Special Relativity: For the Enthusiastic Beginner Paperback – 20 January 2017
David J. Morin . Createspace Independent Pub . English
This book is written for high school and college students learning about special relativity for the first time. It will appeal to the reader who has a healthy level of enthusiasm for understanding how and why the various results of special relativity come about. All of the standard introductory topics in special relativity are covered: historical motivation, loss of simultaneity, time dilation, length contraction, velocity addition, Lorentz transformations, Minkowski diagrams, causality, Doppler effect, energy/momentum, collisions/decays, force, and 4-vectors. Additionally, the last chapter provides a brief introduction to the basic ideas of general relativity, including the equivalence principle, gravitational time dilation, and accelerating reference frames. The book features more than 100 worked-out problems in the form of examples in the text and solved problems at the end of each chapter. These problems, along with the discussions in the text, will be a valuable resource in any course on special relativity. The numerous examples also make this book ideal for self-study. Very little physics background is assumed (essentially none in the first half of the book). An intriguing aspect of special relativity is that it is challenging due to its inherent strangeness, as opposed to a heavy set of physics prerequisites. Likewise for the math prerequisite: calculus is used on a few occasions, but it is not essential to the overall flow of the book.
Categories: Historical Fiction
About the Author
David Morin is a Senior Lecturer in the Physics Department at Harvard University. He received his A.B. in mathematics from Brown University and his Ph.D. in theoretical particle physics from Harvard University. He is the author of eight books, including Introduction to Classical Mechanics (Cambridge University Press, 2008), Electricity and Magnetism (Cambridge University Press, co-author, 2013), and Probability: For the Enthusiastic Beginner (2016). When not writing textbooks, thinking of math and physics limericks, or conjuring up new problems whose answers involve e or the golden ratio, he can be found running along the Charles River or hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Resources for his books, along with other educational material (including many limericks!), can be found on his Harvard webpage. His most recent book is "Algebra: For the Enthusiastic Beginner" (split into two volumes), designed for middle-school and high-school students, along with anyone else who is eager to learn some math! It features more than 350 exercises, all with detailed solutions (and in many cases multiple solutions, so that students can learn different ways of approaching problems). Additionally, to lighten things up, there are more than 100 original math limericks! The book is perfect for self-study, home schooling, or as a resource in a standard class. Its detailed explanations emphasize the "why" behind the concepts in algebra, and there are numerous side remarks to help clarify misconceptions. It is both a serious AND a fun book! For more information, including a sampling of the limericks, see the author's Harvard webpage.
