Relativity: An Introduction for Young Readers

by Michael Chester

Michael Chester has attempted to explain relativity in two different ways in this book. The first part, consisting of fifteen chapters, deals with relativity in descriptive terms, relying largely on the reader's intuitive and imaginative capabilities. Ten appendices present relativity in the form of elemental mathematical concepts.

158 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1967

Reviews

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book as a young teenager. I checked it out of the Buffalo Public Library. It gave me a pretty good intuitive grasp of the theory of relativity, and the appendices gave me some of the simpler math. Last year I stumbled across the book in a used bookstore, and since I had fond memories of it, I snapped it up.

I just re-read it, and found it a little drier than I had remembered, but still an excellent way to understand the essentials of relativity very quickly.

[Willard Brickey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as a teenager, as a member of its intended audience, and fondly remember it as the book that probably attracted me to science more than any other. I found it online recently and decided to re-read it. (I am 62.)
I discovered
1. I understood less of the book (the first time) than I realized
2. I still don't understand relativity as well as I thought I did before the re-read and
3. I will probably never understand relativity as well as I would like.
All of this is the fault of the reader, not the author.
There are a number of books on this subject for the layman. I don't know whether this one is the best, but I recommend it not only for teenagers but for any adult who has less than a firm grasp of relativity.