Relativity Simply Explained (eBook)

Martin Gardner (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2012
192 Seiten
Dover Publications (Verlag)
978-0-486-31561-4 (ISBN)

Infos

One of the subject's clearest, most entertaining introductions offers lucid explanations of special and general theories of relativity, gravity, and spacetime, models of the universe, and more. 100 illustrations.

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Since the publication of Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity in 1905, the discovery of such astronomical phenomena as quasars, pulsars, and black holes — all intimately connected to relativity — has provoked a tremendous upsurge of interest in the subject.This volume, a revised version of Martin Gardner's earlier Relativity for the Million, brings this fascinating topic up to date. Witty, perceptive, and easily accessible to the general reader, it is one of the clearest and most entertaining introductions to relativity ever written. Mr. Gardner offers lucid explanations of not only the special and general theories of relativity, but of the Michelson-Morley experiment, gravity and spacetime, Mach's principle, the twin paradox, models of the universe, and other topics. A new Postscript, examining the latest developments in the field, and specially written for this edition, is also included. The clarity of the text is especially enhanced by the brilliant graphics of Anthony Ravielli, making this "e;by far the best layman's account of this difficult subject."e; — Christian Science Monitor.

Autor

Martin Gardner was a renowned author who published over 70 books on subjects from science and math to poetry and religion. He also had a lifelong passion for magic tricks and puzzles. Well known for his mathematical games column in Scientific American and his "Trick of the Month" in Physics Teacher magazine, Gardner attracted a loyal following with his intelligence, wit, and imagination. Martin Gardner: A Remembrance The worldwide mathematical community was saddened by the death of Martin Gardner on May 22, 2010. Martin was 95 years old when he died, and had written 70 or 80 books during his long lifetime as an author. Martin's first Dover books were published in 1956 and 1957: Mathematics, Magic and Mystery, one of the first popular books on the intellectual excitement of mathematics to reach a wide audience, and Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, certainly one of the first popular books to cast a devastatingly skeptical eye on the claims of pseudoscience and the many guises in which the modern world has given rise to it. Both of these pioneering books are still in print with Dover today along with more than a dozen other titles of Martin's books. They run the gamut from his elementary Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing, which has been enjoyed by generations of younger readers since the 1980s, to the more demanding The New Ambidextrous Universe: Symmetry and Asymmetry from Mirror Reflections to Superstrings, which Dover published in its final revised form in 2005. To those of us who have been associated with Dover for a long time, however, Martin was more than an author, albeit a remarkably popular and successful one. As a member of the small group of long-time advisors and consultants, which included NYU's Morris Kline in mathematics, Harvard's I. Bernard Cohen in the history of science, and MIT's J. P. Den Hartog in engineering, Martin's advice and editorial suggestions in the formative 1950s helped to define the Dover publishing program and give it the point of view which — despite many changes, new directions, and the consequences of evolution — continues to be operative today. In the Author's Own Words:"Politicians, real-estate agents, used-car salesmen, and advertising copy-writers are expected to stretch facts in self-serving directions, but scientists who falsify their results are regarded by their peers as committing an inexcusable crime. Yet the sad fact is that the history of science swarms with cases of outright fakery and instances of scientists who unconsciously distorted their work by seeing it through lenses of passionately held beliefs." "A surprising proportion of mathematicians are accomplished musicians. Is it because music and mathematics share patterns that are beautiful?" — Martin Gardner

Inhalt

Introduction to the Dover EditionIntroduction to the 1976 Edition1 Absolute or Relative?2 The Michelson-Morley Experiment3 "The Special Theory of Relativity, PART I"4 "The Special Theory of Relativity, PART II"5 The General Theory of Relativity6 Gravity and Spacetime7 Test of General Relativity8 Mach's Principle9 The Twin Paradox10 Models of the Universe11 "Quasars, Pulsars, and Black Holes"12 Beginning and End"Postscript, 1996"Index

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 19.12.2012
• Sprache: englisch
• Maße: 140 x 140 mm
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Relativitätstheorie
• Schlagworte: Ancient Greece • Astronomy • astrophysics • bang cosmology • bang model • bang theory • Black Holes • books on differential calculus • books on differential geometries • books on electromagnetic waves • books on field equations • books on holes times • books on peter collier • books on reference frames • Brian Greene • Carmo • Chandrasekhar • cobe • Copernicus • cosmic microwave • Cosmological • cosmologists • Covariant • Curvature • curved • dark energy • differentiable • Differential Calculus • Differential Geometry • Edwin Hubble • electromagnetic waves • elegant universe • Empirical Evidence • Expanding Universe • Fermat • fermat's enigma • field equations • Galaxies • Galileo • Gamow • Gravitation • gravitational waves • Gravity waves • heavier elements • Historical background • holes time • Hoyle • hydrogen bomb • Interstellar Travel • Johannes Kepler • Kip Thorne • lay person • Lemaitre • Lorentz • Mathematical • Mathematics • microwave background • Minkowski • misner • modern cosmology • Modern Physics • Neutron • Nobel prize • Paradigm Shift • peter collier • physical laws • Physicists • physics background • Physics textbook • Popular science • Quantum Gravity • quantum mechanics • Quantum Physics • Radiation • Radio telescopes • reference frame • relativity theory • Science history • scientific enterprise • Scientific Method • scientific process • Simon Singh • singh tells • space time • Spacetime • Space Travel • Special relativity • Special theory • Stephen Hawking • Study guide • tensor calculus • Tensors • theoretical physics • Time dilation • time machines • time warps • understand relativity • Vectors • white dwarfs • widely • Wolfson • wormholes
• ISBN-10: 0-486-31561-4 / 0486315614
• ISBN-13: 978-0-486-31561-4 / 9780486315614