I Am Because You Are: An Anthology of Stories Celebrating the Centenary of the Theory of General Relativity

by Pippa Goldschmidt (Editor), Tania Hirshman (Editor)

In November 1915, Einstein published his Theory of General Relativity. It made key predictions around gravity’s influence in space and time. It introduced new concepts around the curvature of space, the passage of time, the bending of light, black holes and the behavior of bodies in freefall. This is a collection of new fiction and non-fiction from novelists and science writers, inspired by General Relativity. The results are charming, witty, sometimes challenging but always accessible, presenting complex science themes in imaginative, highly entertaining ways. Contributors include novelists Andrew Crumey and Dilys Rose alongside popular science writers like Pedro Ferreira.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

209 pages, Paperback

First published October 29, 2015

Reviews

[Padma Venkatraman]

Short stories written during a workshop formed around a very interesting premise: how might writers of fiction explore concepts related to the General Theory of Relativity? This anthology celebrates the centenary of this theory with stories that range from witty to poetic.

[Cassandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highlights:

Captain Quantum's Universal Entertainment by Vanessa Gebbie

Eclipse by Andrew Crumey

like this, the part In Which Mrs Pandit by R. A. Martens

Scatter and Trend by Stuart Clark

Explaining Relativity by Rebecca Elson

Shifting by Neil Williamson

Eric's Mum Has a Black Hole Inside Her by Rosa Campbell

Pont au Double by Tasneem Zehra Husain

The Shortest Route on the Map Is Not the Quickest by Pippa Goldschmidt

[Jo-Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixing fiction and non-fiction short stories that are centered around a specific topic or concept is a great idea! However, although I find the general theory of relativity to be very interesting I didn't manage to immerse myself in these stories as much as I had hoped I would. Granted, some of them were very enjoyable but I was confused after many others. Perhaps I read them too quickly and didn't take enough time to really understand what was going on. Maybe I will re-read them but this time make sure that I have someone I can discuss them with, to hopefully demystify the more obscure ones.

[Iain · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic collection of short stories, poems and essays inspired by, reacting to or crashing against Einstein's Theory of Relativity, 100 years old this year. Stories by Dilys Rose and Tasneem Zehra Husain in particular stood out (the latter a writer I hadn't come across before - I went straight out and bought her book 'Only The Longest Threads' after reading this). I love fiction about science and scientists, and this book brings together some of the finest writers in this oft neglected area of literature.