The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Einstein, Second Edition | 
| Author: Gary F. Moring
Publisher: Alpha
Category: Book
List Price: $18.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 278826
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 7.4 x 1
ISBN: 1592571859
Dewey Decimal Number: 523.1
EAN: 9781592571857
ASIN: 1592571859
Publication Date: April 6, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Some wear on book from reading, spine creases, wear on binding and pages.
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Product Description
Demystifying physics-and the man who personified it.
Einstein's face is on T-shirts and posters and his name is synonymous with atomic energy and scientific genius. But to understand this individual who not only had great knowledge but great wisdom, we must examine his philosophy of life-and physics.
New and updated information about Einstein's life
Analysis of recent, ongoing challenges to Einstein's theories
Streamlined information on the underpinnings of physics, electricity, magnetism, and other forms of energy
High-profile museum exhibitions about Einstein are taking place across the U.S. in 2003, 2004, and 2005
First edition has gained a solid reputation for helping students understand physics
Einstein was named Time's "Man of the Century"
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 Einstein =Genius! June 21, 2008
Einstein was a little boy with a big brain who never quite grew up. Thank gosh! His curiosity never waned and he continued to ask tough Physics questions that many other Physicists wouldn't touch.
Einstein's ability to create "Thought Experiments" set him apart from many others and helped him change the face of Physics. He explored space, time, matter, relativity, quantum particles, the big bang and came up with concepts that Physicists are still scratching their heads over.
The Complete Idiots Guide to Understanding Einstein by Gary Moring is an excellent introduction to this amazing human and his accomplishments. The book also explores many major scientific developments and other prominent Physicists. In the end of each chapter there is a:"The Least You Need to Know" section which is very helpful...especially with this material!
The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: A Guide to: The Lost Art of Critical Thinking
An Absolute Gem June 30, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Understanding Einstein almost sounds like an oxymoron. Is it really possible to understand one of the most brilliant people of the 20th century? Well, this book goes a long way in trying to provide the reader with an understanding of Einstein and his contributions to science and other areas of human endeavor. The author places Einstein in the context of our unfolding history of ideas as seen from the perspectives of science, psychology and philosophy, just to name a few. Since the "Idiot Guide" series are meant to be introductions to topics and not graduate level thesis', I was amazed at how much material was actually covered in a book of this kind. Being a big fan of Einstein's and having read most books out there about him, this book goes a long way in bringing together a wide diversity of material available on his theories and life. His most important discoveries ae cleary explained and even his shortcomings are touched upon. Like the author's other book on the "Theories of the Universe", he brings an interdisciplinary approach to the material, that always gives you more than just either his theories or biographical material. You will definitely be much closer to "understanding" Einstein after you read this book.
 Worthless! May 1, 2007
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
"Understanding Einstein" attempts to cover major scientific developments from Aristotle to post-Einstein, as well as details of Einstein's life - all in 432 pages! Clearly anyone but a COMPLETE IDIOT would know this is not possible in any meaningful way - especially one attempting to understand relativity.
Material is mostly presented as givens, with little/no insight as to the "Why?" Further, even the examples used are not necessarily correct.
Example 1: Einstein's conclusion that acceleration and gravity are equivalent is first postulated, and the example utilized (a moving spaceship in which light from outside hits the spaceship's interior at a lower level - ergo it is bent by gravity - is a non sequitur because the spaceship need not be accelerating for this to occur.
Example 2: Moring mentions a glitch in Mercury's orbit that is not explained by Newtonian mechanics, but is by Einstein's gravitational mathematics. That's all - no details, no insight, no understanding, and no value.
Example 3: Moring ends up referencing post-Einstein theories that assert variations in the speed of light, contrary to Einstein. That's all we get - no explanation or resolution. Further, the book doesn't even reference recent experiments that have brought light to a complete stop, or attempt how this meshes with Einstein.
Bottom Line: Read something else if you want to understand much of anything in the physical sciences.
Very informative January 4, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I haven't finished the whole book, but it is already my favorite. It is a trip through history. The author builds science theory, and discovery through the ages, social climates, and general thinking in the given era. It's a great quick reference for scientist, and dates of discoveries. I highly recommend this book for anyone interest in digging deeper in to science. It is fascinating.
 Mixed Impression October 26, 2006
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Positive: A fairly easy read, well written.
Good biographical material dealing with Einstein's work, social, and political views.
Non-mathematical accounts of general & special theory of relativity, and quantum theory.
Negative: discursive, somewhat superficial accounts of the history of physics.
The thread of the author's arguments are frequently lost through his excursions into philosophy, religion, and the psychology of the unconscious. Some of this is pretty superficial and the comnnecttions made between these fields and contemporary physics is, in my opinion, a real stretch.
The discussion of time and relativity is at times confusing because the distinction between the observer and the event is not made clear.
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