時間は縮み、空間は伸び、ブラックホールがあり、曲がる四次元時空がある宇宙を予言したアインシュタインの相対性理論は、直観やニュートンの絶対時間・空間の概念を覆し、それまでの物理学を大転換させました。本書は相対性理論を誰にでもわかるように解説し、この理論がどのように数々の常識を打ち破っていったかに焦点を当てます。
   

• Explains both the Special Theory of Relativity, and the General Theory, and how they differed from existing Newtonian and Euclidian concepts of space and time
• Looks at the evidence that gave rise to the theory of relativity, and how it has been tested and proved since
• Explains the bizarre conclusions of relativity - from space and time contraction to the famous 'Twin Paradox' - in an accessible and clear way
• Shows how relativity isn't just applicable to abstract, far-flung physics - it not only has implications in the study of the cosmos, black holes, and gravitational lensing, but also has applications in everyday technologies such as GPS
• Explores the very latest developments and experiments in the field

  
100 years ago, Einstein's theory of relativity shattered the world of physics. Our comforting Newtonian ideas of space and time were replaced by bizarre and counterintuitive conclusions: if you move at high speed, time slows down, space squashes up and you get heavier; travel fast enough and you could weigh as much as a jumbo jet, be squashed thinner than a CD without feeling a thing - and live for ever. And that was just the Special Theory. With the General Theory came even stranger ideas of curved space-time, and changed our understanding of gravity and the cosmos. 
 
This authoritative and entertaining Very Short Introduction makes the theory of relativity accessible and understandable. Using very little mathematics, Russell Stannard explains the important concepts of relativity, from E=mc2 to black holes, and explores the theory's impact on science and on our understanding of the universe.