Introducing Relativity

Introducing Graphic Guides

by Bruce Bassett, Ralph Edney (Contributor)

This book begins with life near the speed of life near the speed of ligh and explores idas of of space-time and curved space.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Physics, Comics, Graphic Non Fiction, Stem, Graphic Novels

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Gautham · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a brief description of the relativity theory proposed by Dr. Albert Einstein. The introduction of curved space reality within the realm of classical physics came as a severe blow to the most fundamental concept of gravity that revolutionized the whole world. It was like when Copernicus put forward the heliocentric model of the universe against the Ptolomic model which was prevalent at that time. The inclusion of time as the fourth dimension along with the three spatial dimensions made it possible to understand the fundamental nature of the speed of light in the universe, which in turn holds the relation E=mC2 to be true. The true moment of “Eureka” as far as relativity is concerned was when the theory of special relativity was extended to the general theory of relativity by the Einstein’s field equations. The book then extends the core idea of relativity in explaining the various cosmological phenomena including the origin of the universe. Still, however magnificent the theory may seem in explaining the universe the book suggests that it still is waiting for a much grander and unified theory to replace it. The major evidence backing this is that it fails to include the quantum effects thus suggesting that “there must come a point at which Einstein’s equations fail and are simply wrong, since they don’t include any quantum effects”. Finally, the book kindles the hope that a unified theory may surface in the future by briefly introducing the superstring theory. To me the book thus literally introduced me to the world of relativity. It was truly fascinating to know that the theory had such farfetched implications in explaining how the world at large worked.

[Hamid · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple short graphic description of Einstein's revolutionary theory of relativity. It was ok, but not at all comprehensive. So it doesn't cover everything, but it's a good introduction for those with no background in physics and cosmology.

[Blanasdiary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Say Yayınları'nın bastığı Çizgi Bilim serisinden İzafiyet, Einstein' ın Genel İzafiyet Teorisi'ni uzay ve zamanla ilgili bilinen ilk çalışmalardan itibaren adım adım anlatıyor.
E=mc2 den kara deliklere ve çok daha fazla konuya kitapta hap bilgi olarak değinilmiş. Kitaptaki karikatürler de oldukça eğlenceli🌌
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İzafiyet, bence bu konularda okumaya yeni başlayanlar için güzel bir kitap ama yine de temel fizik bilginizin olması gerekiyor. Temel kuram ve tanımları bilmeden bu kitap (her bilimsel kitap gibi) zorlayıcı olabilir.
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Kitaptaki karikatürler oldukça eğlenceli! Çizimler konuyu esprili bir dille anlatmış ve okuma sürecini de oldukça keyifli hale getirmiş👏🏻 Yine de, bu kitap çizgi roman okur gibi okuyup bitirebileceğiniz bir çalışma değil; vakit ayırmanız ve üzerinde düşüne düşüne okumanız gerekecektir.
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Benim gibi uzun süredir bilim kitapları okuyorsanız, teorik fizikle ilgiliyseniz bu kitap size de basit gelebilir ama okumak bana oldukça iyi geldi. Bilimsel kitaplar okumaya başlamak içinse bence şahane olur👌🏻

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much more understandable than the similar books about Quantum and Particle Physics, specially cause this one tries to explain a bit more than just the history of how Relativity was built. Both Special and General Relativity are explained good enough so as to look for more literature regarding the two topics. An interesting aspect of the book is that it was written prior to the discovery of gravitational waves, which helps understand why both (along with Quantum Physics, String Theory & Super Symmetry) are still ongoing theories towards the finding of a Theory of Everything and a complete understanding about how everything in the universe came to be.

[Kang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good introduction, well-explained and well-put together.

[Angelo IG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Το βιβλίο εξηγεί τις πιο επαναστατικές θεωρίες του Αϊνστάιν με σαφήνεια, φαντασία και οπτική ευφυΐα. Η αφήγηση του Bruce Bassett συνδυάζει ιστορικά και επιστημονικά στοιχεία, ενώ τα σκίτσα του Ralph Edney λειτουργούν σαν γέφυρα ανάμεσα στη θεωρία και τη φαντασία. Τα μόνα αδύναμα του στοιχεία είναι ότι δεν εμβαθύνει αρκετά για τους ήδη εξοικειωμένους (αλλά οκ είναι εισαγωγικό βιβλίο) και ότι ορισμένες έννοιες φαντάζομαι θα παραμένουν δύσκολες για αρχάριους (βλ. γεωδαιτικές του χωροχρόνου, ριμάνεια γεωμετρία, τανυστές, πεδιακές εξισώσεις κτλ). Αν είναι η πρώτη εμπειρία κάποιου με αστροφυσική/κοσμολογία μπορεί να δυσκολευτεί λίγο σε σημεία. Καλύτερα να ξεκινήσει με βιβλία όπως τα "Το Συμπαν στα Χέρια σας", "Προς τα Άστρα", "Ένα Αστέρι Πεθαίνει". Επίσης κάποια πράγματα που γράφει έχουν αλλάξει από όταν εκδόθηκε π.χ. έχουμε ανιχνεύσει βαρυτικά κύματα εδώ και 10 χρόνια και έχουμε πλέον πολλαπλές αποδείξεις για την ύπαρξη μαύρων τρυπών (φυσικά με όχι άμεσες παρατηρήσεις των ίδιων). Το βιβλίο παραμένει πολύ καλό, άσχετα αν εγώ επέλεξα να επισημάνω τις αδυναμίες του.

[Johannes Duckeck · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to rate. It is much better than the Freud book in the series which I also rated two stars, but it goes far off the beaten path in explaining relativity, and thereby kind of failing in explaining relativity. Maybe that is just my very uneducated view, but this book devotes much more time pointing out the pitfalls of General Relativity than explaining it. Maybe it feels like that because I don’t have the requisite physical and mathematical education. In a way I like that it points out different things about relativity than other standard books in this field, but it doesn’t connect well. My final disappointment with this book is that it feels more out of date than a lot of others in the series. I guess a lot has happened in the last 20 years in physics.

[Michael Sands · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad read. Kinda took breaks and absorbed it slowly, even though it's not overly complex. If you were listening carefully you probably picked up a lot of this already in StarTalk or other science media that touches on relativity.

It's slightly outdated now that gravity waves have been proven and a few other things. Still it's kinda cool seeing theory being discussed before it has been proven, knowing that we figure it out.

Kinda hoped for more practical/visual connections but they do a good job getting the basic idea down. The art is 'meh' but functional.

[Naim al-Kalantani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aku jarang baca buku English walaupun aku ni selalu beli buku English. Tapi buku ni best. Sebab banyak grafik. Aku beli buku ni sebab aku obses dengan filem Chirstoper Nolan, Interstellar.

Dan untuk memahami Interstellar, aku baca buku ini.

[Lachie Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very brief but entertaining account of classical relativity and it's application. And an even more brief account of the adaption of relativity in further attempt to reach a unified theory.

A great read.

[Mehaboobmunna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. One should read this one.

A book with very less equations, that just makes it more readable. Enjoyed reading this. Co incidentally today was published the first photo of Black hole. I'd love it more if it had more illustrations.

[Abhi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Relativity was never taught in the schools I went to. I learnt this to be generally true about schools almost everywhere. You had to major in Physics to even get any exposure to it, a theory that has gathered evidence after evidence in its favor. Part of the reason is the need for advanced math, but it is probably also because the concept is so unintuitive. Some countries, I've read, such as South Korea and Norway, have recently introduced it into the classroom. After more than a 100 years of its first publication.
[Just my thoughts as I was reading this well put together introduction to the subject.]

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Science communication of this level of physics is an odd niche. This isn't a textbook, which a college class would work from. And it's not a science popularizing book, like Brian Greene's, which are for laypeople to get a good feel for the topic. Instead it's a pretty slim volume that doesn't try to get into the nitty-gritty too much (not many equations and no practice problems). I think it would be a good read/gift for someone who's an undergrad physics major, since they already have a lot of the pieces this book assumes, but don't have all of them.

[Habeeb Alnaqi | حبيب النقي · Rating 5 out of 5]

ترددت عند شراء الكتاب لظني أن أسلوبه يبتعد عن الدقة العلمية (يتبع طريقة الرسوم الطريقة والأسلوب الحواري)، لكن الكتاب عميق جداً وعلمي بدرجة كبيرة واشتريت كتب أخرى من نفس السلسة بعد الانتهاء منه.
الكتاب يتناول النسبية العامة بشكل رئيسي بعد أن يعرج بشكل عابر على بعض الآراء القديمة حول المكان والزمان وبعد استعراض سريع للنسبية الخاصة.
الكتاب تخصصي بدرجة كبيرة ويتطلب معرفة جيدة بالكثير من المفاهيم الفيزيائية وبعض المفاهيم الرياضية.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Came here to get beat up by physics and spacetime concepts, which I definitely got, but I didn't realize I would also get some good fodder to mock the Flat Earthers for even more reasons.
Double win.

I can't keep up my hard science sci-fi cred if I can't actually understand the concepts, so I'm hoping to read more diverse non-fic, including science writing, soon!

[Ashish Mukharjee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Relativity for dummies

A well written book, that quickly takes you from the basic concepts of space ,time , Newtonian physics to Super string theory. Illustrations make it interesting . However the pace towards the end for some might get exhausting as very complex and modern ideas regarding the universe and dynamics are covered very quickly.

[Gulo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great intro/refresher.  Passed on to middle school aged neighbor after reading. 


My one takeaway quote:

"Imagine now that you are blindfolded, lying near the floor of a windowless room which is drifting through space without any forces acting upon it.  You are completely weightless. Suddenly you crash to the 'floor' and are pinned there. What has happened? Has a large planet come close to me and very suddenly and pulled me by it's gravity to the floor? Or has a rocket connected to the room started to pull and hence accelerate the room in the direction opposite to the floor I'm pinned against?  Perhaps you intuition, like Einstein's, leads you to suspect that you could not tell the difference. These two apparently elementary observations are now known as different aspects of the 'equivalence principle,' one of the gems of theoretical physics."

-Bassett and Edney

[Stefan Gugler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read it to get some inspiration how to teach my students in the exercise classes. Not sure how much more intuitive examples there are in this guide than are already floating around but I thought the second half of the book about general relativity (which doesn't play a huge role in chemistry) quite interesting and less familiar than special relativity.

[Sanil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read. The start of the book explains some complex concepts and terminologies clearly. The book proceeds at an understandable place. The author has made use of good analogies to explain some complex concepts in layman's terms. However, at the end, the book just highlights some concepts superficially without diving into any details.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ya know, I can’t actually tell if I learned anything from this one. Maybe! Lots to think about! I read it very quickly, so I must have enjoyed it? But I don’t think it really made clear anything that I didn’t already know? I don’t know! I liked the bits about the different types of curvature of spacetime. It was fine! It was good. Decent introduction.

[Aaron M Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent for Relativity Newbies

This was a good read for someone who is simply curious about Relativity. I have no intention to prove or disprove Einstein; I just want to have a baseline understanding when reading scientific publications. As such, this book fit the bill.

[DURGESH C. KUSHWAHA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for an intro to general relativity!

This book has great, intuitive explanations for various effects and phenomena in general relativity.
This book also has wonderful demonstrations of the applications and evolution of General Relativity.

[D.H. Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little dated towards the end (references to the time of authorship being 2002), but very palatable and gentle introduction to a very complex topic. Loving this whole series of books (A Graphic Guide)!

[Aivija · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good introduction to relativity, mostly well explained, although some parts of it should have been explained in more depth and some are a bit outdated (gravitational waves and black holes have been detected by now) and a fair portion of the illustrations felt redundant.

[Desgreene · Rating 2 out of 5]

GR not explained...

This graphic book on special and general theory of relativity is interesting for some of its depictions of relativity but for the first timer must prove a difficult and frustrating read.

[Luca Dall'armellina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Discreto.

[Robert Foulcant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ganz nette Einführung in den Begriff.

[Rakesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Explains the space time wrap very elegantly and extends to string theory without the laborious intricacies. An excellent introductory book for the curious.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Opened my eyes

A gallant effort to explain an obviously complex set of theories - certainly about the closest I have come to understanding them!

[Mark Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book and good series

I like this book and the Introducing series in general. I think they do a good job of explaining difficult subjects.