Title: What is Relativity?
Author: Jeffrey Bennett
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Summary: I was shocked by how well the author made complicated ideas intuitive and understandable.
This is a primer on the basic ideas of relativity. It includes great, illustrative cartoons and very little math. The author addresses many of the misconceptions people might have about concepts related to relativity because of pop culture and introduces some surprising ways relativity affects our daily lives.
Even though relativity is a topic I’ve been interested in since high school, I learned fascinating new facts from this book. The author made incredibly complex and counterintuitive concepts simple. He started with facts that made sense to me and built on them to make the odder results of relativity make sense too. I liked that he revisited the same thought experiments over and over. This made me comfortable with the ideas and helped me learn.
I liked that the author talked about the implications of relativity for our daily lives. He made a pretty convincing argument for why we should all care about the concepts he teaches here. I also loved that he taught the scientific method as he went. I think this is a book that would be perfect for introductory physics classes. It’s easy to follow and could inspire students to become interested in the topic.
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The sign of a good teacher is somebody who can explain something that is fairly complicated in terms that most people will understand. Sounds like it was a good read.
Melissa W. recently posted…First Chapter – First Paragaph(s) – Tuesday Intros; Teaser Tuesdays
I agree! This author used to be a professor and it sounds as though he does a lot of teaching younger students now. Based on this book, I’m sure he’s excellent at it
DoingDewey recently posted…When Patty Went Away
I’ve always been interested in this subject but, most books seem far too daunting. This sounds perfect!
Monika @ Lovely Bookshelf recently posted…Advance Review & Playlist: Frog Music by Emma Donoghue
This is a fantastic book for someone new to the topic. I actually found this a surprisingly easy read which went by almost as quickly as YA fiction does for me. I’d recommend it
Sounds interesting. And it is not a big think book either, which means I might be able to handle it.
TracyK recently posted…The Indigo Necklace: Frances Crane
Sorry, big thick book. Typing too fast.
TracyK recently posted…The Indigo Necklace: Frances Crane
It was a surprisingly short book and did go by very quickly for me. If you’re at all interested in the topic, this would be a great place to start
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