A Stubbornly Persistent Illusion: The Essential Scientific Works of Albert Einstein - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0762430036 ISBN 13: 9780762430031

Publisher: Running Press, 2007

Synopsis

Best-selling author and physicist Stephen Hawking assembles the most groundbreaking works by Albert Einstein together into one volume. From the text that revealed the famous “Theory of Relativity”-renowned as the most important scientific discovery of the 20th Century-to his significant works on quantum theory, statistical mechanics, and the photoelectric effect, here are the writings that changed physics, and subsequently, the way we view the world. Einstein also thought deeply on both political issues and religious thought, so many of Einstein's philosophical essays are included. Hawking provides introductions to each work, which provides both historical and scientific perspective. From the papers that shaped modern scientific thought to Einstein's later musings on his landmark findings, A Stubbornly Persistent Illusion is a collection of Einstein's most important work, with commentary from our greatest living physicist.

About this title

About the Author

Stephen Hawking's ability to make science understandable and compelling to a lay audience was established with the publication of his first book, A Brief History of Time, which has sold nearly 10 million copies in 40 languages. Hawking has authored or participated in the creation of numerous other popular science books, including On the Shoulders of Giants and The Illustrated On the Shoulders of Giants.

Reviews

Starred Review. It's hard to imagine a better guide to the work of Albert Einstein than Hawking, one of the world's most renowned physicists and popular science writers, whose own A Brief History of Time has sold over nine million copies. Though there are plenty of popular books about Einstein's theories, Hawking is right when he insists that the "most lucid, not to mention entertaining proponent of Einstein's ideas has always been Einstein himself." Even those with a minimal background in math and science will come away with a keen understanding of the towering genius and his transformative work on the nature of space, time and light. Included are Einstein's seminal papers on special and general relativity, and his 1916 Relativity, the Special and General Theory, which explains the theory in simple, straightforward terms accessible to any high-school graduate with a knowledge of basic algebra. Einstein's pioneering work in modern quantum theory, from his 1905 discovery of photons to his later, critical opinions of the generally accepted quantum theory (in excerpts from his 1950 book Out of My Later Years), is also considered. Hawking adds a brief but effective introduction to each section, making this gem of a collection really shine.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Running Press
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0762430036
• ISBN 13: 9780762430031
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 480
• Editor: Hawking Stephen