Relativity

School Library Journal

Gr 6-9-- Weaving together the theory of relativity and a brief story of Einstein's life, Tauber systematically explains the meaning of relativity and its implications for an understanding of the universe. The Newtonian background and the Michelson-Morley experiment that set the stage for Einstein's work are presented and followed by descriptions of special relativity, its odd effects, general relativity's theory of gravitation, the expansion of the universe, and black holes. This step-by-step approach will prove useful only for reports, as the uninspiring, frequently soporific writing will hold little appeal for recreational readers. Tauber at times forgets his audience: ``That theory has demonstrated conclusively that the laws of nature are covariant under arbitrary transformations of coordinates.'' The signs are reversed in a footnote comparing the Celsius and Kelvin temperature scales (claiming that 0C equals -273.2K); and although a two-page section discusses the concept of covariance, this term appears in neither the glossary nor the index. Libraries that own It's All Relative (Lothrop, 1981) by Necia H. Apfel already have a clearer, more readable, and more interesting book that covers essentially the same ground. Even Eric Chaisson's excellent Relatively Speaking (Norton, 1988), although longer and written for adults, is not significantly more difficult to understand. --Jeffrey A. French, Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library