The Manga Guide to Relativity

“Absolutely amazing for teaching complex ideas and theories. . . Excellent primers for serious study of physics topics.”
—Physics Today

"Scientifically solid. . . . Entertainingly bizarre."
—Chad Orzel, author of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, ScienceBlogs

Everything’s gone screwy at Tagai Academy. When the headmaster forces Minagi’s entire class to study Einstein’s theory of relativity over summer school, Minagi volunteers to go in their place. There’s just one problem: He’s never even heard of relativity before! Luckily, Minagi has the plucky Miss Uraga to teach him.

Follow along with The Manga Guide to Relativity as Minagi learns about the non-intuitive laws that shape our universe. Before you know it, you’ll master difficult concepts like inertial frames of reference, unified spacetime, and the equivalence principle. You’ll see how relativity affects modern astronomy and discover why GPS systems and other everyday technologies depend on Einstein’s extraordinary discovery.

The Manga Guide to Relativity also teaches you how to:

• Understand and use E = mc², the world’s most famous equation
• Calculate the effects of time dilation using the Pythagorean theorem
• Understand classic thought experiments like the Twin Paradox, and see why length contracts and mass increases at relativistic speeds
• Grasp the underpinnings of Einstein’s special and general theories of relativity

If the idea of bending space and time really warps your brain, let The Manga Guide to Relativity straighten things out.

 

Table of contents 

Preface
Prologue: Outrageous Closing Ceremony
Chapter 1: What Is Relativity?
Chapter 2: What Do You Mean, Time Slows Down?
Chapter 3: The Faster an Object Moves, the Shorter and Heavier It Becomes?
Chapter 4: What Is General Relativity?
Epilogue
Index