Einstein for Beginners

Rating:
Summary: Whets your appetite for more on Einstein
Review: An easy and maths free introduction to the world of A.E. However, some of the more silly and irrelevant cartoons might distract the reader.

All in all, not a bad introduction to A.E. (In fact a damn good place to start discovering relativity). My grouse is that it does not cover all of A.E.'s works. The treatment of relativity touches the tip of the ice-berg only, so to speak.

Still, it really makes you want to read more about A.E.'s works, at least for this reader.

Rating:
Summary: Whets your appetite for more on Einstein
Review: Einstein for Beginners acts more as a visual representation of Einsteins work. An easy to read format for anyone interested in knowing Einsteins theories without the mind-boggling formulas. I would suggest this as a place to begin. A nice read, although the theories one still needs to comprehend. The author, Joseph Schwartz puts it in a perspective that both challenges and educates. Highly reccomended!

Rating:
Summary: Einstein was a living breathing human? What a concept!
Review: Hey! Guess what? Albert had a life. A pretty goofy one at that. And still he manages to come out on the top of so many lists they saved his brain for study! I'm glad I found this reprinted - I have bought and loaned so many copies of this I was sure I'd never see it again. Yes, it's a cartoon book. That's probably its best feature. There are plenty of books that can take you through Einstein's work, equation by equation, scholarly treatments, rigorous in their dicussion of the minute details of unseen physics. This is not one of them, thank heaven. But if you want to know WHO Einstein was, you want to see him as a child and what incident started him on a world-changing life of inquiry, want to know who helped him and why, who threw obstacles in his path and why, whom he loved, and what place he takes in the rivers of history, this is the book. As a scientist, I know where to go to look up and learn the math of Einstein's work. I can read his original papers, I can review the problems he solved. But that's not who he was, it's not enough info to solve Albert himself. All the equations in the world won't tell you why he married his cousin. And if this book is broad enough to cure most folks of two myths: (a) he invented the atom bomb (FALSE) and (b) he got the Nobel Prize for Relativity (FALSE) then it's worth the eight bucks. Read it anyway, but especially if you think you know how science evolved in the 20th century.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Introduction with Deep Details!
Review: This book is about the Theory of Relativity and a bit about how it was developed. The author done a wonderful job in teaching it in a very easy way and also showing the details of the theory (not being only superficial), like equations etc. You see, the deduction of the equations he done in a great way that everyone can easily understand (it's not like the appendix in the Einstein's book about relativity which I never understood). Of course this "deduction" is not formal, but it helps a lot to understand how it works and how they got to the theory.

Rating:
Summary: OK
Review: This is an OK outline of the special theory described within its historical (physics) context. As expected with the "...For Beginners" series, diagrams are used well. The general theory is not covered. Note: Dollops of the authors' crackpot Marxism are found throughout.