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Special Relativity

1. Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries

   Neil deGrasse Tyson

   A vibrant collection of essays on the cosmos from the nation's best-known astrophysicist. “One of today’s best popularizers of science.”—Kirkus Reviews.More

2. Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution

   Donald Goldsmith, Neil deGrasse Tyson

   Drawing on the current cross-pollination of geology, biology, and astrophysics, Origins makes "the astonishing astronomical discoveries of recent years come alive (Michael D. Lemonick).More

3. Einstein's Cosmos: How Albert Einstein's Vision Transformed Our Understanding of Space and Time

   Michio Kaku

   In paperback for the centenary of the discovery of relativity, "a fresh and highly visual tour through Einstein's astonishing legacy" (Brian Greene).More

4. Einstein's Clocks and Poincare's Maps: Empires of Time

   Peter Galison

   "More than a history of science; it is a tour de force in the genre."—New York Times Book ReviewMore

5. Simply Einstein: Relativity Demystified

   Richard Wolfson

   With this reader-friendly book, it doesn't take an Einstein to understand the theory of relativity and its remarkable consequences.More

6. The Future of Spacetime

   Stephen W. Hawking, Kip S. Thorne, Igor Novikov, Et Al.

   Where the science of black holes, gravitational waves, and time travel will likely lead us, as reported by spacetime's most important theoreticians and observers.More

7. Why Buildings Stand Up: The Strength of Architecture

   Mario Salvadori

   Here is a clear and enthusiastic introduction to building methods from ancient time to the present day, illustrated throughout with line drawings. In addition, Mr. Salvadori discusses recent advances in science and technology that have had important effects on the planning and construction of buildings.More

8. Why Buildings Fall Down: Why Structures Fail

   Matthys Levy, Mario Salvadori, Kevin Woest

   The authors examine buildings of all kinds, from ancient domes like Istanbul's Hagia Sophia to the state-of-the-art Hartford Civic Arena. Their subjects range from the man-caused destruction of the Parthenon to the earthquake damage of 1989 in Armenia and San Francisco.More

9. Geons, Black Holes, and Quantum Foam: A Life in Physics

   John Archibald Wheeler, Kenneth Ford

   The autobiography of one of the preeminent figures in twentieth-century physics.More

10. Black Holes & Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy

    Kip S. Thorne, Stephen W. Hawking

    Ever since Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity burst upon the world in 1915 some of the most brilliant minds of our century have sought to decipher the mysteries bequeathed by that theory, a legacy so unthinkable in some respects that even Einstein himself rejected them.More

11. Special Relativity

    A.P. French

    The M.I.T. Introductory Physics Series is the result of a program of careful study, planning, and development that began in 1960.More