The present book is intended, as far as possible, to give an exact insight into the theory of relativity to those readers who, from a general scientific and philosophical point of view, are interested in the theory, but who are not conversant with the mathematical apparatus of theoretical physics. The text is divided into three parts which deal respectively with the special theory of relativity, with the general theory of relativity, and with considerations...

Einstein's gravity theory-his general theory of relativity-has served as the basis for a series of astonishing cosmological discoveries. But what if, nonetheless, Einstein got it wrong? Since the 1930s, physicists have noticed an alarming discrepancy between the universe as we see it and the universe that Einstein's theory of relativity predicts. There just doesn't seem to be enough stuff out there for everything to hang together. Galaxies spin so...

Explains the fundamental principles of relativity, describing such aspects of the theory as black holes, curvature of spacetime, and singularity, as well as its practical applications in everyday life.

Timothy Clifton looks at the development of our understanding of gravity since the early observations of Kepler and Newtonian theory. He discusses Einstein's theory of gravity, which now supplants Newton's, showing how it allows us to understand why the frequency of light changes as it passes through a gravitational field, why GPS satellites need their clocks corrected as they orbit the Earth, and why the orbits of distant neutron stars speed up....

"A New York Times Bestseller" "One of Men's Journal's 40 Best Books of 2016" "One of Symmetry Magazine's Physics Books of 2016" "One of Ars Technica's 12 engrossing nonfiction books from 2016" "Honorable Mention for the 2017 PROSE Award in Cosmology and Astronomy, Association of American Publishers" "One of Forbes.com's 10 Best Popular Science Books of 2016: Maths, Physics, Chemistry" "Longlisted for the 2018 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prizes for Excellence...