Illustrated Relativity

Author: Lin Weimin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-03-01
Features: As a popular science book, we have not used a single physics or mathematics symbol in the entire book. We have tried our best to use diagrams and text descriptions to help you understand the true nature of the world that relativity reveals. In terms of structure, we first discuss the history of relativity, then separately explain the two parts of relativity—special relativity and general relativity. No theory can avoid challenges, so we have included the objections of anti-relativity proponents to relativity. Finally, we have included the original paper on relativity by Einstein for reference.
What would the world look like if a person chased a beam of light? Do you know that light can bend? Do you know that the space you see around you every day is actually curved? Do you know that the vast starry sky you see every night is actually moving away from you? This is not an incredible or absurd claim—it is precisely the true nature of the world we live in. This is the world of relativity, the fundamental truth that Einstein revealed to us.
Someone once said, "Only twelve people in the world understand relativity," and others said, "No, only two and a half people in the world understand relativity." But I want to tell you that relativity is not as mysterious as it seems. The things it describes are something you can understand. That's why we wrote this book, hoping to bring the mysterious theory of relativity from the depths of the physics to you in the simplest language possible. As a popular science book, we have not used a single physics or mathematics symbol in the entire book. We have tried our best to use diagrams and text descriptions to help you understand the true nature of the world that relativity reveals. In terms of structure, we first discuss the history of relativity, then separately explain the two parts of relativity—special relativity and general relativity. No theory can avoid challenges, so we have included the objections of anti-relativity proponents to relativity. Finally, we have included the original paper on relativity by Einstein for reference.