Everything's Relative : And Other Fables from Science and Technology

Rating:
Summary: a great read!
Review: Did Einstein really say "everything's relative"? Who invented the telegraph? the telephone? TV? And what is Hedy
Lamar doing in a book like this? Chances are that your answers are wrong -- or only partly right.

In this engaging, entertaining, witty, sometimes funny and always meticulously researched book, Rothman
takes us on a tour of the many "just so" stories that our science or history teachers used to tell us. For those of us who teach science or history,
it is also a reminder to be wary of those stories in the textbooks we use that glibly attribute the development of complex scientific concepts or
technological artifacts to one or a small number of individuals. Except perhaps when that individual happens to be Einstein. Did he really say, "everything is relative"? You'd have to read the book to find out!

Rating:
Summary: Essential Reading
Review: Forget what you learned in school! Wish I had this to read then.

Rothman's enlightening excursions into the winding nature of scientific discoveries are absolutely enthralling. Elegantly written, witty, humorous, exquisitely detailed---a mind-popping eye opener from start to finish.

Rating:
Summary: Hero-hater
Review: This book is written by a spiteful and envious person who's sole purpose is to bring down history's scientific heros. Heros without whom we would not be enjoying the safe, healthy and comfortable lives we live today.

Rating:
Summary: Who was first in science and technology?
Review: This is a book about priority in science --- who gets the credit for being there first? One undisputed case is between Darwin and Wallace. Wallace came up with evolution on his own, but he was a friend of Darwin. When Wallace informed Darwin that he planned to publish the theory, Darwin quickly finished his Origin of Species. The rest is history. Evolution is credited to Darwin, but far fewer people know about Wallace.

Tony Rothman tells about two dozen additional stories like this in Everything's Relative. He divides the book into three sections: Physics, Technology, and Biology. The discoveries in physics center on explanations for the behavior of matter and energy. But so many of these explanations were "in the air" when they came to light that you can find at least one other person who should be co-credited for just about every major discovery. Einstein, in particular, wasn't inclined to credit those who came before him, but Rothman knows the facts. He tells you where Einstein got his ideas, then he leaves you to judge who was first.

This book was hard to put down. Somehow, Rothman takes a vast number of facts --- including a lot of dates and names I've never heard before --- and strings them together in a way that is easy to understand. With an average writer, I would have been lost. But Rothman makes it easy. This is a great science book. If you've read stacks of science books already, you need this one. It will correct some of your ideas about priority. It adds to your understanding of science, as well. For those who don't read a lot about science, it's a great place to start. I wish I knew all of this stuff years ago.