Relativity: The Special and the General Theory
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- Create Date：2021-04-26 10:54:42
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Albert Einstein
- ISBN：1891396307
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Summary
2010 Reprint of 1920 First English Edition。 First English translation of Einstein's theory of relativity。 In this work Einstein intended， as far as possible， to give an exact insight into the theory of Relativity to those readers who， from a general and scientific philosophical point of view， are interested in the theory， but who are not conversant with the mathematical apparatus of theoretical physics。 The theory of relativity enriched physics and astronomy during the 20th century。 When first published， relativity superseded a 200-year-old theory of mechanics elucidated by Isaac Newton。 It changed perceptions。 For example， it overturned the concept of motion from Newton's day， into all motion is relative。 Time was no longer uniform and absolute， as related to everyday experience。 Furthermore， no longer could physics be understood as space by itself， and time by itself。 Instead， an added dimension had to be taken into account with curved space-time。 Time now depended on velocity， and contraction became a fundamental consequence at appropriate speeds。
Reviews
Daniel Povolny
，
Great introduction to his work but its nee。d a bit of side reading and learning
Rifqi Abid
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its still really hard to understand for common people， but i think the translation tht makes it looks so complicated
Akje
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This is one of those books you have to give five stars to so people will think you're smart。 Unfortunately， I'm a bubblehead。 What I get from this book is that if I stuck a pole through New York City it would come out in space at a relative coordinate， and this phenomenon has something to do with Euclidian mathematics， Galileian coordinate systems and Newton's law of motion， none of which I've never understood either。 Probably a thumping good read for scientists， but not exactly accessible to bu This is one of those books you have to give five stars to so people will think you're smart。 Unfortunately， I'm a bubblehead。 What I get from this book is that if I stuck a pole through New York City it would come out in space at a relative coordinate， and this phenomenon has something to do with Euclidian mathematics， Galileian coordinate systems and Newton's law of motion， none of which I've never understood either。 Probably a thumping good read for scientists， but not exactly accessible to bubbleheads。 Excellent bedtime reading， though， especially if you have insomnia。 Very short chapters。 Would make a lousy movie， I suspect， unless the entire audience was on drugs。 Maybe I'll smoke some weed and read it again。Edit: Nope， still boring on the second read-through。 Think I'll smoke some more and read Darwin to see how that comes out。 。。。more
Jerrod
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How to teach a complicated subject。。。 make a comically short book。 This was a true delight。
Tom Hughes
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Good reading of a tough subjectAlbert Einstein's public writing on the theory of relativity is still the best for understanding how he came to this revolutionary concept of physical reality。 Good reading of a tough subjectAlbert Einstein's public writing on the theory of relativity is still the best for understanding how he came to this revolutionary concept of physical reality。 。。。more
Roy Foley
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Uhhhh， yeah， cool， I still know very little about relativity 😂
Byren Burdess
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Easy to understand， a little bit dated but still funny。 However， I do believe Einstein shows a positive bias for rods and clocks， so I am led to assume he sold them in his spare time or had deals with rod and clock making companies。 His whole theory could potentially just be an elaborate promotional ploy to sell rods。 Further investigation required。
Socrate
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Geometria porneşte de la anumite noţiuni fundamentale， cum sunt punctul， dreapta， planul， pe care suntem capabili să le corelăm cu reprezentări clare， şi de la anumite propoziţii simple （axiome）， pe care suntem înclinaţi să le acceptăm ca „adevărate” pe baza acestor reprezentări。 Toate celelalte propoziţii vor fi întemeiate， adică demonstrate pe baza unei metode logice， a cărei justificare suntem determinaţi s-o recunoaştem， pornind de la aceste axiome。 O propoziţie este corectă， respectiv „adev Geometria porneşte de la anumite noţiuni fundamentale， cum sunt punctul， dreapta， planul， pe care suntem capabili să le corelăm cu reprezentări clare， şi de la anumite propoziţii simple （axiome）， pe care suntem înclinaţi să le acceptăm ca „adevărate” pe baza acestor reprezentări。 Toate celelalte propoziţii vor fi întemeiate， adică demonstrate pe baza unei metode logice， a cărei justificare suntem determinaţi s-o recunoaştem， pornind de la aceste axiome。 O propoziţie este corectă， respectiv „adevărată”， dacă poate fi dedusă din axiome în maniera recunoscută。 Problema „adevărului” unor propoziţii geometrice individuale conduce astfel înapoi la problema „adevărului” axiomelor。 Se ştie însă de multă vreme că această ultimă problemă nu este doar nerezolvabilă prin metodele geometriei; ea este， în general， fără sens。 Nu ne putem întreba dacă este adevărat că prin două puncte poate trece numai o singură dreaptă。 Putem doar spune că geometria euclidiană se ocupă cu figuri pe care ea le numeşte „drepte” şi cărora le atribuie proprietatea de a fi determinate în întregime prin două puncte ce le aparţin。 Conceptul de „adevăr” nu se potriveşte enunţurilor geometriei pure， deoarece prin cuvântul „adevărat” desemnăm în ultimă instanţă corespondenţa cu obiectele reale。 Geometria însă nu se ocupă cu relaţia dintre conceptele ei şi obiectele experienţei， ci doar cu corelaţiile logice reciproce ale acestor concepte。 。。。more
Yeroslavas Rudzinskas
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The best book to expain the special and general theories and straight from the man himself。
Munchy-yum-yum
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This physics book needs more diagrams， like spacetime diagrams （coordinate time， proper time， and spacetime interval） for visual learner like me。 The translator （Robert Lawson） didn't mention the internal validity。 Even though this book has only 130 pages， the content is very dense that it makes me feel like I am entering the black hole， which is part of the general relativity of physics。。。😆 I would recommend this book for people with no background in physics。 For people that are familiar with t This physics book needs more diagrams， like spacetime diagrams （coordinate time， proper time， and spacetime interval） for visual learner like me。 The translator （Robert Lawson） didn't mention the internal validity。 Even though this book has only 130 pages， the content is very dense that it makes me feel like I am entering the black hole， which is part of the general relativity of physics。。。😆 I would recommend this book for people with no background in physics。 For people that are familiar with this subject， this will be like abridged version of the children's book， which does not give the reader a complete， full picture of relativity。 。。。more
BeesReads
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A good review of or introduction to relativity as Einstein saw it， translated from Einstein's original German， probably best if you have at least A-level physics to find it easy going。Written a century ago， when relativity was a radically new idea （though in his book， Einstein does point out that others had done some of the leg work already）。Sometimes I found his examples a bit tough to get my head around， but this was more likely a product of my inability to focus for the last month （In The Tim A good review of or introduction to relativity as Einstein saw it， translated from Einstein's original German， probably best if you have at least A-level physics to find it easy going。Written a century ago， when relativity was a radically new idea （though in his book， Einstein does point out that others had done some of the leg work already）。Sometimes I found his examples a bit tough to get my head around， but this was more likely a product of my inability to focus for the last month （In The Time of Covid） coupled with some convoluted， lengthy sentences。The book benefits from speedy reading before you have time to forget what was written a chapter or two earlier。 The book is written in very short chapters which makes for very acceptable pacing。 。。。more
João Neto
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 A qual é qu queria tanto ler o livro mais não tenho dinheiro
Latchezar Tomov
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Simply beautiful explanation
Mohamed Hussien
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عن مفهومي الزمان والمكان في النسبية الخاصة والعامة:يمكن وصف نسبية أينشتاين بأنه تدمير لمفهومي الزمان والمكان -بالمعنى الشائع- من أجل إنقاذ مبدأ النسبية -أي تكافؤ جميع المراقبين لصياغة القوانين العامة للطبيعة بغض النظر عن حالتهم من الحركة-، وبالتالي علينا التخلي عن المفهومين لو أردنا فهم واضح لنسبية أينشتاين وإلا وقعنا في صعوبات وتناقضات زي: نحن نتصور المكان والزمان -أو الفضاء- كخاصية للكون موضوعية ومستقلة عنّا، لكن النسبية تخبرنا أن هناك فضاءات لا معدودة، فلو افترضنا مراقبين بيتحركوا بالنسبة لبع عن مفهومي الزمان والمكان في النسبية الخاصة والعامة:يمكن وصف نسبية أينشتاين بأنه تدمير لمفهومي الزمان والمكان -بالمعنى الشائع- من أجل إنقاذ مبدأ النسبية -أي تكافؤ جميع المراقبين لصياغة القوانين العامة للطبيعة بغض النظر عن حالتهم من الحركة-، وبالتالي علينا التخلي عن المفهومين لو أردنا فهم واضح لنسبية أينشتاين وإلا وقعنا في صعوبات وتناقضات زي: نحن نتصور المكان والزمان -أو الفضاء- كخاصية للكون موضوعية ومستقلة عنّا، لكن النسبية تخبرنا أن هناك فضاءات لا معدودة، فلو افترضنا مراقبين بيتحركوا بالنسبة لبعض فكل واحد فيهم هيبقى ليه فضاءه الخاص إلي ممكن يكون متمدد أو منكمش بالنسبة للفضاءات التانية。 الفضاء مش بس يتمدد وينكمش لكنه كمان وفقًا للنسبية العامة ينحني، وعلشان نفهم الانحناء ده تخيل معايا -ومع إدوين إبوت- عالم مسطح ثنائي الأبعاد على شكل مستطيل، أي حد ساكن في العالم ده يقدر يرسم على الأرض أشكال هندسية وهيقدر يطبق عليها هندسة إقليدس، تخيل إن المستطيل ده إتّنى، لاحظ إن سكان العالم ثنائي الأبعاد مش هيلاحظوا الانحناء ده فورًا لإنهم مش مدركين للعالم ثلاثي الأبعاد الي عالمهم فيه، بس لو كانوا شاطرين في الرياضة هيلاحظوا تغير في قواعد هندسة عالمهم، مثلًا المثلث إلي بيرسموه على الأرض مش هتفضل مجموع زواياه 180 درجة، ومن قواعد الهندسة الجديدة دي يقدروا يحددوا شكل عالمهم الجديد。تخيل بقى معايا عالمنا ثلاثي الأبعاد العادي، وتخيله جوة فضاء رباعي الأبعاد زي ما عملت مع العالم المسطح، ودلوقتي تخيل عالمنا ثلاثي الأبعاد ده منحني أو فيه موجة من الانحناءات، لو عرفت تتخيل الكلام ده أرجوك قل لي عملتها إزاي 。على حسب تجربتي تخيل الكلام ده مستحيل لإن خيالنا محدود بالمكان ثلاثي الأبعاد، وأي حاجة بنتخيلها بنتخيلها جوة المكان ثلاثي الأبعاد ده، بالتالي مستحيل نتخيل فضاء رباعي الأبعاد لإنه لا يمكن يوجد جوة فضاء أقل منه في عدد الأبعاد، وبالتالي مستحيل نتخيل انحناء في المكان الثلاثي الأبعاد لاستحالة تخيل بعد رابع، أو بشكل أساسي لأن المكان ثلاثي الأبعاد هو مسرح خيالنا، فإحنا بنتخيل حاجات فيه لكن لا يمكننا تخيله هو أصلًا ناهيك عن التلاعب فيه وتنيه。علشان كدة في اعتقادي اننا مانقدرش نفهم الانحناء ده بدون التخلي عن محاولتنا للتصور إلي محدودة بمفهومنا الشائع للمكان، وفهمه بطريقة أكتر تحليلية ورياضية، أو نَقنَع بمجرد التشبيه。نحن نتصور المكان كمسرح للأحداث مستقل عما يحدث فيه، كشرط قبلي توجد فيه المادة، لكن هذا التصور يتعارض مع النسبية العامة التي تدمر ما تبقى من المفهوم الشائع للمكان وتخبرنا بأن الفضاء لا يوجد مستقلًا عن المادة أو الزمان، فالمادة لها مجال جاذبي وهذا المجال يحدد "شكل" الفضاء。 فلا معنى للفضاء بدون مجال。 。。。more
Alex Salo
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It took me 3 years to finish these 65 pages。。。 :）The book starts with "what is truth vs。 hypothesis"， then "here is how you measure distance - with a fixed rigid rod"， and then the next second there is already Lorentz transformation and Minkowski four dimensional space time。。。So while this book contents is definitely not very accessible for a general audience， it was really interesting to see the train of thought that helped Einstein to come up with the theory: he writes about how the base theor It took me 3 years to finish these 65 pages。。。 :）The book starts with "what is truth vs。 hypothesis"， then "here is how you measure distance - with a fixed rigid rod"， and then the next second there is already Lorentz transformation and Minkowski four dimensional space time。。。So while this book contents is definitely not very accessible for a general audience， it was really interesting to see the train of thought that helped Einstein to come up with the theory: he writes about how the base theories （Newton's physics and Maxwell's thermodynamics） and experimental results （non-additivity of speed of light etc） had been available for tens of years， and they were clearly incompatible with one another， yet no one could figure out how to reconcile them。 The maths had been available for even longer - mathematicians had invented all the tools required long ago - just for fun， they had no real use for it， until Einstein came in that is。And so Einstein was like "alright， so we have these incompatible theories， but both theories seem to be airtight， so let's check our assumptions instead"。 Take time for example。 What does it even mean that two events happen "at the same time"？ According to whom？ If you stay stationary in between points A and B， and both A and B emit a light signal "at the same time"， you would received them simultaneously， because signal travels with the speed of light。 Now if instead of being stationary you are moving with a speed v towards point B， you'll obviously receive the signal from B before you would receive the signal from point A。 Now then: did A and B send the signal at the same time？ The point is that time is really only defined in a reference to a system of coordinates， it's not independent as was previously assumed。 Same with the distance - distance depends on the speed。 Something that travels with a speed of light has zero length。 Wait what？Anyway， to comprehend the theory fully you have to be quite advanced in maths and abstract thinking， but even without it， it's pretty fascinating to consider the examples Einstein brings up。 Also it exemplifies the power of analogies and critical thinking on something so intimate as the laws of the universe。 Thus I'd recommend this book to anyone （age really does not matter - you won't get it fully either way） - just don't stress out about the parts you can't really follow ;） 。。。more
Nick_wsn
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In any sense， it is not an easy to read book。Nevertheless， the insights into the thought processes of last century's genius is a must and an undeniable thoughts factory for everyone。Mathematical meanings are deconstructed into images and visual notions that are well interconnected and ultimately define the most prevailed cosmological theory of our times。Give it the petience that it deserves and it will reward you。 In any sense， it is not an easy to read book。Nevertheless， the insights into the thought processes of last century's genius is a must and an undeniable thoughts factory for everyone。Mathematical meanings are deconstructed into images and visual notions that are well interconnected and ultimately define the most prevailed cosmological theory of our times。Give it the petience that it deserves and it will reward you。 。。。more
Atila Togay
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Kitabı okurken bu nasıl dil， dedim kendi kendime。 Meğer çeviren ve kitabın yarısını işgal eden bir önsöz yazan Aziz Yardımlı， ekşi sözlükte birisinin yazdığına göre felsefe öğrencilerini felsefeden soğutan yazar diye bilinirmiş。 Haksız değil。 Önsözü saçmalıklarla dolu， ayrıca dili anlaşılmıyor。
Almustafa Couch
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A brilliant simplification of a difficult （in the past） scientific concept。 Einstein was able to show the science of relative action over differing time。 He was able to show this in a form accessible to Mathematicians and none mathematicians as well as physicists and none physicists alike。
Inge Andersen
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Ok ikke god læsning når man skal i seng。。。。 Tror jeg er nød til at læse den mindst en gang mere hvis jeg bare skal have nogenlunde styr på det。。。。。 Eller 20。。。。
Chinmay
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For the theory and the man。
Marco Arcangeli
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Scritto dallo stesso Einstein in cui spiega con formule annesse la teoria che ha rivoluzionato la fisica。
Shehryar Khursheed
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Relativity: The Special and General Theory by Albert Einstein: This was the original book that Einstein wrote for a non-technical audience。 I find relativity fascinating， precisely because it is so unintuitive。 More fascinating， though， is Einstein’s ability to conceptualize this and make it accessible to a general audience。 He uses some prototypical examples like the “infinite train” to demonstrate some fundamental concepts: how the speed of light remains constant regardless of your inertial fr Relativity: The Special and General Theory by Albert Einstein: This was the original book that Einstein wrote for a non-technical audience。 I find relativity fascinating， precisely because it is so unintuitive。 More fascinating， though， is Einstein’s ability to conceptualize this and make it accessible to a general audience。 He uses some prototypical examples like the “infinite train” to demonstrate some fundamental concepts: how the speed of light remains constant regardless of your inertial frame; why absolute time isn’t real; why no object can travel faster than the speed of light， etc。 Some understanding of cartesian space， geometry and elementary algebra might be helpful， but Einstein uses these ideas sparingly。 An added plus: the movie Interstellar is much more interesting after understanding relativity。 。。。more
Kim
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How do I rate the writing of a genius like Einstein since I couldn’t even understand many of the things I read？ However， of the things I was able to understand by studying （rather reading） the content， I was fascinated by Einstein’s thought experiment。 This book， although short， took me a long time to read， perhaps the quantity of time is all but “relative”。
Ítalo Ferreira
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Não é para pessoas tão leigas assim。 Precisa de uma imaginação e lógica um pouco apurada。
Senni Kettunen
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A few more diagrams wouldn't hurt。 I'll have to reread this， draw my own diagrams， and maybe I'll have some useful thoughts after that。 A few more diagrams wouldn't hurt。 I'll have to reread this， draw my own diagrams， and maybe I'll have some useful thoughts after that。 。。。more
Scott J Pearson
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“The universe of these beings is finite and yet has no limits。” – Albert Einstein， in chapter XXXISo says one of the great thinkers – perhaps， the great thinker – of the twentieth century in explaining his general theory of relativity。 While there was much mathematical in its derivation， Einstein explains it in common language to the educated reader in this short work。 He also explains the special theory of relativity here。 While such things are hard to digest （at least at first）， they are certa “The universe of these beings is finite and yet has no limits。” – Albert Einstein， in chapter XXXISo says one of the great thinkers – perhaps， the great thinker – of the twentieth century in explaining his general theory of relativity。 While there was much mathematical in its derivation， Einstein explains it in common language to the educated reader in this short work。 He also explains the special theory of relativity here。 While such things are hard to digest （at least at first）， they are certainly able to be digested in this format。 That this presentation exists in such clarity at all bespeaks to Einstein’s genius。I once took theology classes at a seminary on Mercer Street in Princeton， just down the street from where Einstein used to live。 Stories about his commonness yet uncommonness still filled the town。 He amazingly had the gall to claim that the universe was circular or elliptical – and then attempted to prove it。 He did so by clear thought， not by experiment as he was a theoritician， and this book contains an accessible version of those thoughts。 For that reason alone， the curious reader is encouraged to dwell deeply within this record of his understanding。Like mathematics， physics is a field full of geniuses whose ingenuity is common with respect to each other。 I am not a physicist， and I will not attempt to comment on the science presented。 From what I understand， some of Einstein’s formulations have been questioned by contemporary experiments， and string theory （though still unproven） attempts to generalize even further。 To me， neither of these discredits Einstein’s accomplishment with regards to relativity。 Of course， his annus mirabilis （“miracle year” of 1905） included other important findings like Brownian motion， and for better or for worse， his legacy will forever be bound with the Manhattan project and its atomic bomb。Thumbing through a work like this and dwelling on the beauty of its contents surely provide one of the greatest experiences humans can have。 Only a handful of works， like those by Immanuel Kant or Isaac Newton or Augustine of Hippo， reach the heights like this。 As such， anyone with any inkling of interest in physics should attempt to study these theories， and who better to read than the author of them himself？ I enjoyed my time reading this work immensely。 The translation is clear and scientific， but reading still is a little difficult due to the complex subject matter。 Nonetheless， being a dog eating the crumbs from Einstein’s table still provides quite a treat！ 。。。more
Vineeth Kartha
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I will have to read this atleast 2 more times to fully grasp everything mentioned about Relativity。 A must read for physics enthusiasts。 This is suitable for anyone who is familiar with undergrad physics。
Helfren Filex
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The theory of relativity written by the genius himself- Albert Einstein。 This book explains the theory of the relativity into a pages of original document where Einstein theory compiled and packed into a book for us the new age readers to read and enjoy the beauty of the science of his discovery。
Alice Stella
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Way too ambitious of me！
George Florin
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