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Einstein's Theory of Relativity
A book in which one great mind explains the work of another great mind in terms comprehensible to the layman is a significant achievement. This is such a book. Max Born is a Nobel Laureate (1955) and one of the world's great physicists: in this book he analyzes and interprets the theory of Einsteinian relativity. The result is undoubtedly the most lucid and insightful of all the books that have been written to explain the revolutionary theory that marked the end of the classical and the beginning of the modern era of physics.
The author follows a quasi-historical method of presentation. The book begins with a review of the classical physics, covering such topics as origins of space and time measurements, geometric axioms, Ptolemaic and Copernican astronomy, concepts of equilibrium and force, laws of motion, inertia, mass, momentum and energy, Newtonian world system (absolute space and absolute time, gravitation, celestial mechanics, centrifugal forces, and absolute space), laws of optics (the corpuscular and undulatory theories, speed of light, wave theory, Doppler effect, convection of light by matter), electrodynamics (including magnetic induction, electromagnetic theory of light, electromagnetic ether, electromagnetic laws of moving bodies, electromagnetic mass, and the contraction hypothesis). Born then takes up his exposition of Einstein's special and general theories of relativity, discussing the concept of simultaneity, kinematics, Einstein's mechanics and dynamics, relativity of arbitrary motions, the principle of equivalence, the geometry of curved surfaces, and the space-time continuum, among other topics. Born then points out some predictions of the theory of relativity and its implications for cosmology, and indicates what is being sought in the unified field theory.
This account steers a middle course between vague popularizations and complex scientific presentations. This is a careful discussion of principles stated in thoroughly acceptable scientific form, yet in a manner that makes it possible for the reader who has no scientific training to understand it. Only high school algebra has been used in explaining the nature of classical physics and relativity, and simple experiments and diagrams are used to illustrate each step. The layman and the beginning student in physics will find this an immensely valuable and usable introduction to relativity. This Dover 1962 edition was greatly revised and enlarged by Dr. Born.
The author follows a quasi-historical method of presentation. The book begins with a review of the classical physics, covering such topics as origins of space and time measurements, geometric axioms, Ptolemaic and Copernican astronomy, concepts of equilibrium and force, laws of motion, inertia, mass, momentum and energy, Newtonian world system (absolute space and absolute time, gravitation, celestial mechanics, centrifugal forces, and absolute space), laws of optics (the corpuscular and undulatory theories, speed of light, wave theory, Doppler effect, convection of light by matter), electrodynamics (including magnetic induction, electromagnetic theory of light, electromagnetic ether, electromagnetic laws of moving bodies, electromagnetic mass, and the contraction hypothesis). Born then takes up his exposition of Einstein's special and general theories of relativity, discussing the concept of simultaneity, kinematics, Einstein's mechanics and dynamics, relativity of arbitrary motions, the principle of equivalence, the geometry of curved surfaces, and the space-time continuum, among other topics. Born then points out some predictions of the theory of relativity and its implications for cosmology, and indicates what is being sought in the unified field theory.
This account steers a middle course between vague popularizations and complex scientific presentations. This is a careful discussion of principles stated in thoroughly acceptable scientific form, yet in a manner that makes it possible for the reader who has no scientific training to understand it. Only high school algebra has been used in explaining the nature of classical physics and relativity, and simple experiments and diagrams are used to illustrate each step. The layman and the beginning student in physics will find this an immensely valuable and usable introduction to relativity. This Dover 1962 edition was greatly revised and enlarged by Dr. Born.
296 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1962
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About the author
Henry L. Brose
14 booksHenry Herman Leopold Adolph Brose was an Australian physicist.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 12, 2019
This pertains to the old old 1922 edition, but I doubt if anything substantive will have changed.
[Edit: having examined the 1962 edition, I can say that it has changed significantly, is longer, and much clearer than the original. If you have trouble locating a '62 legit edition (there have been complaints the Amazon reprints are stripped of diagrams, or are otherwise defective), there is one PDF on the internet of it. I won't give the url, but you can Google "To the eye the sky appears as a more or less flat dome to which stars are attached" and it should get you there. I scanned the downloaded file for any viruses and found it clean; but of course, follow your own best-practices.]
This is probably the best intro to relativity for the mathematically and physics competent reader at the grade 12 level.
You will not need trig, logs, or differential equations: it is written in a way that mathematically re-arranges things in a manner that entails those elements, but without explicitly inserting them into expressions. You will need competent algebraic manipulation skills, a bit of geometry, and patience to wade through the demonstration of those skills. But you won't have solve anything, you just have to keep track of the solutions.
Expect to read one or two pages a day. If your math and science is really decent—say grade 12 B+ levels—you'll finish this in half a year. You're not likely to find an easier treatment that at the same time doesn't pull any punches or gloss over any essential formalism.
I recommend you start by skimming over the pages for one hour from beginning to end, with less attention to the text and more to the math—the surface form of the equations: roots, numerators, denominators, etc. Why? Sound weird? The idea is to assure yourself that the stuff isn't really all that hard at all, assuming the above. Do this exercise once a week.
Finally, this is an introduction to relativity, and it will leave you there. It is not an introduction to advanced college textbooks, nor will you understand advanced papers and treaments. Nobody goes around like Born pre-digesting the math for the general public. For that you will need trig, logs, calc, and later on tensors, matrices, etc. and the whole 9 yards. That's why undergrad college is 4 years long, ha!
What advanced material does is give you the ability to DO relativity, to compute the dynamics of a rotating black hole, to teach relativity, etc. That is not the purpose of this book, but it will put you light-years ahead of people who just sit and watch random PBS relativity youTube videos and the like.
Good luck.
[Edit: having examined the 1962 edition, I can say that it has changed significantly, is longer, and much clearer than the original. If you have trouble locating a '62 legit edition (there have been complaints the Amazon reprints are stripped of diagrams, or are otherwise defective), there is one PDF on the internet of it. I won't give the url, but you can Google "To the eye the sky appears as a more or less flat dome to which stars are attached" and it should get you there. I scanned the downloaded file for any viruses and found it clean; but of course, follow your own best-practices.]
This is probably the best intro to relativity for the mathematically and physics competent reader at the grade 12 level.
You will not need trig, logs, or differential equations: it is written in a way that mathematically re-arranges things in a manner that entails those elements, but without explicitly inserting them into expressions. You will need competent algebraic manipulation skills, a bit of geometry, and patience to wade through the demonstration of those skills. But you won't have solve anything, you just have to keep track of the solutions.
Expect to read one or two pages a day. If your math and science is really decent—say grade 12 B+ levels—you'll finish this in half a year. You're not likely to find an easier treatment that at the same time doesn't pull any punches or gloss over any essential formalism.
I recommend you start by skimming over the pages for one hour from beginning to end, with less attention to the text and more to the math—the surface form of the equations: roots, numerators, denominators, etc. Why? Sound weird? The idea is to assure yourself that the stuff isn't really all that hard at all, assuming the above. Do this exercise once a week.
Finally, this is an introduction to relativity, and it will leave you there. It is not an introduction to advanced college textbooks, nor will you understand advanced papers and treaments. Nobody goes around like Born pre-digesting the math for the general public. For that you will need trig, logs, calc, and later on tensors, matrices, etc. and the whole 9 yards. That's why undergrad college is 4 years long, ha!
What advanced material does is give you the ability to DO relativity, to compute the dynamics of a rotating black hole, to teach relativity, etc. That is not the purpose of this book, but it will put you light-years ahead of people who just sit and watch random PBS relativity youTube videos and the like.
Good luck.
June 30, 2025
Is there any purpose for a trained scientist to read a popular work? Can one get any better insight into the concepts? On the subject of the general theory of relativity, the classic go-to reference would be the encyclopedia article written in 1921 by the young and upcoming Wolfgang Pauli, which we intend to review in a moment. But Pauli’s work is very much a technical overview for aspiring fellow scientists or for already established scientists from another field looking to learn something about general relativity, which at the time had newly entered into prominence as a result of its successful prediction of the deflection of starlight observed during the solar eclipse in 1919. Pauli’s equally eminent colleague Max Born, on the other hand, has some pretensions as an expositor to a lay audience, cf. his 1948 Oxford lectures on Natural Philosophy of Cause and Chance (reviewed by us here). Therefore, we would like to dedicate a review to his lectures Die Relativitätstheorie Einsteins (originally published in 1920 and recently issued by Springer in a seventh edition, outfitted with a commentary and an appendix on subsequent developments through 2003 by Jürgen Ehlers and Markus Pőssel).
In the leisurely style typical of a by-gone era, the lectures commence with some epistemological reflections, of which the following may survive the passage of time:
EINSTEIN durchbrach diese Hindernisse durch eine kritische Untersuchung der geläufigen Vorstellungen von Raum und Zeit. Er fand diese unbefriedigend und ersetzte sie durch bessere. Dabei ließ er sich durch die genannted Prinzipien naturwissenschaftlicher Forschung, Objektivierung und Relativierung, leiten und benutzte außerdem ein anderes Prinzip, das sicherlich vorher bekannt gewesen, aber kaum für neuen Gedankenbau benutzt worder war, sondern als Mittel zur logischen Kritik – z.B. von ERNST MACH, dem bekannten Physiker und Philosophen, dessen Schriften EINSTEIN einen starken Eindruck gemacht hatten. Dieses Prinzip besagt, daß Begriffe und Aussagen, die keine empirische Verifikation zulassen, aus der theoretischen Physik ausgemerzt werden sollten….Das Prinzip der Elimination des Unbeobachtbaren wurde der Gegenstand vieler philosophischer Diskussionen. Man bezeichnete es als positivistisch, und es ist nicht zu leugnen, daß es ausgerichtet ist nach jener Philosophie, under deren hervorragensten Vertretern MACH erscheint. Aber der strenge Positivismus läßt nur die unmittelbaren Sinneseindrücke als wirklich gelten und faßt alles andere als Konstruktion des menschlichen Geistes auf; er führt so zu einer skeptischen Haltung gegenüber der Existenz der Außenwelt. Nichts lag EINSTEIN ferner als dies; in seinen späteren Jahren hat er den Positivismus ausdrücklich abgelehnt. Man sollte diese, von EINSTEIN in der Relativitätstheorie so erfolgreich angewandete Methode als ein heuristiches Prinzip ansehen, das erlaubt, schwache, empirisch unbelegte Punkte der traditionellen Lehre aufzuspüren und zu korrigieren. Tatsächlich ist dieses Prinzip eine kraftvolle Methode der modernen theoretischen Physik und hat sich z.B. in der Entwicklung der Quantenmechanik (HEISENBERG) bewährt. Darum kann man sagen, daß EINSTEINs Denkweise nicht nur die klassische Physik zum Gipfel geführt, sondern ein neues Zeitalter der Physik eröffnet hat. [p. 3]
Indeed, Born starts out at a very elementary level – too elementary to learn much from. In contrast to the prevailing wisdom in today’s publishing world, however, he is willing to include many equations. Does Born’s strategy of employing formulae in a popular book succeed? Let the reader judge for himself. This reviewer is in no position to speak for the typical member of the general public, but certainly for someone who already knows something about physics the inclusion of explicit formulae greatly eases comprehension. In any case, Born remains basic in that he doesn’t seek to convey the mathematics of tensor analysis and differential geometry really at all.
Another salient observation: Born is close enough to the event that he still considers nineteenth-century work on electrodynamics other than the Michaelson-Morley experiment to be discussable (such as Fresnel’s ingenious experiment), whereas today Einstein’s dismissal of the aether has sunk in so far into physicists’ consciousness that one tends to elide the previous history of the subject altogether. The reader will thus be pleased to take in an extended conspectus of all the topics one might want from an elementary treatment, embellished not only with numerous formulae but also with illustrative diagrams taken from the original literature (hence, the concepts of mass and impulse, absolute space and universal gravitation, inertial reference frames, the context of classical electrodynamics and optical effects in wave theory such as stellar aberration and the Doppler shift, electromagnetic mass and Abraham’s experiments, Lorentz contraction, simultaneity or lack thereof, Lorentz transformations and Minkowski’s unification of space and time, Einstein’s novel kinematics and dynamics, and but very little on non-Euclidean geometry).
Let us gather a handful of isolated points from which a modern reader educated in physics may derive benefit: a derivation of Coulomb’s law from considerations of Priestley and Cavendish [p. 131]; the identity of the speed of light with measurable electromagnetic quantities viz. c = J l/r²H was noticed by many before Maxwell, for instance Weber and Kohlrausch, but first explained by Maxwell; on deciding between Faraday-Maxwell’s Nahwirkungstheorie and Neumann-Weber’s Fernwirkungstheorie [pp. 157-158].
A significant weakness, however, in this reviewer’s opinion, is that while Born does mention observational consequences of the general theory of relativity (such as the gravitational redshift, deflection of starlight by the sun and the Hubble expansion), at the mathematical level he scarcely ventures beyond special relativity in Minkowski space. Thus, neither the Riemannian curvature tensor nor the general relativistic field equation makes any appearance whatsoever. Without any discussion of these ideas, the promise implicit in the title of the lectures goes unfulfilled. For in their absence one could not gain any understanding at all concerning the role of mass in governing the dynamics of space-time or of Einstein’s mature view of gravitation not as a force in Newton’s sense but as a reflection of the geometry of space itself.
What does the 135-page commentary by Jürgen Ehlers and Markus Pössel add to the text as Born left it after his last revision in 1964? A focus on precision experimental tests, not on conceptual elucidation – somewhat diffusely organized as they pull in all kinds of auxiliary topics, such as the Cepheid distance ladder [p. 398], or large scale structure in cosmology [p. 407] and the cosmic background radiation [p. 426]. A bit verbose, to be surveyed quickly. The tendency to pack in too much distantly related material gets to be extreme in the last section on the connection between quantum and relativity theories [pp. 436-463].
Conclusion: are the present lectures worth reading to learn about the physics, even yet today, or must they be relegated to the status of merely a historical document? They are not particularly deep, thus may be skimmed quickly for culture. The obiter dicta of a great scientist like Born always repay some consideration, yet on balance there are far fewer of these interspersed throughout the text than one would expect. Thus, maybe 2½ stars: overrated, competent enough to be sure but exhibits no flair. If there is any redeeming quality to the text, at least it contains a coherent overview of the development of ideas up to Einstein’s time; covering for instance, Heinrich Hertz’s contributions [p. 166] and H.A. Lorentz’ electron theory [p. 172]. Still very much a practicing physicist’s view rather than a historian’s (if one happens to be well-read in the history of his field by today’s standards).
In the leisurely style typical of a by-gone era, the lectures commence with some epistemological reflections, of which the following may survive the passage of time:
EINSTEIN durchbrach diese Hindernisse durch eine kritische Untersuchung der geläufigen Vorstellungen von Raum und Zeit. Er fand diese unbefriedigend und ersetzte sie durch bessere. Dabei ließ er sich durch die genannted Prinzipien naturwissenschaftlicher Forschung, Objektivierung und Relativierung, leiten und benutzte außerdem ein anderes Prinzip, das sicherlich vorher bekannt gewesen, aber kaum für neuen Gedankenbau benutzt worder war, sondern als Mittel zur logischen Kritik – z.B. von ERNST MACH, dem bekannten Physiker und Philosophen, dessen Schriften EINSTEIN einen starken Eindruck gemacht hatten. Dieses Prinzip besagt, daß Begriffe und Aussagen, die keine empirische Verifikation zulassen, aus der theoretischen Physik ausgemerzt werden sollten….Das Prinzip der Elimination des Unbeobachtbaren wurde der Gegenstand vieler philosophischer Diskussionen. Man bezeichnete es als positivistisch, und es ist nicht zu leugnen, daß es ausgerichtet ist nach jener Philosophie, under deren hervorragensten Vertretern MACH erscheint. Aber der strenge Positivismus läßt nur die unmittelbaren Sinneseindrücke als wirklich gelten und faßt alles andere als Konstruktion des menschlichen Geistes auf; er führt so zu einer skeptischen Haltung gegenüber der Existenz der Außenwelt. Nichts lag EINSTEIN ferner als dies; in seinen späteren Jahren hat er den Positivismus ausdrücklich abgelehnt. Man sollte diese, von EINSTEIN in der Relativitätstheorie so erfolgreich angewandete Methode als ein heuristiches Prinzip ansehen, das erlaubt, schwache, empirisch unbelegte Punkte der traditionellen Lehre aufzuspüren und zu korrigieren. Tatsächlich ist dieses Prinzip eine kraftvolle Methode der modernen theoretischen Physik und hat sich z.B. in der Entwicklung der Quantenmechanik (HEISENBERG) bewährt. Darum kann man sagen, daß EINSTEINs Denkweise nicht nur die klassische Physik zum Gipfel geführt, sondern ein neues Zeitalter der Physik eröffnet hat. [p. 3]
Indeed, Born starts out at a very elementary level – too elementary to learn much from. In contrast to the prevailing wisdom in today’s publishing world, however, he is willing to include many equations. Does Born’s strategy of employing formulae in a popular book succeed? Let the reader judge for himself. This reviewer is in no position to speak for the typical member of the general public, but certainly for someone who already knows something about physics the inclusion of explicit formulae greatly eases comprehension. In any case, Born remains basic in that he doesn’t seek to convey the mathematics of tensor analysis and differential geometry really at all.
Another salient observation: Born is close enough to the event that he still considers nineteenth-century work on electrodynamics other than the Michaelson-Morley experiment to be discussable (such as Fresnel’s ingenious experiment), whereas today Einstein’s dismissal of the aether has sunk in so far into physicists’ consciousness that one tends to elide the previous history of the subject altogether. The reader will thus be pleased to take in an extended conspectus of all the topics one might want from an elementary treatment, embellished not only with numerous formulae but also with illustrative diagrams taken from the original literature (hence, the concepts of mass and impulse, absolute space and universal gravitation, inertial reference frames, the context of classical electrodynamics and optical effects in wave theory such as stellar aberration and the Doppler shift, electromagnetic mass and Abraham’s experiments, Lorentz contraction, simultaneity or lack thereof, Lorentz transformations and Minkowski’s unification of space and time, Einstein’s novel kinematics and dynamics, and but very little on non-Euclidean geometry).
Let us gather a handful of isolated points from which a modern reader educated in physics may derive benefit: a derivation of Coulomb’s law from considerations of Priestley and Cavendish [p. 131]; the identity of the speed of light with measurable electromagnetic quantities viz. c = J l/r²H was noticed by many before Maxwell, for instance Weber and Kohlrausch, but first explained by Maxwell; on deciding between Faraday-Maxwell’s Nahwirkungstheorie and Neumann-Weber’s Fernwirkungstheorie [pp. 157-158].
A significant weakness, however, in this reviewer’s opinion, is that while Born does mention observational consequences of the general theory of relativity (such as the gravitational redshift, deflection of starlight by the sun and the Hubble expansion), at the mathematical level he scarcely ventures beyond special relativity in Minkowski space. Thus, neither the Riemannian curvature tensor nor the general relativistic field equation makes any appearance whatsoever. Without any discussion of these ideas, the promise implicit in the title of the lectures goes unfulfilled. For in their absence one could not gain any understanding at all concerning the role of mass in governing the dynamics of space-time or of Einstein’s mature view of gravitation not as a force in Newton’s sense but as a reflection of the geometry of space itself.
What does the 135-page commentary by Jürgen Ehlers and Markus Pössel add to the text as Born left it after his last revision in 1964? A focus on precision experimental tests, not on conceptual elucidation – somewhat diffusely organized as they pull in all kinds of auxiliary topics, such as the Cepheid distance ladder [p. 398], or large scale structure in cosmology [p. 407] and the cosmic background radiation [p. 426]. A bit verbose, to be surveyed quickly. The tendency to pack in too much distantly related material gets to be extreme in the last section on the connection between quantum and relativity theories [pp. 436-463].
Conclusion: are the present lectures worth reading to learn about the physics, even yet today, or must they be relegated to the status of merely a historical document? They are not particularly deep, thus may be skimmed quickly for culture. The obiter dicta of a great scientist like Born always repay some consideration, yet on balance there are far fewer of these interspersed throughout the text than one would expect. Thus, maybe 2½ stars: overrated, competent enough to be sure but exhibits no flair. If there is any redeeming quality to the text, at least it contains a coherent overview of the development of ideas up to Einstein’s time; covering for instance, Heinrich Hertz’s contributions [p. 166] and H.A. Lorentz’ electron theory [p. 172]. Still very much a practicing physicist’s view rather than a historian’s (if one happens to be well-read in the history of his field by today’s standards).
July 3, 2018
From the several books I bought here on Amazon about the theory of relativity I only recommend this one as it was written in an admirable fashion.
The theory of relativity in this book, however, is presented only at the last two chapters of the book. However, it was worth to read Max Born's introductory chapters despite their lack of excitement. At first I could not understand why I had to go through the laws of classical mechanics, optics, and electrodynamics in order to fathom the theory of relativity. But as a reader one can only benefit from the information regarding these laws, although I believe that Max Born should have written more extensively about Einstein's theory, perhaps from a more neutral perspective. However, I enjoyed the chapter about the Newtonian world systems, in particularly the perception of time and space as absolute terms. But the most interesting part of this book for me, however, was `Mathematics and reality' and `The failure of Euclidean Geometry' which proved to me that Einstein was more of a philosopher than a mathematician. The bold assertion that the axioms of mathematics in general and geometry in particular are not conclusive in their theorems, despite the proofs in regard to the classical laws of mechanics impressed me beyond measure. I felt as if my entire physical reality has been dictated to me by some tyrant teachers in my schooldays. The classical law of inertia has failed to be constrained by logic, whereas the theory of relativity challenged the old perception of space and time with quite a success. Moreover, the four dimensional world is a sheer reflection of our myopia, as it is presented in strict coordinates. Suffice to me, and without provocation intended towards mathematicians, that the physical reality cannot be described by mathematical equations simply because of the law of motion. It is the same with time, and in this book it is illustrated through hypotheses of an imaginary clock situated on Jupiter to be compared with a clock on earth. Furthermore I really enjoyed the principle of equivalence. Here gravitational law in regard to stellar bodies and inertial mass made me realize that Einstein's theory is in fact connected to the cardinal principle of equilibrium. However, the contradiction of inertial motion and gravitation reminded me of the discussion in regard to black holes. As both classical mechanics and the theory of relativity are right about the behaviour of matter in regard to black holes I had to accept the fact that they are both right also in regard to additional velocities and in regard to inertial motion and gravitation. My point here is that oddly enough, one should have dismissed the theory of relativity as mere abstract because of lack of substantiality in comparison with classical mechanics. But because both classical mechanics and the theory of relativity are part of our physical reality, and since they are both correct, in regard to the truth, (logic or not logic), in conclusion I am impressed with the flexibility and the wholeness of the relativity theory. I understand Einstein's challenge of the mathematical dimension, and I respect his theory more than I respect the rigid laws of classical mechanics. Nevertheless, I refuse to utterly dismiss the classical laws of mechanics, for it will be equal to lose grip with the simple understanding of our physical reality. All in all, I believe that Max Born wrote this book with the same view. But the theory of relativity is more than correct, it is fascinating, it is mind blowing, it is enchanting and captivating, it is enhancing and intriguing. Therefore it triumphs over classical mechanics and over mathematics. I therefore recommend the reader to read first the last two chapters and only then to read the book all over again. Einstein's theory of relativity is the exciting facade of science fiction.
The theory of relativity in this book, however, is presented only at the last two chapters of the book. However, it was worth to read Max Born's introductory chapters despite their lack of excitement. At first I could not understand why I had to go through the laws of classical mechanics, optics, and electrodynamics in order to fathom the theory of relativity. But as a reader one can only benefit from the information regarding these laws, although I believe that Max Born should have written more extensively about Einstein's theory, perhaps from a more neutral perspective. However, I enjoyed the chapter about the Newtonian world systems, in particularly the perception of time and space as absolute terms. But the most interesting part of this book for me, however, was `Mathematics and reality' and `The failure of Euclidean Geometry' which proved to me that Einstein was more of a philosopher than a mathematician. The bold assertion that the axioms of mathematics in general and geometry in particular are not conclusive in their theorems, despite the proofs in regard to the classical laws of mechanics impressed me beyond measure. I felt as if my entire physical reality has been dictated to me by some tyrant teachers in my schooldays. The classical law of inertia has failed to be constrained by logic, whereas the theory of relativity challenged the old perception of space and time with quite a success. Moreover, the four dimensional world is a sheer reflection of our myopia, as it is presented in strict coordinates. Suffice to me, and without provocation intended towards mathematicians, that the physical reality cannot be described by mathematical equations simply because of the law of motion. It is the same with time, and in this book it is illustrated through hypotheses of an imaginary clock situated on Jupiter to be compared with a clock on earth. Furthermore I really enjoyed the principle of equivalence. Here gravitational law in regard to stellar bodies and inertial mass made me realize that Einstein's theory is in fact connected to the cardinal principle of equilibrium. However, the contradiction of inertial motion and gravitation reminded me of the discussion in regard to black holes. As both classical mechanics and the theory of relativity are right about the behaviour of matter in regard to black holes I had to accept the fact that they are both right also in regard to additional velocities and in regard to inertial motion and gravitation. My point here is that oddly enough, one should have dismissed the theory of relativity as mere abstract because of lack of substantiality in comparison with classical mechanics. But because both classical mechanics and the theory of relativity are part of our physical reality, and since they are both correct, in regard to the truth, (logic or not logic), in conclusion I am impressed with the flexibility and the wholeness of the relativity theory. I understand Einstein's challenge of the mathematical dimension, and I respect his theory more than I respect the rigid laws of classical mechanics. Nevertheless, I refuse to utterly dismiss the classical laws of mechanics, for it will be equal to lose grip with the simple understanding of our physical reality. All in all, I believe that Max Born wrote this book with the same view. But the theory of relativity is more than correct, it is fascinating, it is mind blowing, it is enchanting and captivating, it is enhancing and intriguing. Therefore it triumphs over classical mechanics and over mathematics. I therefore recommend the reader to read first the last two chapters and only then to read the book all over again. Einstein's theory of relativity is the exciting facade of science fiction.
January 19, 2009
This book pretty clearly explains Einstein's special and general theories of relativity, discussing the concept of simultaneity, kinematics, Einstein's mechanics and dynamics, and more in almost layman's terms without delving into all the math and proofs that are in Einstein's own book.
June 11, 2024
My version didn't have this great cover though, :)
July 4, 2016
As anyone who has heard of the recent detection of gravity waves knows, or who has seen the film Interstellar knows, or who looks at images of gravitational lensing from the Hubble Telescope knows, Einstein Matters. He has actually mattered for over 100 years now, as we celebrate the centennial of the Theory of General Relativity. I’ve had this book on my bookshelf for at least 35 of those last hundred years, but only now have gotten around to reading it, spurred by these discoveries. Max Born was a great physicist in his own right, and a friend of Einstein. The aim of the book (first written in the 1920’s and revised in the 60’s) was to present Einstein’s theory using little more than high school algebra and geometry: graphs and formulas abound, but the manipulations are basically algebraic and shown step-by-step. It’s best to study this book as a somewhat challenging textbook; I took notes, underlined, and worked out derivations just like in college and spent a ‘semester’ in reading it off and on. There are two aspects of relativity as elucidated by Einstein: (1) special relativity discards Newton’s assumption of absolute space and time and leads to some bizarre conclusions (rulers contract and time slows down as objects approach the speed of light, for example (so that astronauts age less than those on earth); (2) general relativity which discards Newton’s ideas of gravity as a force field between objects with action at a distance, and reformulates it as curvature of space-time. The author spends more than half of the book on classical physics (laws of motion, gravity, optics and electromagnetism) as a grounding, as this is needed to understand relativity. When we get to general relativity, the mathematics of curved space-time becomes too difficult to handle with algebra and geometry, so this part is mainly descriptive but enough to understand some of the great confirmations of relativity theory: the perihelion of Mercury, and the curvature of light near a massive object such as the sun. I can’t imagine a better introduction to relativity for anyone who wants to go beyond the purely descriptive: knowing the formulae and how they are derived leads to a much better understanding. This book is certainly essential reading for those more-than-a-little curious about relativity.
January 9, 2018
Dr. Born discusses the new paradigm of Einstein's mechanics and its effects on our perceptions of reality. To do this, he establishes the previous paradigm of Newtonian mechanics and demonstrates several solutions in that realm of thought. The triumph of finding that gravitation is the force holding the Solar System together, for instance, is considered to be a great event.
Dr. Born goes further in his discussion and talks about how we know some of the things that we know. Take the speed of light for instance, how do we know that it is approximately 300,000 kilometers per second? Well as it happens, Dr. Born tells us in the text about the observations done on some of Jupiter's moons during an eclipse.
All in all, this book was fascinating and a wonderful addition to my personal library.
Dr. Born goes further in his discussion and talks about how we know some of the things that we know. Take the speed of light for instance, how do we know that it is approximately 300,000 kilometers per second? Well as it happens, Dr. Born tells us in the text about the observations done on some of Jupiter's moons during an eclipse.
All in all, this book was fascinating and a wonderful addition to my personal library.
March 4, 2014
I bought this book because I wanted to understand Einstein's theory of relativity. After reading it, I must admit that I understood very little of what was in this book. While this book is not for the lay person, and though I barely glanced over all of the equations, I did get some value out of it. For example, the idea that no frame of reference is more right that any other is a concept that I had previously resisted, but made more sense after seeing the explanations and examples in this book. Overall, it was a good book, but I believe a college course in physics prior to reading this book would have better prepared me to truly understand the material.
April 28, 2012
not gonna lie, I didn't understand any of this. Of course, I was taking highschool algebra 2 when I read it haha
May 25, 2019
I read this book when I was in high school and loved it. I just found my copy, which I stole from my father.
March 22, 2018
A very good and different perceptive on Einstein's work. It guided me more deeply into an understanding of relativity.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews