Clear, concise exposition of both the special and general theories of relativity, intended for nonscientific readers with a knowledge of high school math. Topics include simultaneity, time dilation, length contraction, the possibility of travel to a distant star, non-Euclidean geometries, black holes, and the structure of the universe. 158 illustrations.

Table of Contents for Understanding Einstein’s Theories of Relativity: Man’s New Perspective on the Cosmos

The Speed of Light Is the Speed of Time
1 The Fundamental Axiom of Relativity
Reference Frames
Light Speed
Ether Theory
Indirect Observations
Theoretically Faster than Light
Seeing Back in Time
What is Light?
Particle Theory
Wave Theory
Matter is Energy
2 "What Does "Simultaneous" Mean?"
Time is Distance
Time Stations
Clocks in Space
Very Far Ago
The Effect of Motion
Motion of a Viewer
Moving light Sources
Red and Blue Shift
Expanding Space
3 Time Distortion
Cosmic Time
Time Distortion as a Result of Motion
A Light-Beam Clock: Special Relativity
Point of View
Calculating the Time-Distortion Factor
The General Case
The Twin Paradox
The Rotation Paradox
Standards of Motion
The General Theory
Addition of Velocities
4 Distortion of Space and Mass
Time Dimensions
Velocity-Corrected Space-Time
Moving Rods
Moving Disks
Three Spatial Dimensions
Mesons
Inertial Mass
In Motion
Conservation of Momentum
A Contradiction
5 Journeys to the Stars
Mass Versus Velocity
Space Ship Design for High Speed
A Trip to Alpha Centauri
Time Travel
Backward Time Travel
Difficulties with Interstellar Travel
Telecommunications
Star Hopping
Have We Been Visited?
Close Encounters
Project Ozma
6 Dimensions and Hyperspace "Hyperspace" Communication
What is a Dimension?
The Cartesian System
Polar Coordinates
Two Space
The Distance Formula for Plane Geometry
Euclidean or Non-Euclidean?
Euclidean and Non-Euclidean Three-Space
The Hypersphere
The Four Cube
Time as the Fourth Dimension
Escaping from a Cell
Intersecting Spaces
How We See Lesser Spaces
More than Four Dimension
Interior Angles of a Triangle
Refraction
Geodetic Lines
"Coordinates in "Spherical Universes"
"Coordinates in "Non-Spherical" Universes"
7 The Theory of General Relat
Distance Through Progressively More Dimensions
Centrifugal Force
Alone in the Universe
A Universe of Two
Acceleration and Gravitation
Inside the Ball
Distortion of Time and Space Caused by Acceleration
Resolving the Twin Paradox
The Rotational Acceleration Field
Rotating Coordinates
All Points of View Are Equally Valid
One-to-One Correspondences
Acceleration Distorts Space
Deflection of a Photon with Circular Motion
The Principal of Equivalence
Light from the Stars
The Perihelion of Mercury
Red Shift Caused by Gravitation
Gravity Waves
The Unified Field Theory
8 Anomalies in Space
Is Space Really Curved?
The Death of a Star
Gravitational Collapse
An Outside View
Gravitational Radius Versus Mass
How Common Are Black Holes?
Gravitational Shock Waves
Strange Binary Stars
Quasi-Stellar Radio Sources
Collapsars and Space Travel
Collapsars and Time Travel
Black-Hole Universes
9 The Structure and Evolution of the Universe
Is Our Universe a Black Hole?
The Universe of Ptolemy
"Coperrnicus, Tycho and Kepler"
Galileo and Newton
Orbital Geometry
According to Newton
Newton's Absolute Space and Time
The Advent of Modern Cosmology
Distance Measurements in the Cosmos
"Slipherm de Sitter, and Hubble"
The Steady-State Theory
The Beginning of Time
The End of Time

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