Popular Science Review - Intoducing Relativity

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Review - Introducing Relativity - Bruce Bassett & Ralph Edney

It is almost impossible to rate these relentlessly hip books - they are pure marmite*. The huge Introducing ... series (about 80 books covering everything from Quantum Theory to Islam), previously known as ... for Beginners, puts across the message in a style that owes as much to Terry Gilliam and pop art as it does to popular science. Pretty well every page features large graphics with speech bubbles that are supposed to emphasise the point.

Does it work in practice? The result is variable, not surprisingly as the books have different authors, though it has to be said that the concept is magnificently brave and innovative, whether or not the outcome is good. In the case of the Relativity book, the outcome is good on content, not so good on bringing it down to the right level.

The author, Bruce Bassett is a cosmology lecturer, and that is reflected in the fact there is rather more cosmology in this book than a pure explanation of relativity would require. The book is much stronger on general relativity than special - it would have helped to have spent a bit more time on the special relativity first. There is also some evidence that the author is much stronger on the theory than the history - for instance, Einstein's realization of the constant speed of light coming out of Maxwell's work and resulting in the development of special relativity isn't really mentioned. Similarly, when describing the Michelson/Morley experiment there is no mention of the ether, which was the whole point of the experiment at the time.

Apart from its historical weakness (and was Niels Bohr really an identical twin of Marlon Brando), you can't fault the content when it deals with general relativity - but you can the presentation. Unfortunately for a book that appears to be aimed at the absolute beginner, there are parts that are roughly equivalent to material in the first year of a degree course.

Overall, then, it's a noble attempt, with much (much) more meat in it than the companion Introducing Chaos book - but it would need more historical perspective and less inclination to jump to soon into formulae if it were to appeal to its target audience.

*Marmite? If you are puzzled by this assessment, you probably aren't from the UK. Marmite is a yeast-based product (originally derived from beer production waste) that is spread on bread/toast. It's something people either love or hate, so much so that the company has run very successful TV ad campaigns showing people absolutely hating the stuff...

Read about the companion volumes Introducing Chaos and Introducing Quantum Theory.

Only in paperback.

Reviewed by Brian Clegg

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