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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.
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.
- GenresScienceNonfictionPhysics
192 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1983
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About the author
Banesh Hoffmann
26 books10 followersBanesh Hoffmann studied mathematics and theoretical physics at the University of Oxford, where he earned his bachelor of arts and went on to earn his doctorate at Princeton University.
While at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, Hoffmann collaborated with Einstein and Leopold Infeld on the classic paper Gravitational Equations and the Problem of Motion. Einstein’s original work on general relativity was based on two ideas. The first was the equation of motion: a particle would follow the shortest path in four-dimensional space-time. The second was how matter affects the geometry of space-time. What Einstein, Infeld, and Hoffmann showed was that the equation of motion followed directly from the field equation that defined the geometry (see main article).
In 1937 Hoffmann joined the mathematics department of Queens College, part of the City University of New York, where he remained till the late 1970s. He retired in the 1960s but continued to teach one course a semester — in the fall a course on quantum mechanics and in the spring one on the special and general theories of relativity.
He was a member of the Baker Street Irregulars and wrote the short story "Sherlock, Shakespeare, and the Bomb," published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine in February 1966.
While at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, Hoffmann collaborated with Einstein and Leopold Infeld on the classic paper Gravitational Equations and the Problem of Motion. Einstein’s original work on general relativity was based on two ideas. The first was the equation of motion: a particle would follow the shortest path in four-dimensional space-time. The second was how matter affects the geometry of space-time. What Einstein, Infeld, and Hoffmann showed was that the equation of motion followed directly from the field equation that defined the geometry (see main article).
In 1937 Hoffmann joined the mathematics department of Queens College, part of the City University of New York, where he remained till the late 1970s. He retired in the 1960s but continued to teach one course a semester — in the fall a course on quantum mechanics and in the spring one on the special and general theories of relativity.
He was a member of the Baker Street Irregulars and wrote the short story "Sherlock, Shakespeare, and the Bomb," published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine in February 1966.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 2, 2025
Que bé que escriuen els científics.
El primer capítol, és meravellós.
Aquest és un llibre de divulgació científica, escrit per un científic. M’admira els tocs d’alta literatura.
De Banesh Hoffmann vaig llegir la biografia d’Albert Einstein, que em va agradar molt.
Aquest és un llibre divulgatiu que ens explica el camí que va fer la ciència fins arribar a la relativitat. És una història fascinant sobre el coneixement, la cerca de la veritat, intentar explicar el perquè del que succeeix a la natura.
Prop de cent seixanta pàgines, amb il·lustracions.
A la primera meitat del llibre, Hoffmann ens explica els orígens, començant per els sistemes astronòmics de la antigor i seguint amb cinc figures genials, com ell diu, “... un polonès, un danès, un alemany, un italià i un anglès”.
Desprès vindrà l’electromagnetisme amb Faraday l’experimentador i Maxwell el teòric. Banesh Hoffmann ens explica una cita d’Albert Einstein, que deia que Faraday estava relacionat amb Maxwell tant com Galileu amb Newton.
Einstein apareix a la pàgina vuitanta-vuit.
Torno a trobar la brúixola, el llibre de geometria i el fet que, quan Planck va proposar els quanta d’energia ―on hi retrobo també la meravellosa analogia del gronxador―, la comunitat científica s’ho va prendre amb indiferència durant anys. Tothom excepte un empleat de la oficina de patents de Berna. Ell sí que s’ho havia pres seriosament, i hi havia estat pensant.
Banesh Hoffmann tanca el llibre amb aquest paragref que Albert Einstein va escriure en un article de 1934 en què explicava el seu camí cap a la teoria de la relativitat.
El primer capítol, és meravellós.
Aquest és un llibre de divulgació científica, escrit per un científic. M’admira els tocs d’alta literatura.
De Banesh Hoffmann vaig llegir la biografia d’Albert Einstein, que em va agradar molt.
Aquest és un llibre divulgatiu que ens explica el camí que va fer la ciència fins arribar a la relativitat. És una història fascinant sobre el coneixement, la cerca de la veritat, intentar explicar el perquè del que succeeix a la natura.
Prop de cent seixanta pàgines, amb il·lustracions.
A la primera meitat del llibre, Hoffmann ens explica els orígens, començant per els sistemes astronòmics de la antigor i seguint amb cinc figures genials, com ell diu, “... un polonès, un danès, un alemany, un italià i un anglès”.
Desprès vindrà l’electromagnetisme amb Faraday l’experimentador i Maxwell el teòric. Banesh Hoffmann ens explica una cita d’Albert Einstein, que deia que Faraday estava relacionat amb Maxwell tant com Galileu amb Newton.
Einstein apareix a la pàgina vuitanta-vuit.
Torno a trobar la brúixola, el llibre de geometria i el fet que, quan Planck va proposar els quanta d’energia ―on hi retrobo també la meravellosa analogia del gronxador―, la comunitat científica s’ho va prendre amb indiferència durant anys. Tothom excepte un empleat de la oficina de patents de Berna. Ell sí que s’ho havia pres seriosament, i hi havia estat pensant.
Banesh Hoffmann tanca el llibre amb aquest paragref que Albert Einstein va escriure en un article de 1934 en què explicava el seu camí cap a la teoria de la relativitat.
”A la luz de los conocimientos alcanzados, la feliz consecución casi parece no tener nada de especial, y cualquier estudiante inteligente puede comprenderlo sin demasiadas dificultades. Pero los años de búsqueda ansiosa en la oscuridad, con su intenso anhelo, sus alternancias de confiança y agotamiento y la salida final a la luz, eso sólo pueden entenderlo aquellos que lo han experimentado alguna vez”
May 1, 2010
This is the physics book that I've been hunting for years. Hoffman leads up to the development of relativity in historical terms, as the culmination of millenia of experimentation and theorization. Thus he shows how the products of one age lead into the experiments and thinking of the next, and how each scientist depends upon those previous.
In addition, and this is different from other presentations I've read, is the treatment of key theories, explaining if not quite rigorously, then at least cogently enough to convince an accepting reader.
I was expecting this book to be dense if not impenetrable, but found it very readable and informative, and a good base from which, if properly inclined, I could explore the components in more detail.
If this had been the basis of my cursory college-level physics, it would have fired my interest to a degree that the mold-collectors in the basement never did.
Certain sections are unclear and may require rereading or further study to capture their full meaning.
In addition, and this is different from other presentations I've read, is the treatment of key theories, explaining if not quite rigorously, then at least cogently enough to convince an accepting reader.
I was expecting this book to be dense if not impenetrable, but found it very readable and informative, and a good base from which, if properly inclined, I could explore the components in more detail.
If this had been the basis of my cursory college-level physics, it would have fired my interest to a degree that the mold-collectors in the basement never did.
Certain sections are unclear and may require rereading or further study to capture their full meaning.
June 1, 2016
Fine book for beginners of physics background. It did not go so deep into the topic. It explains relativity in chronological order of discoveries and also gives its historical background. Even for people with no background in mathematics and physics, it is interesting in the way, historical facts and concepts are cogently described.
March 24, 2007
A very approachable history and development of the theory of relativity. There is some math, but it is put off in to sidebars so one can easily skip over the more difficult math.
August 3, 2015
Probably the best intro to relativity, special and general. Also in this Category Robert Geroch GTR from A to B.
February 28, 2017
Fantastico e profondo libro sul processo che ha portato alla creazione della teoria della Relatività
June 3, 2014
One of the most thorough explanations of the theory that I've read.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews