The Meaning of Relativity by Albert Einstein

    The length of this review will be proportionate to my understanding: that is, minimal.

    The Meaning of Relativity by Albert Einstein delineates his theories and provides the mathematical proofs for how things exist throughout space and time.

    When Einstein is explaining the broad strokes of the implications of relativity, I can somewhat follow, but within a few pages his maths becomes germane to me. Mathematics becomes a language with which I am unfamiliar; symbols I’ve never seen before populate the pages. Thank goodness for Einstein’s occasional Englishly-written comment to illuminate the premises of his theory. There are sometimes, for example, succinct phrases that highlight the premises and consequences of his work: “the theory of relativity does not make the assumption that the shape of bodies with respect to a space of reference is independent of their motion relatively to this space of reference” (35). Fair enough.

    The central premise that I take away from the book as a whole is that time is defined relatively to other measurable objects, and that the selection of time markers is arbitrarily defined. Our units of measure can shift. The line between mathematical and philosophical boundaries quickly diminishes.

  

    Actually, the parallel to philosophy is probably what I’m most qualified to talk about. Needless to say, I’ve never read a book like this before—where the author is proving an argument using mathematical formulas. I can’t help but notice a similarity, though, with the progression of arguments in logical philosophy. Premise A and Premise B lead to Conclusion A. That conclusion then allows for another premise to emerge, leading to another conclusion. Einstein’s argument progresses in much the same way as logical philosophers and so the book reads like an extended, multi-layered syllogism, offering over a hundred equations to help justify his theory. I find it encouraging that science and arts-based argumentation can find such common ground in the pursuit of truth.

    Unfortunately, I am not nearly well-versed enough in science or math to confirm the validity of The Meaning of Relativity. That said, I’ll stand on the shoulders of giants Isaac Newton-style and recognize that Einstein’s legacy seems pretty solidly established. 

    Despite not understanding much, I’m comfortable with accepting the conclusions of others on this one—I’ll take Einstein on trust.