Overview
Fritzsch offers readers the opportunity to listen in on a meeting of Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and a present-day physicist. While he introduces the theory of relativity, Fritzsch teaches its sources, its workings, and the ways it has revolutionized our view of the physical world. An Equation That Changed the World dramatizes the importance of relativity, for the human race, and the survival of our planet. ""Fritzsch could not give the modern reader a more memorable introduction to the personalities and science of Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein unless somehow he could find the keys to H. G. Wells' time machine. . . . Many readers will applaud Fritzsch for this lively but profoundly insightful book."" —Booklist, starred review ""[Fritzsch] has dreamed up a dialogue between the two great physicists, helped along by a fictional modern physicist. . . . The conversation builds up to an explanation of E=mc2, and on the way illuminates the important points where Newtonian and Einsteinian theory diverge."" —David Lindley, New York Times Book Review
Full Product Details
Author: Harald Fritzsch ,
Karin Heusch
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Dimensions:
Width: 1.50cm
, Height: 0.20cm
, Length: 2.40cm
Weight: 0.567kg
ISBN: 9780226265575
ISBN 10: 0226265579
Pages: 300
Publication Date: 15 October 1994
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Out of Stock Indefinitely
Availability: Awaiting stock
Reviews
The fundamentals of Einstein's theory of special relativity, presented in the form of a series of imaginary dialogues among scientists of three different eras. Fritzsch (Max Planck Institute for Physics, Munich; Quarks: The Stuff of Matter, 1983) begins by sending a fictitious modern physicist, Adrian Haller, to England, where he meets Sir Isaac Newton, who has been returned to Earth. Newton is curious about developments in physics since his day, and the two men spend several chapters discussing Newton's concepts of space, time, and light. When the conversation arrives at the subject of Albert Einstein's contributions to science, Newton persuades Hailer to take him for a visit to Bern, Switzerland, where they meet the father of relativity. The three physicists then engage in a series of dialogues on how Einstein modified Newton's ideas of the universe, and on how modern science has both verified and extended Einstein's own theories. While there is an unavoidable kernel of mathematics in any discussion of physical concepts, the derivation of Einstein's famous equation, E = mc , should be within the grasp of anyone who passed high school algebra. The key ideas are presented clearly, and the discussion touches on such subjects as the source of the sun's energy, the future of nuclear and fusion power, anti-matter, and the decay of the proton. Fritzsch's handling of the dialogues and of the flimsy narrative framework does not suggest that he should take up fiction as a career. But the ideas come across clearly, even entertainingly, in spite of what appears to be a rather pedestrian translation. Occasionally stiff, but always readable; a good introduction to modern physics for any reader willing to invest a little thought in the subject. (Kirkus Reviews)
