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Einstein's universe

By Nigel Calder

Brilliantly written book unlocks the astounding implications of Einstein's revolutionary theories on the nature of space, time, and motion. Far surpasses any previous explanation of relativity for laymen.

Special and general relativity

Einstein's Universe built up Special and General relativity from the basics. It's not the easiest material, but if you are even remotely interested in relativity you probably have all the motivation you'll need to take it in. In addition to summarizing and communicating extremely difficult material very well, Nigel.Calder also writes with a great deal of energy and excitement.

Publication

Einstein's Universe by Nigel Calder
Publisher: Random House, 1990
ISBN: 0517385708

God's equation

During television's early days, a popular commercial featured a child asking, "Why's the sky blue, daddy?" The father assured the child the answer could be found in the encyclopedia the ad was selling. Today's scientists still gaze at the skies with childlike wonder. But the questions they ask are far from childlike: What does it mean when we say the universe is curved? Why is the cosmos expanding at a constantly accelerating rate? How are the forces affecting the stars and planets related to those affecting the tiniest sub-atomic particles within a single atom? In God's Equation, Amir Aczel explains how physicists, astronomers and cosmologists are trying to find the answers in Einstein's theories, non-Euclidean geometry and advanced mathematics.

Einstein's general theory

The story begins with Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, which proposed that the universe is curved, that gravity is not a force, as Newton believed, but a curved field created by the presence of mass, and that the presence of mass will make light bend. In 1919, studies of a total solar eclipse showed that starlight did, in fact, bend around the sun. The headlines that followed this discovery turned Einstein into the world's first media star and its most famous scientist since Newton. More importantly, it set the direction for most of the twentieth century's research into physics, astronomy and cosmology, and influenced everything from the development of nuclear energy to quantum theory and mathematics.

Expanding universe

Albert Einstein himself spent the rest of his life looking for a unified field theory, literally a theory of everything that would explain both the very small (the world of sub-atomic particles and quantum theory) and the very large (the expanding universe). He called his search an attempt to understand God's thoughts when the cosmos was created. The equation in that theory would be the human approximation of God's Equation. Einstein never did complete his unified field theory, but his "cosmological constant," a concept he invented and then discarded, may prove to be a crucial component.

About ideas and people pursuing them

This fascinating book, however, is not only about ideas, but also the people pursuing them. Each character in this dramatic story, Einstein as well as the contemporary scientists who are building on his work, emerges as a vivid and complex human being. Featured too are photographs of these intriguing personalities, plus explanatory charts, diagrams and other graphics, including several mind-bending (and unexpectedly appropriate) pictures by the brilliant and popular M. C. Escher. All of this combines with Aczel's admirably clear, simple prose style to create a remarkably readable story, told with the compelling force of fiction. Despite the pull of gravity, God's Equation is a book you won't want to put down.