5 comments about Relativity Demystified.

1. I've purchased a whole book shelf of the Demystified series, though I've only just started using them. As a former physics undergrad, these books at least *appear* to offer a level of treatment that I can handle as I wade back into the subject. The one I've been using the most is Differential Equations Demystified, and I've found that very helpful so far.
   
   *This* book, however -- General Relativity Demystified -- proved somewhat of a disappointment. Basically, before you can get into the physics, you have to get some handle on the mathematics of Tensors, which is covered in the early chapters, but I simply found the treatment opaque. I'm planning to get some other books on Tensors and study them carefully. Then I plan to return to this book, and see if the later parts of the book -- which deal with the physics -- prove to be accessible, once I have the tensor math down.
   
   Possibly, if the author rewrote the early part of the book to clarify the tensor discussion, he might still have a hit here. As I say, though, other books in the series look pretty good, and I'm very happy with the DfEQ Demystified book, which I've really been working my way through and learning something in the process.



2. This book covered a lot of the practical topics in GR. The writing is quite easy to understand. In some places, it seems to be too short. For example, the explanation of the basis in coordinate basis is not very clear. [Just refer to Carroll] However, be careful if you are the first time study in GR. You should get one of the other standard books, like Schutz, Weinberg, MTW(Misner, Thorne, Wheeler) otherwise, you will not be able to move too far in this area. Also, I really hope the editor/author can do a bit more thorough job in proof reading before releasing the book. There are many places where you could find sign errors or the indices placement are not correct. For example, the definition of Christoffel Sympbol in terms of metric and also the definition of symmetrization and also the -ve sign in the proper time definition....If you already know about the subject matter, this is not a bad reference book, just a bit tiring in keeping track of these minor errors.



3. While this is not exactly the "learning of relativity at the speed of light" the book advertises, unlike many others of the Demystified series, this volume does indeed have its high points.
   
   The lead up to Einstein's Field Equations -- although the notational gymnastics and some of the mathematics was daunting -- is nevertheless first class. It gives the reader a very much-needed window into the role the Linear Algebra notion of mathematical mappings and transformations -- especially as viewed from the point of view of "basis vectors," through "one forms," and on to "partial derivatives of Tensor Calculus" -- play in bootstrapping one's way up from the local Newtonian/Euclidian frame of reference to the more generalized space-time Reimann/Malinowsky frame. And most importantly, it shows by carefully selected examples and exercises how tensor calculus takes over from Linear Algebra in moving from the more local Newtonian/Euclidian frame to the more generalized space-time frame.
   
   In fact, reading between the lines of the book, one could argue that the whole of understanding the mechanics of relativity is grasping fully this single concept: of how to move mathematically from reference frame to reference frame -- that is, from inertial frames moving relative to one another in the Euclidian world to doing the same in the Space-time world.
   
   Doing this is not easy either conceptually or mathematically but is a necessity for getting from Newtonian to Einsteinian physics. If the reader learns to appreciate that the heavy-duty mathematics is required only for this task, and only in this light, then the ride will be infinitely easier.
   
   Even in Taylor and Wheeler's very down to earth treatment of relativity (in their "Spacetime Physics"), this kind of understanding is left in the background for the reader to infer and to ferret out on his own. A great deal of time is save in the earlier chapters of this volume by forcing the reader to understand early on why working ones way gradually up the ladder to the tensor Calculus is necessary: so that he is better able do all of the mathematical heavy-lifting seamlessly, later.
   
   One word of caution to the reader, which also is my only serious criticism of the book: The written dialogue is painfully sparse, so every word must be read carefully, weighed and parsed for its full meaning. It is helpful to read the book three times: First as an overview to see where the author is headed; and then a second time to understand the mathematical content -- especially the dizzy array of notations -- and then finally to put all the pieces together. That is, read it a third time just to confirm that one understands fully how the larger concepts match up with the corresponding mathematics.
   
   It seems much easier for the authors of physics and mathematical texts to roll out reams of equations than to give just the minimal explanations about how these equations relate to the underlying concepts they are supposed to explain and describe. Why leave such important connections to the reader?
   
   Realizing that this is not a book of prose, still it would be helpful sometimes to give ample and clearly written explanations, with even (god forbid), a little repetition from time to time, just as a guide so that the reader can confirm that he is making the correct interpretations along the way.
   
   Anyway, I am hooked on the Demystified Series and hope this book will be great preparation for the upcoming Demystified volume on String Theory.
   
   Four Stars



4. "Learn Relativity at the Speed of Light" is found on the back cover of this book and I think it's true. It was aproximately 1.23 light years ago when I first purchased this book and I am now on page 208(out of 328 total). My point is that the book is very good but to get through it requires a lot of work; relative to the math and physics background that you possess. I was totally stumped on pages 2 and 3 (Maxwells current-magnetic field equation). It will help to supplement this study with a book on tensor calculus and another relativity book by Hartle or Schutz. The worked examples and chapter quizes were great though and worth the effort.



5. This book is mathematically daunting. It covers the essentials and formulas of Einstein's theories through hundreds of worked (mathematical) examples. Unlike other books of the Demystified Series, I reckon this one not entertaining at all. It is absolutely not for beginners!

5 comments about E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation.

1. Bought as a gift for my husband. He loved it, so I read it. It's incredibly interesting and thought provoking.



2. Wonderful book. A teacher of mine showed the movie in class, and I was spellbound, so I proceeded to buy the book; I was not disappointed. This book is quite captivating, and I found it difficult to put down. It splits the equation up into five different sections: E for energy, = for equals, m for motion, c for celeritas or the speed of light, and 2 for squared. Keep in mind this book is not for those wishing to learn the exact mathematical development of this formula; it is more of a history of the people and events that led to Einstein's brilliant revelation and final development of the theory. I would recommend it to anyone.



3. This is a very disappointing book because the author fails to do what he says he is going to do in chapter 1. He says that he is writing the book so people like Cameron Diaz (!) will be able to understand the equation. But even the delightful Cameron would have no real understanding of the science involved after reading this book - not even in a popular science kind of way.
   It's actually just a story of some of the scientists who helped us to understand the parts of Einstein's famous equation, but even this story is incomplete because he virtually ignores many of the major players. Even Galileo gets only a few words!
   Also, the author is not helped by his poor use of analogy. For instance, he says that as an object increases in speed its mass "swells" up. Anyone with no prior understanding of relativity would be totally confused by this comparison.
   If you want to understand the theory you would do better reading another book. It's not as though popular science books on the topic are rare.



4. If you are looking for the real biography of E=mc2, this isn't it. If you are looking for the usual glorification of Einstein and cohorts, this will do. In tune with the second objective rather than the first, there is usual absence of the long history of the equation, which stems from Newton's implication that matter and the motion of matter somehow were related. Hegel's dictum on inseparability ("Just as there is no motion without matter, so there is no matter without motion") is nowhere to be found. And like Einstein's 1905 paper, there is little or no mention of those, such as Preston, Poincaré, and De Pretto, who were important in the development of the equation. Like Einstein, Bodanis completely omits Hasenöhrl's work, which was published in the same journal a year earlier, with a very similar equation (m = (8/3)E/c2) and a very similar title ("On the radiation of the bodies in motion" vs. Einstein's "On the electrodynamics of the bodies in motion"). Like most modern physicists and cosmologists, Bodanis perpetuates the conception that matter can, with a wave of the magic wand, turn into "pure energy." One never finds out exactly what that "pure energy" is supposed to be. The fact is, that the equation merely describes the conversion of one type of the motion of matter into another type of the motion of matter. This can be done with the use of classical mechanics simply by assuming that the supposed "empty space" of Einstein contains matter capable of receiving motion released from the atom during fission or fusion. Einstein's premature rejection of the ether therefore gave scientific credence to the idea of "matterless motion," an oxymoron near and dear to the hearts and "souls" of the religiously trained and mystically inclined populace. With that background, Einstein could speculate that space was nevertheless "curved" even though it supposedly contained nothing at all. The speculation has continued to be evermore rampant and ridiculous, with the whole universe supposedly exploding out of nothing, 13 dimensional "strings," and the equally oxymoronic parallel and multi-universes. On the plus side, Bodanis has some interesting gossip about the physics establishment before and after 1905. He tries better than most to give credit for the women, such as du Chatelet, who made significant, mostly unheralded contributions mostly to the scientific end of things. I didn't mind the advertised dumbed-down aspect of the book so much as the fact that we never really found out what it was that matter was turning into. Bodanis fell for the indeterministic "pure energy" propaganda hook line and sinker. Penance for writing this book should include repeating Hegel's most important assumption out loud 100 times: "Just as there is no motion without matter, so there is no matter without motion," "Just as there is no motion without matter, so there is no matter without motion"... To see what happens when that assumption is used consistently, see The Scientific Worldview: Beyond Newton and Einstein



5. I would say that this is a history book about science and scientists - not a science book. It is history "lite." The author found a cleaver and creative way to talk about science and scientists - to expose the novice reader of science to many people and historical situations that he may not have been aware of. I had previously read about most everyone who was mentioned in the book. As other reviewers have pointed out the author often oversimplifies an issue and many of his statements could be debated - and are debated. But for a lite read for a non-scientist this book is a reasonable first exposure. If you want to become more of an expert one would have to go a lot deeper. Even the history involved gets more complicated than this brief outline. But, it was fun.

5 comments about Relativity: The Special and the General Theory (Penguin Classics).

1. This is a very short book and is quick reading. I have read other books with better explainations of relativity. I didn't like the writing style -- it was translated by an Englishman in the early 20th century so the sentence structure doesn't flow like normal reading.



2. After reading books by Hawking, Kaku, Greene, and others on the topic, none are more lucid as Einstein himself in describing relativity to the non-physicist.



3. As at least one reviewer has noted there are several editions of this book. (This exact edition is also available in paperback.) Definitely get this one (or another 15th edition) because it is the 1952, fifteenth edition, which is the last one that Einstein prepared and is the one that contains all five of his appendices. My local bookstore has several editions put out by different publishers. Side by side were two, one was a 1916, third edition, that contained only three appendices and the other was the complete 1952, fifteenth edition, which actually cost a dollar LESS than the incomplete version. The 1916 version is in public domain, so the publisher does not have to pay anything to the Einstein estate. Thus, the publisher makes more money from purchasers who are not savvy enough to realize that they are getting an inferior edition for the same or even a higher price than a complete one. Caveat emptor.
   
   The four stars do not in any way refer to my view of Einstein or his work. Were they the basis of the review I would have given it five stars. I am qualifying my recommendation because I believe that only some readers will find the book to be suitable for their needs. Thus, I am giving it only four stars because this book is too elementary for someone studying relativity in a graduate course but too complex for someone with little or no physics background. Thus, the readership is somewhat limited.
   
   Pros:
   1) This book is Einstein's classic presentation of his special and general theories of relativity, prepared for a general audience. As such, it has interesting historical value as well as being illuminating for some readers. The fifteenth edition contains all of Einstein's corrections and all of his appendices.
   2) A reasonably good presentation of the special theory.
   3) Good for someone with a physics background (engineers, physicists at the BS or MS level, chemists, etc.) It is, however, too elementary for someone studying relativity at a graduate level. For them, it is primarily useful as a historical document. They would probably get more from Einstein's papers than from this book, which was written for the general public.
   Cons:
   1) The bulk of this book was written in 1916, in German, and then translated into English. As such, it is somewhat convoluted in places and generally has the typical flavor of 19th century prose.
   2) I feel that while the special theory is presented in a reasonably straightforward manner the general theory is not. Einstein uses a little math here, but it is insufficient for a physicist and is probably incomprehensible for someone with little or no math or physics background. I believe that Martin Gardner's book "Relativity Simply Explained" is a better choice for someone with little or no science background. It does a very much better job of explaining the general theory for a general audience.
   3) While Einstein explains how the basic assumptions of his theories differ from those of classical physics, these differences are not, in my opinion, highlighted sufficiently. I recommend Isaacson's recent biography of Einstein for those who want these differences more clearly delineated. Isaacson clearly shows why Einstein's theories were so radical a departure from those of Newton.
   
   All in all, this is a good book for the right audience.



4. This edition of Einstein's Theory of Relativity is excellent. It provides a streamlined organization of the parts of his concepts, and has tasteful and helpful styling.



5. Actually, it's easier to understand than you might think. The math is minimal and very straight forward. The intro by Nigel Calder is neat reading in itself. If you don't want to wade into the gory details, this is a great overview written by the man himself.

5 comments about Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy (Commonwealth Fund Book Program).

1. You could consider this as a good place to continue if you have already read Stephen Hawkins' "A Short History of Time" and want to deepen your understanding of modern cosmology at an introductory level.



2. Kip S. Thorne explains Einstein's Theory of Relativity well. I have always been interested in time and space, and black holes, and anything that had to do with the universe and space. Thanks to this book my understanding of some theories has increased. I learned more about Enstein's quirks and devotion to the pursuit of scientific knowledge. A fascinating book.



3. When Carl Sagan wanted to have his fictional herione from Contact travel in time, he turned to Kip Thorne.
   
   This book is Thorne's attempt to more fully explain the science of time travel.
   
   And in the process Thorne takes you to the prediction and discovery of black holes.
   
   First seriously suggested by the theories of Albert Einstein, a black hole is a star that has grown so massive (at least three times the size of our sun) that it litterally can't sustain itself against its own weight. It assumes a gravitional force so powerful that not even light can escape its grasp.
   
   Obviously, therefore, learning what resides beyond the visible dark exterior of a black hole has eluded science.
   
   Yet that dark exterior has fueled speculations that black holes may enable nature (and possibly man) to perform seemingly magical feats.
   
   As mentioned at the outset, one of the most interesting of these feats is time travel and the reason is because the great gravitional power of a black hole litterally allows it to warp the space around it. For us it would be a little like standing on one end of a water bed when someone places an anvil on the other end. Owing to the great weight of the anvil, the bed is contorted and owing to its contortions we find ourselves falling toward the anvil.
   
   Assuming a sufficiently heavy anvil we could see both ends of the water bed being connected.
   
   One obvious challenge would to be travel a black hole without becoming a part of it.
   
   Another not so obvious challenge is the fact wormhole creation at best is an exotic affair not occuring above quantum distances. In this way, any people wishing to use one would have to go an extreme wieght loss program!
   
   Because of its thoroughness, Thorne gives an extended discussion of the characters involved in the story he's telling. For example, Thorne explains that physicists use both flat and curved universe models to understand black hole behavior. Additionally, even though predicted by his theories, Einstein actually disputed the existence of black holes. As a result, the Soviet Union and not the US was the first country to really encourage serious discussion of them. However, once predicted and then once found, black holes became a unique entree into the laws of physics and with it the mind of God himself.
   
   For those who read or saw Contact and enjoyed it, this will be an excellent account of the fact behind the fiction.



4. Mr. Thorne offers insight into an important world of science that only a person who has first hand experience could. While this book is a book about black holes, it is just as much a book about the science leading up to the ability of science to recognize and study them. It is very detailed with numerous "boxes" that include extra information. While it is not necessary to have an extensive science background in physics/astrophysics etc..., it would help. If one gives the book the patience that it takes, a world of information is available. It is not a quick read, but it is very interesting stuff no doubt.



5. I didn't understand a lot of this book. The physics was largely beyond me and I could not grasp the embedded diagrams that Kip Thorne used. These embedded diagrams attempt to represent three-dimensional space-time on a two-dimensional piece of paper. But I enjoyed reading the book nonetheless. One can look at science in two (or perhaps more) ways; the process and the results. I am interested in process, the building of one idea upon another. And Thorne does this particularly well. I am not a big fan of the results which is a good thing because I didn't really understand them, at least in this book. Thorne also included a lot of biographical information which I found very interesting. Thorne also admitted when he had made mistakes, which was refreshing; a nice human element. The most interesting parts of the book were when he compared the different styles of the various research teams. This is especially true when he compared first the American/British research style with the Russian research style and later in the book, the American, British, and French styles and their differing use of mathematics. Overall, this book was a good read, but by the end I was anxious to finish so that I could start reading Leon Lederman's new offering.

5 comments about Time Traveler: A Scientist's Personal Mission to Make Time Travel a Reality.

1. "The moving finger writes and having writ moves on, nor all your piety can lure it back nor your tears wash out a word of it." Jon Donne.
   
   If Prof. Ron Mallett has his way, the words of Jon Donne will be a quaint aphorism that people used to say. The reason Mallett says this is because he believes that the time barrier can be broken and that -- someday -- people will have the technology to travel into the past.
   
   Almost immediately on announcing his speculations, Mallett became the topic of intense media interest including a Learning Channel special and great media coverage. And this is rightly so because the back story of Mallett's motivation -- so ably told in this book -- is itself so compelling.
   
   In 1955, while still a child, Ron Mallett lost his father who died of heart failure at the age of 33. Loving his Dad as intensely as he did, Mallett began to dream of breaking the time barrier to rejoin his father just to tell him "I love you."
   
   Just as everyone can easily connect with Mallett's motivation, mostly everyone will find themselves somewhat befuddled by the science behind Mallett's speculations. This isn't because he doesn't do a good job of explaining himself, but rather simply because scientific explanations typically tend to tax comprehension.
   
   That being said, his theory is an ingenious one: that just as gravity can used to distort time, so can concentrated light. In this way, Mallett must now consider it the sweetest serendipity that he worked in the private sector with lasers for a formative part of his early career. In this way, he became immediately acquianted with the very device he intends to employ in his time travel device.
   
   The typical time travel scenerios that have been set out involve a radical twisting of space. If we were bugs living on a sheet of Christmas wrapping paper, our travel from one end of the sheet to the other would be greatly speeded if we could somehow get the paper from the ends to connect with each other. And indeed, this is what the tradition theories of time travel all propose: that somehow -- whether it's through cosmic strings as speculated by J Richard Gott or black holes as speculated by Kip Thorne -- a force so great is created that space is litterally forced to warp back on itself.
   
   Unfortunately, at the end of the day, Mallett's theories will probably face the same fate at those of Gott and Thorne respecting time travel by people into the past...failure. However, having opened by quoting Donne, it's perhaps best to close by quoting Theodore Roosevelt who said:
   
   "Pity not those who have failed but those who live in that grey twilight that knows neither success nor failure."
   
   By dint of genius, Mallett -- ultimately successful or not -- has irrevocably taken himself out of that "grey twilight" and us with him...if only in our hearts and imaginations.



2. I enjoyed the auto-biography and the quantom physics lessons along the way. I wish more was said about the more recent events concerning the time travel experiments. I felt hungry for more information on the whole subject and was left wanting more.
   
   This was an easy read and I enjoyed reading non-the-less...



3. I heard Dr. Mallett on NPR and ordered the book right away. While some aspects of this book are less than satisfying (Dr. Mallett alternates between hubris and humility in an odd fashion at times....), the emotional quest that set the author on the path of theoretical physics cannot be anything other than deeply affecting. While his personal accounts were sometimes just not quite authentic or unfeigned to me (hey, he's not perfect!), what truly shines in this book is Dr. Mallett's love of science, of math, and his gift for explaining some of the very complex aspects of relativity theory. In this respect, I heartily recommend the book and would hope that he would write further for the general public on the subject. As a PhD chemist myself, I am very appreciative of the gift of teaching with which he is endowed, a rarity among great researchers. His explanations to a general science audience are almost as powerful as those of Feynman. Dr. Mallett's commitment to his lifelong work, his dogged pursuit of any and all tools (mathematical and instrumental) to achieve that goal stand as a shining example. His story should be required reading for minority youth interested in the sciences, engineering, or just seemingly forging ahead in academia. Any flaws in the book are dwarfed by his true artistry in theoretical physics.



4. My son is thoroughly enjoying this book -- he loves learning about astronomy and time travel!



5. Spike Lee has acquired the film rights to this story (spring 2008). "Lee, who will co-write the script for the film and direct it, says he is 'elated to have acquired the rights to a fantastic story on many levels, but also a father-and-son saga of loss and love.'" (University of Connecticut Advance, June 23, 2008)

4 comments about The Story of Science: Einstein Adds a New Dimension.

1. This book is informative and interesting, not dry and/or stuffy like most science books. This is the 2nd or 3rd in the "Story of Science" series that I have purchased and I would highly recommend them to anyone. Joy Hakim not only writes about science, but she writes about how the world was when these scientists were making their discoveries and the struggles they had while doing so. Another great feature is that any word the reader might not know and understand is explained in the margins.



2. Another well written and produced volume in this series however, the series of books should be called the Story of Physics not the Story of Science. It covers very well, and in an engaging manner, the history and development of physics and the characters that populate that history. However, there is a big failing in the series so far. There is no attention given to biology. I'm left wondering if biology and a discussion of evolution is just too hot a topic for an American writer and audience. Having said that the series is good to have on hand for the kids to dip into so that they can learn a bit more about the subjects and scientists they are learning about in their Science classes. Not bad for the parents to pick up a few interesting facts either.



3. Joy Hakim's book on modern physics is the most exciting science book I have read in my 45-plus years as a scientist. The book truly is, as she puts it, "written for young thinkers of all ages." She doesn't call it a "textbook," but the book not only is that, it is also the way all science textbooks should be written. To her, physics is not just a body of observations and theories; it is the process of discovery.
   
   Although Einstein's thinking is the underlying centerpiece of the book, Hakim deftly traverses, without mathematics, the whole history of physics from electromagnetism, atomic structure and chemical bonding to special and general relativity, quantum mechanics, black holes, quarks, supernovae, dark matter, dark energy, and more. This is a story-book journey of discovery that is described in terms of the people involved. Physics is brought to life in a most engaging way. On every page it seems, physics, the mother of all science, is embellished with side-bar stories about key discoveries, how they were made and the lives of the people who made them. Numerous color photographs adorn the pages throughout.
   
   The two great and exciting present-day frontiers of scientific research are physics and neuroscience. Joy's book almost makes me wish, after a lifetime of being a neuroscientist, that I had started off in physics. Science is great fun, and this book proves it.
   
   Bill Klemm, author of "Thank You Brain for All You Remember. What You Forgot Was My Fault" and "`Dillos. Roadkill on Extinction Highway?" (both available on Amazon.com)



4. Book was great. Probably an improvement over the previious two, which I did not think was possible. My daughters love the book and thereby started to love Science even more.

2 comments about A Stubbornly Persistent Illusion: The Essential Scientific Works of Albert Einstein.

1. The most highly celebrated and recognized scientist alive today, Stephen Hawking has assembled, in this volume, highlights of Einstein's groundbreaking scientific works, such as his Special Theory of Relativity (1905) and his General Theory of Relativity (1915).
   
   Also included are Einstein's thoughtful views on politics, religion, the history and development of physics, and the interplay between science and the world.
   
   In a chapter titled "Selections from Out of My Later Years," Hawking discusses Einstein's reservations concerning quantum mechanics: "Einstein pointed out that if we were able to investigate microscopic phenomena on the smallest scales, we would be able to find deterministic relations." In other words, Einstein had serious doubts about the validity of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, and rejected the fundamentally probabilistic nature of reality espoused by those who held to the workings of chance and randomness at the quantum (microscopic) level. "God does not play dice with the universe," he famously opined; "God is subtle but he is not malicious." He held adamantly (some would say stubbornly) to his belief that physical reality is, at bottom, deterministic.
   
   Hawking gives brief introductions to each of Einstein's papers, thereby providing helpful historical and scientific perspectives.
   
   Einstein once said, "Do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater." Yeah, right! Einstein is much too modest.
   
   In a sense, however, Einstein is correct. Although this volume is replete with mathematical equations, one can read between the lines and gain an improved understanding of his revolutionary theories of spacetime and gravitation.
   
   Einstein makes us smile with his wry humor: "Today I am described in Germany as a 'German savant,' and in England as a 'Swiss Jew.' Should it ever be my fate to be represetned as a bete noire, I should, on the contrary, become a 'Swiss Jew' for the Germans and a 'German savant' for the English."
   
   The book's title of comes from another Einstein quote, "People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion."



2. A Brief History of TimeGeorge's Secret Key to the UniverseArchimedes to Hawking: Laws of Science and the Great Minds Behind ThemEinstein: His Life and Universe
   
   Imagine where we would be if these two, Einstein and Hawking, had worked together!
   Hawking puts information into the theories and makes for a more complete understanding into Einstein's times and mind.
   A very good book, well versed and full of information, layed out and explained in their own words.

5 comments about Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics.

1. He says that QM without the math is pure wonderment at the Universe. Fascinating book. I read every book I can find on QM, now, because I first read this book. I am listening to it on CD right now. I see a lot of criticism of this kind of popularization of difficult technical material. To those people, I say, do a better job. SInce you haven't done that better job to date, I am reading this book, and enjoying every minute of it. Reading this book is an exercise in fascination. If school was taught the way this book is written, there would be no absenteeism.



2. One of my favorites along with The Tao of Physics. If you like discussions bringing Western physics and Taoism together you should enjoy this.



3. I have not recieved my order. The book "Dancing Wu Li Masters" has not arrived. I would like to get it soon.
   
   Thank You
   Ed Chevalley



4. I tried to read this book, as I have really enjoyed all other books by Gary Zukav. This was the exception. I just couldn't get through the entire book, so maybe I missed the point or message of the book. It was not easy reading.



5. Nutshell review - a fun introduction and overview of the mysteries and quirks of the world of quantum physics. A good read written in a easy to understand style for us laymen.

5 comments about Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (Dover Thrift Editions).

1. This has always been a favorite of mine, so I wanted to christen my kindle with it. I imagine most people who will buy it for the kindle have probably already read it. If you like a mixture of Gulliver's Travels, Geometry and social commentary, it is worth the small amount of money. Of course you can get it for free since it was written in the late 1800's, but the Gutenberg version doesn't have good diagrams - they are all ASCII. I couldn't find diagrams in the versions available on AMAZON except the Oxford World's Classics edition, so that is the one I recommend. The diagrams are important for the geometry aspect and are excellent in this version.



2. In Flatland, we are reminded that it is hard to convince people of something, when they have no terms of reference with which to make sense of what we're saying. It is a great reminder to us that, when we are talking to people from other religions or belief systems, it will be very hard for them to understand us. We have to really bend over backwards to translate our message into something that they can latch onto and understand. Fine. But here is the problem: Today, people are using this film to convey a very different message. They try to leave the impression that anyone who disagrees with their agenda (political, environmental, gender, whatever) is (1) wrong, (2) too poorly armed to ever understand them, and (3) therefore not worth trying to reason with. The result of this line of "thought" is that they will simply have to impose their wisdom on the Others. This leads to having government health care, whether you want it or not; using politically correct language, whether your want to or not; for your own good! So, the only problem with the Flatland story is that it fails to remind us that most people who go against the crowd are simply wrong. Sure, everyone laughed at Einstein and he turned out to be right. But everyone also laughed at millions of clowns who were simply nuts. The idea that anyone who is different is therefore right, is wrong. The idea that there is no point in reasoning with your adversaries, is also wrong. Please read or watch this story and enjoy it, but when your boss says, "I want us all to see this film so that we have a common language ..." RUN!



3. My appreciation of mathematics came late in life, but it finally came. I have neither the aptitude nor the training to be a professional mathematician, but I like to spend a fair amount of time reading books on mathematics. A handful that I recommend are: Darrell Huff's _How to Lie With Statistics_ (1954); David Salsburg's _The Lady Tasting Tea_ (2001); Simon Singh's _The Code Book_ (1999); Robert Osserman's _Poetry of the Universe_ (1995); Reuben Hersh's _What is Mathematics, Really?_ (1997); Bryan Bunch's _The Kingdom of Infinite Number_ (2000); James Gleick's _Chaos: Making a New Science_ (1987); and Douglas R. Hofstater's _Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid_ (1979). The last is fairly stiff reading. But it is beautifully written; and if you read only a fraction of it, your perception of the world is likely to change.
   
   All of which brings us to a Victorian gentleman who gave some attention to the nature of and the limits of our perceptions of the world. Edwin A. Abbott (1836--1926) was a Shakespearean scholar who also took honors in mathematics and theology. In 1884, he published a mathematical fantasy called _Flatland_. It is set largely in a two-dimensional world, populated by sentient lines and shapes. Most denizens appear as lines to one another, though the relative faintness of lines gives a clue to the nature of different shapes. There is a class system built on the relative complexity of shapes: women (Straight Lines), workers and laborers (Isosceles Triangles), the middle class (Equilateral Triangles), professional men and gentlemen (Squares and Pentagons), and the nobility (Hexagons and Many-sided Figures). There is some movement from class to class, but "a woman is always a woman". The houses are also two-dimensional, mostly pentagonal in shape. There is a kind of gravitational pull to the south so that the base of various shapes turn toward the south and their apex angles toward the north. The narrator, "A. Square," has accepted his world at face value. But one day, he encounters a shape that _seems_ to be circular but who _says_ that it is a sphere... And nothing is ever quite the same.
   
   _Flatland_ quickly became a classic. Several sequels and companion stories to the novel were written over the years by other hands, but one of the best is that of Dionys Burger, a Dutch physicist. It was originally published in 1957 as _Bolland_ and was translated as _Sphereland_ in 1965. Burger's novel relates how the natives of Flatland discover that their land is really curved. They then discover the Einsteinian properties that it contains. Burger relates how triangles can become greater than 180 degrees, how mongrel dogs can become pedegreed through three-dimensional trickery, how a brave Line explorer defied the courts to reveal new truths about the nature of space, and what geometric fairy tales can reveal about the nature of the world.
   
   I hear the dry thunder of voices of the Mathematically Challenged rolling across the Waste Land: "We could _never_ understand!" And I say unto you: "Oh, yes you can." You don't need advanced training in math to grasp the concepts-- and they are presented in a painless, charming, and entertaining manner. So read these books and be refreshed by the rain.
   
   Burger's book modernizes _Flatland's_ portrayal of women (Straight Lines). Here is Abbot's treatment in his novel:
   
   Nor must it be for a moment supposed that our Women are destitute of affection. But unfortunately the passion of the moment predominates, in the Frail Sex, over every other consideration. This is, of course, a necessity arising from their unfortunate conformation. For as they have no pretensions to an angle, being inferior in this respect to the very lowest of the Isosceles, they are consequently wholly devoid of brainpower, and have neither reflection, judgement nor forethought, and hardly any memory. (15)
   
   In a foreward to the novel, Isaac Asimov asserts that Abbott "may have participated in these now-antiquated social views" (ix). Perhaps. But I think that Asimov misses an ironic bite in this passage. I suspect that Abbott was less blinded by the prejudices of his day than his narrator, A. Square. In Burger's book, women still are the bottom social class. But they are better educated, more responsible, and less hysterically emotional. The social classes in Burger's novel (which takes place some time after the action in _Flatland_) have become a bit more fluid.
   
   I hesitate to recommend a book because it is good for other people. That sort of praise is the kiss of death as far as most readers are concerned. But sometimes you just can't avoid mentioning that characteristic. These two fantasies are good for you. But they are also great fun. There is not a stuffy bone in either one of these beasts.



4. Keep in mind that this book was written over a hundred years ago, and consider the incredible ground it covers with this little tale: geometry (obviously), physics, government, politics, the clash between the sexes, class structures, manners, human nature, psychology, philosophy and even neuroscience (consciousness)! At first reading, it's deceptively simple, but explain it out loud to someone else and you'll find yourself noticing new things. If something doesn't seem to make sense, ask yourself "why?" This story is an allegory, a metaphor for so many things that fall into disjunct categories. There's a reason for the weird; the "bump" is there to make you take notice. Read it, think about it, give it some time and you'll be on your way to understanding the incredible range of this tiny work.



5. This book is often recommend by theoretical physicists and mathematicians (most often mathematicians involved in hyperdimensional topology) to their students.
   
   It was written by a Shakespeare scholar in Britain more than 100 years ago. The reason it is recommended by theoretical physicists, etc., is it provides the reader with a framework for understanding and trying to visualize dimensions above or beyond our ordinary four-dimensional world (length, width, heighth, space-time).
   
   It deals with a two dimensional world with two dimensional beings and what happens when a third dimensional being interacts with a two dimensional world and what the two dimensional beings would see. It also does this in terms of a one dimensional being and one dimensional world interacting with a two dimensional world and two dimensional beings (or structures).
   
   This book written with apparently some intent on commenting on Victorian England and its values (with what appeared to me to have some misogynistic comments within it), was otherwise an enjoyable book and really does provide a good analysis on multi-dimensional view points and visualizing or imagining hyper-dimensions.
   
   If you are interested in advanced theoretical physics, hyperdimensional geometry or topology or mathematics, this is a very interesting book and may be useful. If you are just interested in a good unique science fiction story, I would highly recommend this. This is not an (explicit) math or science book - so you won't find any explicit mathematics (i.e., no math is required).
   
   Excellent.

5 comments about Einstein: His Life and Universe.

1. What a superb job Issacson has done with this truely great man. Somehow the author has been able to give us a glimse at the Einstein sole and I loved what I saw. Every American should read this book especialy at this time in their history. Get a picture at what sort of society true intellegence can envisage before you let it slip further away.



2. This is hands down the best Einstein book available today. The author goes above and beyond any expectations i had. He some of the best research i have ever seen in a book. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
   
   I have read several Einstein books and this is the absolute best. It covered everything i have read in the other books and went far beyond that.
   
   The author (Isaacson) makes this book very easy to read and follow (although he does use a lot of scientific terms, which he has to). I really couldnt put the book down.
   
   If you're looking for an excellent book about the life of Einstein from first-hand research this is your book. And the price can't be beat. I thought i would be spending 30+ but its less than 20 anywhere. ENJOY!



3. It seems that the other reviewers have exhausted all superlatives in describing this book. I feel that this volume far more than any other I have read is an extremely enjoyable read, fairly represents Einsteins world views and gives you a great perspective on the life and times of this great man.
   
   Some of the science discussions in the book will leave you wanting but this is an biography and not a text book. All in all a very enjoyable read filled with new insights on one of the most creative mind in history.



4. Writing about Einstein's standing in the history of modern science requires wide and deep knowledge of diverse disciplines of knowledge, let alone the highly demanded writer's discretion in filtering out public propaganda from objective factual information. This author earns an "A" in his objective analysis of how Albert Einstein, the man, has demonstrated his genius in answering the pressing questions of the twentieth century's modern science.
   
   The book describes in vivid details the timeframe when Einstein engaged in academic research. The genius of the Einstein was not born in vacuum. Einstein's generation was confronted with the new findings of subatomic particles, artificial radiation, and electromagnetism. Einstein's first defined mission was to tackle the puzzle of ether as a medium for propagating radiation. Einstein brilliantly capitalized on the experiment of the constancy of the speed of light, regardless of the Earth's rotation, and devised the theory of relativity with the conservative restraint that Newton's classical mechanics remains a valid subset of relativistic mechanics.
   
   Adhering to Newton's doctrine, Einstein again reconciled Plank's quanta with Newton's postulate that light was both corpuscular and particulate. Thus, Einstein hit two birds with one stone: the quanta. Einstein defended the Maxwellian wave theory of electromagnetism as a time-averaged interpretation of Newtonian particulate nature of radiation. With both Plank's quanta, Kirchhoff's blackbody radiation, and Lernard's photoelectric effect, Einstein was able to seal his genius in the history of modern science as the discoverer of the law of quantization of radiation.
   
   As the previous greater theoreticians; Newton and Maxwell had proven their genius by relying on the experimental works of Copernicus and Faraday, Einstein followed the same path by capitalizing on Kirchhoff's and Lenard's experimental findings of the nature of interaction of radiation and matter. The book demonstrates the atmosphere of sharing knowledge in Europe in the early 1900's that engaged Einstein to the earnest interactions of the greatest scientific minds of his time.
   
   The First World War signaled the end of Einstein's greatest contribution to science. With the defeat of Germany, Einstein was on the run for safe haven. Though America offered Einstein such sanctuary, the American nuclear and atomic research was government-run and excluded the non-conformist scientists such as Einstein. Einstein's genius dried up by the indiscriminate governmental exclusion of his new homeland. Immigration to the new land, offered Einstein the financial security and the public fame minus the scientific prosperity. Einstein ran away from Nazism and Fascism yet to confront McCarthyism and racial tension in America.
   
   The book sheds light of the personal limitations that hindered Albert Einstein in maintaining healthy family relation. Einstein's entanglements in international and local politics at the expense of catching up with modern advances in nuclear physics was paralleled by his alienation of his ex-wife and ill son and his stubborn adherence to unify gravitation and electromagnetism despite his lack of follow up of any new experimental breakthroughs. For twenty years after arriving in America, Einstein never traveled overseas except to get a visa from Bermuda.
   
   The book clearly rebuts the aura that Einstein was the greatest mathematicians and explains how Einstein relied on his colleagues to devise the theory of General relativity. The book sheds light on Einstein's struggles with endless errors and miscalculation that squandered many decades of his old age in seeking a unified field theory that reconciles the particulate nature of radiation with gravitation. Furthermore, the writer did not shy away from the controversy of awarding Einstein the Nobel Prize for the work pioneered by Philipp Lenard, while the theory of relativity remained a philosophical puzzle. Even Einstein had poked holes in his own theory while attacking Quantum mechanics for spooky actions at distances. Niels Bohr's explanation that objects entangled in actions serve a defined quantum function explains how all objects in the universe serve specific quantum function by lieu of their entanglement in gravitational actions. An explanation that defeats the main argument about the relativistic nature of time postulated by Einstein.
   
   Finally, the book leaves the objective reader with many questions: whether or not Einstein's neglect of his personal appearance, his content with marrying his cousin, refusing to see his own ill son Edwards and his estranged ex-wife, refraining from travel, shutting off his mind to new developments in science, indulging in smoking despites his doctor's advice, and sticking to his guns on relying solely on mathematics to solve physical puzzles; were in any way signs of his overall detachment both from science and life? Whether or not the public reverence of Einstein falls within the realm of glorifying superstars, elevating them to superhuman status, and has contributed to Einstein's mental freezing? Whether of not spoiling scientist with extravagant privileges undermine their ability to excel in their field of search for knowledge?
   
   Though Einstein lived long enough enjoy the demise of Nazism and Fascism, the success of tapping into the nuclear energy, he died few years before the invasion of space became reality, the wide proliferation of the solid-state computers, laser applications, particle accelerators, discovery of the genetic codes, the end of McCarthyism and the triumph of the civil rights movement.
   
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5. One of the biggest problems with this biography is its length. I agree that 550 pages isn't excessive for the most iconic intellectual of the 20th century, but the book is plagued by the constant repetition of information that was already given, presumably for emphasis. This wouldn't be a problem if there were an enormous number of characters, or if the facts were of special interest, but often the information has already been clearly articulated and was of obvious importance when it was first mentioned. Thus a book about one of the most important men in 20th century science becomes about 75 pages too long at a paltry 550 pages. By comparison Martin Gilbert's biography of Winston Churchill is over 1000 pages long (the short version) and every page is captivating and relevant. Nevertheless, the book does provide a serviceable account of Einstein's life, despite a few flaws that only become onerous as one slogs towards the conclusion.
   
   Another irritating habit of the author's is the repeated interludes where he ruminates on the qualities which contributed to Einstein's revolutionary achievements in theoretical physics, which serve mainly to disrupt the narrative flow and are for the most part uninteresting. Many of these could be summed up if the author just wrote 'Remember, he's a rebel!' every fifty pages or so. Isaacson also seems to glide through the second world war, only giving the most cursory attention to Einstein's opinions on the bloodiest conflict of the century and the near extermination of Einstein's European brethren. I don't think it's overly presumptuous to expect that Einstein's reaction to the most infamous atrocity in modern history might merit a few more pages.
   
   I think I'll stop here before I make this book sound worse than it actually is. As mentioned before it is for the most part interesting, despite bloating. Three and a half stars, rounded down to 3 for spite.