Did you know that you age faster if you're standing still versus when you're moving? Yesssss! At last, the secret to eternal youth!
But don't break out the running shoes just yet, because even if you were to spend your life running or even flying around the world on the fastest aeroplane, the difference would barely be noticeable. Like, maybe only a minute or so's worth of barely noticeable over your entire life time...
Damn, and it seemed like such a promising thought! Personally, I blame Einstein since it was his theory in the first place. Speaking of which, I've been reading Einstein for Dummies by Carolos I Calle. This is the first book I've ever read in the For Dummies series and I think they've pretty much nailed it in terms of tone and language. As an added bonus the author is able to explain all the science concepts in words, without resorting to scary-looking maths equations.
The book starts by giving background on Einstein and his life and, to be honest, I was pretty much intending to skip these chapters and just head straight to the bits on Einstein's work. But they turned out to be freakishly interesting and peppered with random facts, such as: "after giving birth to Einstein, his mother thought for a moment that he was a "monster" because he had a strangely shaped and large head." Um...alrighty then...
The second part of the book goes on to discuss - for want of a better way of putting it - the history of physics up to the time when Einstein started stirring things up with his new-fangled ideas. Again, I must confess that I was also fully intending to skip this section^. However, it turned out that, much like the sections on Einstein's life, the physics history lesson stuff was also totally easy to read AND it was even interesting! (I swear, no one is paying me to say this).
Of course Dummies also runs through Einstein's major works and contributions to science. Including, as you'd expect, explanations about special relativity, E=MC2, quantum theory and the general theory of relativity. And also information about things you might not expect, like black holes, worm holes and time travel.
In each case - though the concepts are no doubt very complicated in real life - the author gives clear and simple explanations for each (it's like for dummies, yeah?). He runs through what they are, how they work and what this has meant for science (and us). All very interesting, though I will admit that I did get slightly bored by all the rocket ship-related "thought experiments" and analogies.
Dummies also goes into some detail the testing that has been done on Einstein's relativity theories. Coming back to the point I made earlier about aging faster if you're standing still: in 1971 a couple of scientists did an experiment to test Einstein's theory of relativity. They flew state of the art atomic clocks twice around the world, first eastward, then westward, on commercial aeroplanes. When they compared these clocks with identical clocks which were stationary on the ground, they confirmed that less time had passed on the moving clocks. The difference was minuscule, literally a few hundred billionths of a second (you can see why this doesn't amount to anything significant over your life time). But it certainly demonstrated that Einstein was right: the faster you are moving, the more time slows down.
Somewhat to my surprise - especially given all the chapters I was originally intending to skip over(!) - I really enjoyed Einstein for Dummies. It's written in plain English and always keeps its audience firmly in mind. As if this wasn't enough, it also manages to be informative, interesting and even entertaining. If you have an interest in Einstein's life or theories but no interest in complex maths, then this is the book for you.
^ It is completely understandable if, at this point, you are wondering whether I was actually intending to read the book at all.
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Top reviews from the United States
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Very good presentation of the science world Einstein found himself in and what he did to advance it.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 16, 2016Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 18, 2008
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 25, 2013
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 18, 2009
Top reviews from other countries
Gordy A.J.
Informative and well written!A
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on November 17, 2018
Maurice Fitzgerald
Einstein for Dummies?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 14, 2014Jacob
Good informative book - no mathematical knowledge required
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 18, 2015
