It's About Time : Understanding Einstein's Relativity / N. David Mermin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mermin, N. David, author.

Series:

Princeton Science Library ; 115

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Special relativity (Physics).

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (209 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2009]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In It's About Time, N. David Mermin asserts that relativity ought to be an important part of everyone's education--after all, it is largely about time, a subject with which all are familiar. The book reveals that some of our most intuitive notions about time are shockingly wrong, and that the real nature of time discovered by Einstein can be rigorously explained without advanced mathematics. This readable exposition of the nature of time as addressed in Einstein's theory of relativity is accessible to anyone who remembers a little high school algebra and elementary plane geometry. The book evolved as Mermin taught the subject to diverse groups of undergraduates at Cornell University, none of them science majors, over three and a half decades. Mermin's approach is imaginative, yet accurate and complete. Clear, lively, and informal, the book will appeal to intellectually curious readers of all kinds, including even professional physicists, who will be intrigued by its highly original approach.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface: Why Another Relativity Book

Note to Readers

One. The Principle of Relativity

Two. Combining (Small) Velocities

Three. The Speed of Light

Four. Combining (Any) Velocities

Five. Simultaneous Events; Synchronized Clocks

Six. Moving Clocks Run Slowly; Moving Sticks Shrink

Seven. Looking At a Moving Clock

Eight. The Interval between Events

Nine. Trains of Rockets

Ten. Space-Time Geometry

Eleven. E = Mc2

Twelve. A Bit about General Relativity

Thirteen. What Makes It Happen?

INDEX

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

ISBN:

9786612259210

9781400830848

1400830842

9781282259218

1282259210

9780691122014

0691122016

OCLC:

438216455