Relativity for the Million

Gardner’s book is a popular exposition of special and general relativity, genuinely рассчитанная on millions of readers. It is engagingly and accessibly written, so it will be understood by everyone, starting with high school students. Special mention should be made of the excellent

illustrations. Thanks to them, the book resembles an album titled “Relativity Theory in Pictures.” In fact, that’s exactly what a popular book should be.

Another major advantage of the book is that the author talks quite a lot about the history of the emergence of the theory of relativity. It’s always pleasant to learn not only the truth itself, but also how it was obtained, which people were involved, and which hypotheses were proposed. For example, the book contains quite a lot of discussion of the “Mach principle.” Most scientists abandoned it long ago, but at the time the “Mach principle” had a great influence on minds, and without mentioning it, the history would be incomplete.

It is also especially noteworthy that the author discusses not only already established, universally accepted statements, but also various controversial questions that still have no answers. Therefore, while reading Gardner, the reader sees a living, developing science—fascinating with its mysteries. That alone sets this book apart from many other popular expositions of the theory of relativity.

The popularity of the exposition also has its shadow side: Gardner has to resort to simplifications, and that leads to many inaccuracies and omissions. Some of these are fundamental in nature and can lead to an incorrect understanding of the essence of the matter.

A few words about this will be said after you read the book.

Recording from 1981