I think that’s right！ 。。。more
maya ♡ ༉‧₊˚✧
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Was probably not a very smart thing to do， but I read this book with little to no background knowledge in physics and no particular interest in pursuing it further。 Got bored quickly since I didn’t understand lots of it but finished anyway。 If you like physics then go for it？
Aceron Cohen
，
I will give the same review I did with the "Six Easy Pieces"， but just different catch。 It is for people that want to dive into deeps of physics。 Opening your eyes in the glasses of a genius， is an unfound treasure。 I will give the same review I did with the "Six Easy Pieces"， but just different catch。 It is for people that want to dive into deeps of physics。 Opening your eyes in the glasses of a genius， is an unfound treasure。 。。。more
Remo Biagioni
，
Before starting this book I thought I understood relativity but wanted to increase my understanding。 Half way through "Not so easy pieces" I realised I'd completely misunderstood relativity and Einstein's contribution。 The beauty of this book is that Feynman doesn't over complicate or over simplify the mind-bending subjects but takes you through step by step。 The mathematics in the book is not hard and serves to illustrate the ideas - though some prior familiarity with the Lorentz transformation Before starting this book I thought I understood relativity but wanted to increase my understanding。 Half way through "Not so easy pieces" I realised I'd completely misunderstood relativity and Einstein's contribution。 The beauty of this book is that Feynman doesn't over complicate or over simplify the mind-bending subjects but takes you through step by step。 The mathematics in the book is not hard and serves to illustrate the ideas - though some prior familiarity with the Lorentz transformation would be useful。 By the end of the book， I can grasp the ideas of space-time curvature and both the theory and the experiments that have demonstrated it。 This is a rewarding and enlightening book which gives you a flavour of how lucky Feynman's students were。 That said， "not-so-easy" is not an exaggeration。 。。。more
Glenn Bellamy
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An excellent to the point explanation of the theory of relativity without getting into all the nuts and bolts。 It’s not very easy reading and not very easy theoretical descriptions。 I had to read several sections two or three times over before it finally sunk in。 But I think that was probably due to me and not to his explanations。 I’ve read several of his books and this subject was the most difficult to understand。
Gianluca
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Ottimo libro， soprattutto negli ultimi capitoli vengono spiegati concetti complicati in maniere relativamente facili a persone con delle buone basi di fisica
Dileep N
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This has a few marked differences in comparison with its sister volume， The Six Easy Pieces。 It's at higher level than a pop-sci intro and so it expects its readers to have seen some physics before and it has quite a few equations which means you will need some knowledge of vector algebra along with basic integral and differential calculus to fully appreciate the content。 This book deals exclusively with Einstein's theory of relativity （both special and general） along with a brief detour into th This has a few marked differences in comparison with its sister volume， The Six Easy Pieces。 It's at higher level than a pop-sci intro and so it expects its readers to have seen some physics before and it has quite a few equations which means you will need some knowledge of vector algebra along with basic integral and differential calculus to fully appreciate the content。 This book deals exclusively with Einstein's theory of relativity （both special and general） along with a brief detour into the topic of symmetry of physical laws。 Although Feynman does a brilliant job of explaining this unintuitive and fairly involved topic with the aid of helpful albeit quirky examples and analogies， I only got a vague sense of Relativity and its consequences。 I felt the book was too short to include all of the 'whys' and 'hows'， which made things a tad confusing for me。 This is after all bits and pieces of Feynman Lectures strung together to introduce a wide audience to Einstein's groundbreaking ideas， so don't expect to understand the topic well enough to be able to explain it to someone else。 That being said， I do think reading this book will stand you in good stead when you move onto more technical and thorough （including the complete Feynman Lectures themselves） books on the topic。 Recommended for Physics enthusiasts。 。。。more
Advait Dhingra
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Very Informative
Marco Arcangeli
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Questo è il secondo volumetto （il primo è "Sei pezzi facili"） in cui il premio Nobel per la fisica del 1965， Richard Feynman， spiega degli argomenti fisici un po' più difficili （come si capisce dal titolo） rispetto al primo。 Nonostante questo， l'esposizione è chiara e di facile comprensione grazie ai vari esempi e ai disegni illustrati， ma soprattutto grazie alla visione unica che ha l'autore della fisica， che riesce a spiegare in modo esaustivo e senza complicazioni inutili （come ben saprà chi Questo è il secondo volumetto （il primo è "Sei pezzi facili"） in cui il premio Nobel per la fisica del 1965， Richard Feynman， spiega degli argomenti fisici un po' più difficili （come si capisce dal titolo） rispetto al primo。 Nonostante questo， l'esposizione è chiara e di facile comprensione grazie ai vari esempi e ai disegni illustrati， ma soprattutto grazie alla visione unica che ha l'autore della fisica， che riesce a spiegare in modo esaustivo e senza complicazioni inutili （come ben saprà chi ha letto altri libri dello stesso autore）。 Si inizia a parlare di vettori e di leggi di simmetria per poi addentrarsi nella teoria della relatività di Einstein， spiegando i concetti di spazio-tempo e spazio-tempo curvo in modo molto stimolante e per nulla noioso。 Consigliato a chi vuole approfondire argomenti fisici un po' più complessi， ma spiegati in modo magistrale da uno dei più grandi fisici del secolo scorso。 。。。more
Kevin Lopez
，
Feynman is， as ever， utterly ingenious in his ease of explication here， especially given that the concepts covered in this volume are more advanced than those covered in the previous one， “Six Easy Pieces” （as cheekily indicated by the title， “Six Not-So-Easy Pieces”）In this collection of transcribed lectures， once again taken from the fantastically popular series of undergraduate lectures he gave at Caltech in the early ‘60s （just a few years before he won the 1965 Nobel Prize for his work on q Feynman is， as ever， utterly ingenious in his ease of explication here， especially given that the concepts covered in this volume are more advanced than those covered in the previous one， “Six Easy Pieces” （as cheekily indicated by the title， “Six Not-So-Easy Pieces”）In this collection of transcribed lectures， once again taken from the fantastically popular series of undergraduate lectures he gave at Caltech in the early ‘60s （just a few years before he won the 1965 Nobel Prize for his work on quantum electrodynamics and path integrals）， Feynman focuses almost exclusively on relativity， beginning with Galilean and Newtonian relativity before moving on to Einsteinian relativity—first the special and the then the general theory。 He covers Special Relativity with brilliance and lucidity， enumerating the history of scientific thought underpinning Einstein’s revolutionary leap—from Galileo and Huygens， to Faraday， Maxwell， Lorentz， and Mach—and then moving on to the contemporaneous experimental results （such as the famous Michelson-Morley experiment） which by the end of the 20th century had revealed serious fissures in the foundations of physics。 The most notable of these fissures （for the development of relativity， at least） was the incompatibility between Newtonian mechanics and Maxwell’s electromagnetic field equations， which—unlike Newton’s ideas， enshrined in his “Principia Mathematica，” which had taken on an aura of almost divine infallibility in the roughly two centuries since its publication—had only been completed about fifty years previous。 As anyone who reads popular science books know， all of this is extremely well-tread ground in the ever-expanding world of mass-market physics writing—from the bestselling books of Stephen Hawking to the irresistibly fun and witty works of Neil deGrasse Tyson， to the brilliantly evocative， almost poetically imagistic writing of Carlo Rovelli。 Where I found Feynman to be refreshingly different， though， is in his willingness to dig into the actual mathematics behind the science， demonstrating， for example， how the formula for Galilean transformations led directly to the far more accurate （both theoretically and experimentally） equation for the Lorentz transformation; or how the formula for Newton’s Second Law （F = d（mv）/dt） was brilliantly tweaked by Einstein， who corrected for Newton’s inaccurate assumption that mass is a constant when he came to the （stunning） conclusion that the mass of a body increases with velocity。 Feynman gives us Einstein’s corrected formula， in which m has the valuem = m[0] ➗ [the square root of] （1 - v^2/c^2）， “where the ‘rest mass’ m[0] represents the mass of a body that is not moving。” In my experience， most contemporary popular science writers are utterly allergic to putting equations in their books—unless they’re buried in the footnotes way in the back （I remember one such writer saying something to the effect that for every equation he put in one of his books， its sales were cut in half）。 Because Feynman makes a point of using equations， not as off-putting esoterica to be avoided at all costs， but as an essential part of his teaching toolkit， he’s able to show much more clearly the evolution of Einstein’s thinking， presenting it for what is actually was: a meticulously thought-out scientific and mathematical conclusion—one which he drew from centuries of thought about the nature of relativistic motion， as well as the more recent discovery of the electromagnetic field equations and the finite velocity of light—not some sort of divine revelation， as is all-too-frequently implied （and which， I must admit， has an alluring quality to it， as it makes for an easier， neater story）。 Presenting the reader with the actual mathematics allows Feynman to dispel this myth and to show， step by step， the crucial thought processes that led to the incredible intellectual breakthrough that was Special Relativity。 No matter how many clever analogies one is presented with—or， for that matter， illustrations of train cars and light clocks and so forth—one can’t fully grasp the many steps that lead to the real scientific theory until one can understand the equations which underpin it。 Which isn’t to say that analogies aren’t useful， necessary tools—they are。 Not only when trying to gain an understanding of a concept whose mathematics are utterly beyond one’s ken （the general theory， for example， requires a much higher level of mathematical understanding—or quantum mechanics， which， for most mere mortals， is an area of almost breathtaking abstruseness）， but also， crucially， for the many modern scientific theories—including the Special Relativity—that go completely against the grain of our intuition。 In terms of the basic formulae， though， with Special Relativity all one needs is an understanding of high school-level math to apprehend the steps that Einstein took to arrive at the conclusions he did。 And by giving the actual equations—at least in the case of SR， where the underlying mathematics， if not the fairly mind-boggling conclusions drawn from it， are at least relatively （ha！） simple—Feynman is able to peel away the ornamentation of analogy to reveal the substructure beneath。 I have to say that as I read this book， I found myself wishing that more of today’s science writers would take Feynman’s approach—forget whatever their publishers might be telling them about their book sales and respect the intellect of their readership。 The publishers might just be in for a surprise。As brilliant as Feynman’s chapters on Special Relativity are—and they really are quite brilliant—the chapters on General Relativity are truly inspired。 As the mathematics are far， far more advanced for the general theory （differential geometry， Riemann curvature， etc。） than for the special theory， and because these lectures were designed for an undergraduate audience， Feynman has to rely much more on analogies than equations here。 Regardless of your level of mathematical proficiency， though， the concepts of General Relativity are not ones that human brains are evolved to understand intuitively。 Just look at Einstein himself。 After discovering the special theory in 1905， it took Einstein a full decade of wrestling with the extreme subtlety of the mathematics and all of its bizarre implications before he was finally able to complete the general theory （and this is Einstein we’re talking about， the guy whose name is a synonym for genius！）。 And to this day， many still view General Relativity as the single greatest achievement of human creativity and intellect。 Needless to say the conclusions of the general theory， far more than those of SR， fly directly in the face of common-sense intuition and everyday experience。 And here is where Feynman’s brilliance as a teacher really shines through。 His analogies are concise， his explanations sparkling。 He reminds me of no one so much as Carlo Rovelli， the Italian physicist whose books （“Seven Brief Lesson on Physics，” “Reality Is Not What it Seems，” “The Order of Time”） are more like Feynman’s than any other contemporary author I’ve come across， including such luminaries as Hawking， Roger Penrose （who， incidentally， wrote the introduction for “Six Not-So-Easy Pieces”）， Leonard Susskind， Brian Greene， and Sean Carroll。 （I would put Janna Levin in this class， too， though the only book of hers that I’ve read so far is “Black Hole Blues，” which is partly， if not mostly， also a narrative history of LIGO and the search for and ultimate discovery of gravitational waves。） Every science reader， of course， has their own favorite science writers。 To me， what writers like Feynman and Rovelli （as well as Einstein himself， for that matter） seem to share that sets them apart is an intense artistic sensibility （for example， Rovelli begins each chapter in “The Order of Time” with a verse from Horace’s “Odes，” and Feynman， well—just read his memoir or one of the many biographies of the guy！）， and stylistically a kind of poetic pithiness that makes reading their work such a unique experience。 They’re simultaneously brilliantly lucid and poetically succinct; concise， compact， and perfectly cogent， while not avoiding or sacrificing any of the more difficult material or underestimating the intelligence of their readers。Feynman was not just a one-of-a-kind physicist， but also a one-of-a-kind person， and I highly recommend his memoir “Surely You’re Joking， Mr。 Feynman，” which catalogues his many picaresque adventures， as well as his profound creativity in all areas of life。As quoted in the preface， Feynman wonders aloud whether， if he can’t explain a concept to an undergraduate student， he even understands the idea himself。 Going by this standard for comprehension—and if his explanations here are any indication—he understood the concepts of modern physics better than almost anyone， before or since。 。。。more
Judith Gunn
，
An introduction to quantum physics。 Warning: there are a number of equations。 The author， a Nobel Laureate in physics， also has written Six Easy Pieces and a full set of lectures on physics。
Rami
，
I really loved this book。I have studied relativity in university， and afterwards， read several books on the subject， including Hawking books， but I have not really felt that I have started to grasp what general relativity's consequences are， until I read this book。The meticulously crafted analogies and examples gave a new meaning to symmetry in physical laws， the physical consequences of relativity， and the geometry of space-time when it comes to how I think of them。There were a few locations wh I really loved this book。I have studied relativity in university， and afterwards， read several books on the subject， including Hawking books， but I have not really felt that I have started to grasp what general relativity's consequences are， until I read this book。The meticulously crafted analogies and examples gave a new meaning to symmetry in physical laws， the physical consequences of relativity， and the geometry of space-time when it comes to how I think of them。There were a few locations where I felt sudden jumps over ideas， but I guess that is natural， as this book is selected chapters from the complete Feynman Lectures， which I am hoping to go through in whole someday。 。。。more
Almodather Fathallah
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No one can give Feynman due credit for his lucid and flowing writing style。 I personally think this book one his finest。 In it， he went on explaining very complex topics in a really understandable style， intelligible to the layperson of modest background in science。
Jack
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Remarkably well doneI’ve been reading pop physics books for a long time and this one has by far the best explanation of curved space and relativity I’ve seen。 I recommend getting the hard copy （paperback） rather than the kindle version。 The equations in the kindle version are impossibly small as are the graphics。 The presentation detracts from the overall experience。 Nonetheless， this is well worth reading
Maxim
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Feynman， Six Not-So-Easy Pieces - another six chapters from Feynman’s great physics textbook， quite a bit more technical than the “easy” pieces， but the reward is proper physical insight into special relativity， spacetime， and curved space。 4/5
Erik Larsen
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 One sentence takeaway: Knowledge of the basic principles governing the universe is essential （despite being seemingly unimportant to everyday life） to understand your environment。
Vaishnav
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Its in the title， not so easy， but all in all， even if you understand a small amount from this book， you will come away understanding more about our world because of the intuitive explanations of Mr Feynman。I would say， that his explanations of the special and general relativity chapters， were absolutely fantastic， and I come away having a better understanding of the theories。However， sometimes the mathematics can be difficult to follow along with and as a prerequisite， you should know some calc Its in the title， not so easy， but all in all， even if you understand a small amount from this book， you will come away understanding more about our world because of the intuitive explanations of Mr Feynman。I would say， that his explanations of the special and general relativity chapters， were absolutely fantastic， and I come away having a better understanding of the theories。However， sometimes the mathematics can be difficult to follow along with and as a prerequisite， you should know some calculus and a bit about vectors; even then you won't understand it， but its better than not knowing anything。 The kindle edition is alright all in all， but sometimes the displayed equations are a bit small and because they are in text are not zoomable and therefore sometime illegible。 If the typesetters used LaTeX it would have been more helpful。 。。。more
Sato
，
The principle of Conservation of Momentum， to me， is the most stunning nature of physics， and I guess the way Feynman understands and explains physical principles is the next stunning nature of physics！ Having a high school knowledge of physics and mathematics can give you a delightful time through the pages of this book and give you the chance to cherish understanding Einstein’s relativity in six-not-so-easy pieces。
Ken
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I found this book at a retired St John's College professor's house in Spring 2019。 Here's my review。--This Feynman guy's pretty great！ The first two chapters took a while to understand， but I got there eventually。 The chapters on Relativity and Space-Time （3 4 5） were real confusing though。Most memorable for me was his talk on symmetry （2）。 Left and Right being actual things in the universe is pretty damn cool。I found it hard to follow the equations stated in the book， especially the Lorentz tra I found this book at a retired St John's College professor's house in Spring 2019。 Here's my review。--This Feynman guy's pretty great！ The first two chapters took a while to understand， but I got there eventually。 The chapters on Relativity and Space-Time （3 4 5） were real confusing though。Most memorable for me was his talk on symmetry （2）。 Left and Right being actual things in the universe is pretty damn cool。I found it hard to follow the equations stated in the book， especially the Lorentz transforms and other equations in Relativity。 For me， the issue was that he didn't fully explain where the equations came from。 He pretty much said this:There was an issue with Newton's laws， but this smart guy realized that if you changed them to include sqrt（1-（u/c）^2） then they were fixed。 How did he come up with that？ I say， either make a book completely rigorous or make it for the most basic of laymen。Or maybe I only understand equations if there's practice problems to do， and since I'll never do practice problems for a book I'm reading a book for fun， that's why I didn't get the equations。Anyways， it did get me （kind of） excited for physics and stuff！ 。。。more
Rick
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Effettivamente sono sei pezzi meno facili: la matematica diventa più complessa， perché deve descrivere una fisica che si fa più complessa e meno immediata。 Pieno di riflessioni scientifiche e punti di vista sicuramente originale， alla Feynman。 Forse ancora un po' difficile da leggere in alcuni punti non conoscendo bene alcuni argomenti nello specifico， comunque leggibile e comprensibile， meno scorrevole dei "Sei pezzi facili": titolo azzeccato， Mr。 Feynman！ Effettivamente sono sei pezzi meno facili: la matematica diventa più complessa， perché deve descrivere una fisica che si fa più complessa e meno immediata。 Pieno di riflessioni scientifiche e punti di vista sicuramente originale， alla Feynman。 Forse ancora un po' difficile da leggere in alcuni punti non conoscendo bene alcuni argomenti nello specifico， comunque leggibile e comprensibile， meno scorrevole dei "Sei pezzi facili": titolo azzeccato， Mr。 Feynman！ 。。。more
Seth
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