The Formative Years of Relativity by Hanoch Gutfreund and Jurgen Renn

The Theory of Relativity has been a real revolution for the scientific world because it "fixed",  what said before by giants of science like Galileo and later Newton, revolutionizing most of the ideas commonly known by scientists from centuries with new concepts about space, time, cosmic waves and much more.

If you search for a book that wants to analyze also what the theory of relativity meant for the scientific community after few years from the publication I strongly suggest you: The Formative Years of Relativity by Hanoch Gutfreund and Jurgen Renn by Princeton University Press.

Fresh of press the book takes inspitation (they're included in the book) from the lectures by Einstein on May 1921 at Princeton University. The Meaning of Relativity as a book was firstly published in 1922, a year after the participation of Einstein at the lectures but this book wants to make the difference in the approach, giving a best and freshest perspective of the theory of relativity.

The arrival of Einstein in 1921 at Princeton cemented by a lot of publicity. His lectures followed and covered by the New York Times and other newsmagazines as well, that trip of Einstein meant for the scientific community a new attention at this revolutionary vision of physics, cosmology, world and a fertile discussion about the thematic discussed by Einstein. It was not anymore just Einstein stimulated to guess if this theory completely correct and the possibility, like the existence of cosmic waves real, but also a "curiosity" for the rest of academic and scientific world. "Will he be right?" maybe they asked to themselves.

This book not just presents the five lectures by Einstein, but wants also to trying to analyze what it meant for that first decades the theory of relativity historically, scientifically, philosophically.
The recent discovery of Cosmic waves and the certainty that also that portion of theory correct - the last cosmic wave thanks to two dying stars united and melted together in a mortal "hug" - continue to proves the geniality of Einstein.

Highly suggested to all the people interested in physics and surely a great Christmas gift!


I thank so much Princeton University Press for the physical copy of this wonderful book!


Anna Maria Polidori