ABC of Relativity (Routledge Classics)

He explains this very difficult concept in a way the ordinary person can understand it. It's very readable

I think the best thing about this book is that it demands you never accept anything from anyone as absolute, not even from Einstein. Russell takes pains to explain what the theory of relativity is and what it means for you and our world while at the same time slowly destroying any concept of truth and reality that you may have. Which I suppose is what Einstein's theories, and quantum mechanics for that matter, do. Further, Russell makes you appreciate and understand the struggles of physics since Copernicus as "truth" is wrested from what we can observe and then represented as "laws" which may only be our best understanding eventually to be supplanted by even closer "truths". In the end Russell melds all this into philosophy, "What is matter?" he asks and in fact what is anything? The book bristles with wit as when discussing the u-bomb he thinks it's good for us that uranium can only explode at extremely high temperatures: "There is a further advantage: the supply of uranium in the planet is limited, and it might be feared that it would be used up before the human race were exterminated, but now that the practically unlimited supply of hydrogen can be utilised, there is considerable reason to hope that the race may put an end to itself, to the great advantage of such less ferocious animals as may survive". Priceless. Needless to say, I have now gone out to purchase more Russell books.

I am always amazed at the way Russell manages to express difficult concepts in a way that the layman can grasp and yet neither patronises nor bamboozles. He gets to the critical aspects without delay and carries the implications to their logical conclusions. This book shows how the passage of a century hasn't revealed any further understanding of Einstein's work that wasn't already apparent to the great minds of those early days. It reads very well and is a very satisfying. Bertrand Russell was probably the one who Eddington was trying to think of!

If you are looking for an introduction to the Theory of Relativity, then this is the book for you. It does not require a science background. Russell is very clear in his ideas about the theory and he takes you step by step to the relativity theory. It explains the difference between special and general theory of relativity. The book takes you to Einstein's Law of gravitation and then to Hydrogen bombs. With a section on Universe, the book concludes with a philosophical input "Emotion that can be destroyed by a little mathematics is neither genuine nor valuable." A must read if you want to know anything about the theory of relativity. It would awe you by the sheer genius and the years of effort it took to reach the Theory of Relativity. The pre-conceptions, the interpretions of the experiments and the beliefs before the special theory and the comformation of those to special theory are beautifully captured in this masterpiece.

My review for the book is partial since I didn't finish reading it yet, but i don't prefer that the author keeps repeating tens of examples to explain a point, i guess its an over simplified ABC way of explanation.

No words can describe the simplicity and beauty of this book.

Good

This is simply a brilliant explanation and discussion, no surprise, coming from this author. A must read and own.

It is a great book, but I'ld prefer with more physics and mathematics and less philososy.

Hadn't read it since High School (50 years ago) and enjoyed it just as much this time. A great book.

Relativity is explained by a great philosopher.

Anything written by Bertrand Russell will be brilliantly explained. This book of course is no exception. He is a great teacher. I have had this book for 40 years but was not returned by a borrower so hence my purchase again.