Relativity and Its Roots

In this fascinating, accessible introduction to one of the most revolutionary developments in modern physics, Einstein scholar Banesh Hoffmann recounts the successive insights that led to both the special and general theories of relativity.Using simple examples from everyday life, the author presents entertaining, nontechnical demonstrations of what relativity actually means and how it has revolutionized our ideas of time and space. Starting with the geometrical and cosmological ideas of the ancient Greeks, the author traces the succession of ideas and advances that paved the way for modern physics, including the theories of Kepler and Newton, Galilean mechanics, the work on electricity and magnetism by Faraday and Maxwell, and many other relevant topics.Complete with easily understood analogies and numerous instructive diagrams, this stimulating volume brings the complexities of relativity into focus for all readers, even for those with no math or science background.