Einstein Relatively Simple: Our Universe Revealed in Everyday Language

Contents......Page 14
About the Author......Page 8
Prologue......Page 10
PART I Einstein Discovered: Special Relativity, E = mc2, and Spacetime......Page 16
  It’s Relative!......Page 18
  The Early Years......Page 21
  Physics in 1900 — The End or the Beginning?......Page 24
  1905 — The Year of Einstein......Page 27
 Chapter 2 The Great Conflict......Page 30
  Two Spaceships Passing in the Night......Page 34
  Newton on Ice......Page 35
  Electricity and Magnetism — Two Sides of the Same Coin?......Page 37
  Maxwell’s Breakthrough......Page 40
  Let There Be Light......Page 42
  Troubles with Maxwell......Page 44
  A Patent Clerk’s Dilemma......Page 47
 Chapter 3 The Two Postulates......Page 50
  Riding on a Wave......Page 51
  The Light Postulate and the Ether......Page 53
  Star Dance......Page 55
  Light Reveals a New Transform......Page 57
  The Relativity Postulate17......Page 59
  Profound Implications......Page 61
  What the Lorentz Transform Really Means......Page 62
  How Speeds Really Combine......Page 67
  The Next Chapter......Page 71
  Light-Clocks and the Shrinking of Time......Page 72
  It is Raining Muons4......Page 75
  Rocket Time......Page 78
  Next Chapter......Page 81
 Chapter 6 Simultaneity and the Squeezing of Space......Page 82
  The Relativity of Simultaneity......Page 83
  The Shrinking of Space......Page 89
  Simultaneous Pole Squeeze......Page 91
  What are “Time” and “Space”?......Page 95
  The Next Chapter......Page 97
 Chapter 7 The World’s Most Famous Equation......Page 98
  Mass Hysteria......Page 99
  On Thick Ice......Page 102
  Newton and Energy......Page 105
  Eureka!......Page 107
  When the Speed of Light is One......Page 110
  Faster than the Speed of Light?......Page 112
  Every Move, Every Breath......Page 113
  Metamorphosis......Page 115
  Quark Weight......Page 117
  Evidence for E = mc2......Page 119
  Good Morning Starlight......Page 120
  The Joining of Space and Time......Page 122
 Chapter 8 Spacetime......Page 124
  The Long Wait......Page 125
  The Father of Spacetime......Page 126
  Wherewhen......Page 128
  The Metric of the Universe......Page 130
  The Spacetime Interval at Work......Page 135
  Wristwatch Time......Page 138
  The Twins Paradox......Page 142
  Who Aged and Why?......Page 147
  Spacetime and Gravity......Page 149
PART II Einstein Revealed: General Relativity, Gravity, and the Cosmos......Page 152
 Chapter 9 Einstein’s Dream......Page 154
  The Quest for A New Theory......Page 155
  Troubles with Newton’s Gravity......Page 157
  The Next Chapter......Page 165
 Chapter 10 “The Happiest Thought of My Life”......Page 166
  The Hammer and the Feather......Page 167
  Einstein’s Epiphany......Page 169
  The Alien Abduction Test......Page 172
  Light and Gravity......Page 177
  Going in Circles......Page 184
 Chapter 11 The Warping of Space and Time......Page 188
  Is Gravitational Time Dilation True?......Page 191
  Time Travel with Altitude......Page 194
  Euclid Doesn’t Live Here Anymore......Page 198
  The Next Chapter......Page 200
 Chapter 12 Stitching Spacetime......Page 202
  What is Local Spacetime?......Page 203
  Gravity and the Spacetime Interval......Page 206
  Show Me......Page 209
  The Problem Facing Einstein......Page 210
  Grossman to the Rescue......Page 214
  Potato Mapping......Page 218
  Mapping Spacetime29......Page 220
  What is Gravity?......Page 222
  Of Golf and Curvature......Page 223
  What is a Geodesic?......Page 225
  The Search for a Solution......Page 227
  Major Objectives......Page 230
  The Lost Years......Page 233
  The Solution......Page 237
  The Equations of the Universe......Page 240
  Goals Met, Issues Resolved......Page 244
  Einstein’s Cosmos......Page 245
 Chapter 15 The Universe Revealed......Page 246
  Forgive Us, Sir Isaac......Page 247
  That Spinning Feeling......Page 250
  More Cosmic Marvels......Page 254
  Where Time Stands Still......Page 256
  Creation......Page 263
 Chapter 16 In the Beginning......Page 264
  Cosmic Discoveries......Page 265
  The Cosmic Egg......Page 271
  The Geometry and Future of the Universe43......Page 275
Epilogue......Page 284
Appendix A......Page 294
Appendix B......Page 300
Appendix C......Page 306
Appendix D......Page 310
Appendix E......Page 312
Acknowledgements......Page 318
Notes with Sources......Page 320
Figure Credits......Page 374
Also by Ira Mark Egdall......Page 378
Further Reading......Page 380
Index......Page 382