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because it gives the impression that science is the preserve of supermen in possession of a unique insight inaccessible to the rest of us. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Relativity was not the work of one man, although in a book about relativity this can sometimes appear to be the case. Einstein was undoubtedly one of the great practitioners of the art of science, but as we have emphasized throughout this book, he was led to his radical revision of space and time by the curiosity and skill of many. He was not a freak of nature and his intellect was not supernatural. He was simply a great scientist who did what scientists do: He took simple things seriously and followed through the consequences logically. His genius lay in taking seriously the constancy of the speed of light, as implied by Maxwell’s equations, and the equivalence principle, first appreciated by Galileo.

Our hope is to have written a book that allows nonscientists to understand Einstein’s beautiful theories. This understanding is within reach for nonexperts because science is really not that difficult. Given the right starting point, the road to a deeper understanding of nature is traveled in small steps, carefully taken. Science is at its heart a modest pursuit, and this modesty is the key to its success. Einstein’s theories are respected because they are correct as far as we can tell, but they are no sacred tomes. They will stand, to put it bluntly, until something better comes along. Likewise the great scientific minds are not revered as prophets but as diligent contributors to our understanding of nature. There are certainly those whose names are familiar to millions, but there are none whose reputations can protect their theories from the harsh critique of experiment. Nature is no respecter of reputations. Galileo, Newton, Faraday, Maxwell, Einstein, Dirac, Feynman, Glashow, Salam, Weinberg . . . all are great, the first four were only approximately correct, and the rest may well meet the same fate during the twenty-first century.

Having said all that, we have absolutely no doubt that Einstein’s special and general theories of relativity will forever be remembered as two of the greatest achievements of the human intellect, not least in the way they show how powerful imagination can be. From an inspired mix of pure thought and a little experimental data, a man was able to change our understanding of the very fabric of the universe. That Einstein’s physics is both aesthetically and philosophically pleasing while also being extremely useful delivers an important lesson, the true significance of which is all too rarely appreciated. Science at its best is driven by inquiring minds afforded the freedom to dream, coupled with the technical ability and discipline to think. If the society in which Einstein flourished had decided that it needed a new power source to provide for the needs of its citizens, it is impossible to imagine that some enlightened politician would have channeled public funding into an exploration of the nature of space and time. But as we have seen, it was precisely this road that led to E = mc2 and delivered the keys to unlock the power of the atomic nucleus. From the simplest of ideas—that the speed of a beam of light is one thing upon which everyone in the universe should agree—a box of riches was discovered. “From the simplest of ideas” . . . if there were ever to be an epitaph written for humanity’s greatest scientific achievements, it might begin with these five words. Taking delight in observing and considering the smallest and seemingly most insignificant details of nature has led time and again to the most majestic of conclusions.

We walk in the midst of wonders, and if we open our eyes and minds to them, the possibilities are boundless. Albert Einstein will be remembered for as long as there are humans in the universe both as an inspiration and an example to all those who are captivated by a natural curiosity to understand the world around them.

INDEX

Absolute motion

Absolute space

Absolute time