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Title: Geometry, Relativity and the Fourth Dimension by Rudolf Rucker ISBN: 0-486-23400-2 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 01 June, 1977 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.73 (11 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Thought provoking introduction to "modern" geometry
Comment: I remember being given this book as a thirteen year old and finding the ideas stimulating and interesting. Later as an undergraduate in mathematics and physics I was able to dip into it again, and then again as a graduate student.
At least some (and later all!) of the ideas in the book, four dimensions and 'embedded' universes, non-Euclidean geometry and the 'bent', relativistic nature of space-time are presented with creative analogies and clever diagrams. I'd recommend this book to any clever teenager interested in being stretched and introduced to some of the important and exciting ideas of modern geometry and space-time.
Rating: 5
Summary: Intro to Non-Euclidean Geometry
Comment: This is the best introduction to non-Euclidean geometry and special relativity that I have ever encountered. The book is basic enough to be understandable (at least to a degree) by any intelligent (and determined) adolescent, but deep enough for the physics or math undergraduate and perhaps even graduate student to find continual interest in. Rucker has a way of introducing complex ideas in a rather simple fashion so trhat one doesn't often realise how deep the subject matter is at first. Unlike some of his other books, however, considerable math background is required and a substantial amount of effort and force of will on the part of the reader will be necessary. All the same, the book is an intensely interesting foray into the world of geometry and relativistic physics. His adaption af Abbott's "A.Square" character to ealborated his ideas are particularly amusing and helpful.
Rating: 4
Summary: Good but Missing a Few Things
Comment: I haven't completely read this book, but I've read several like it. I want to point out some things that other reviewers haven't touched on. There is no index to the Dover edition. Maybe the original one had an index. That automatically knocks off one star in any book rating I give. It has some pretty sturdy exercises at the end of each chapter. There are no answers in the book. That's OK though. One can get some additional sense of the subject by looking at the questions. There is a very good annotated bibliography at the end of the book. It is not tied into page numbers, but I get the feeling the order of the list and their reference in the book are in the same order. There's good and bad news about the list. He makes many of these books sound very appealing, but many are long out of print. Rucker's book was produced around 1975.
There are times when I wish the author would have pressed a little harder one some seemingly simple points. Maybe by giving an alternative view. For example, early on in the book he talks about a flatlander being inside a balloon as he expands the balloon from the inside. Suddenly the flatlander is on the outside. Maybe it's me, but how that happens is not clear. I've found other such passages. However, a studious reader will find the topics interesting. The price is certainly right.
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Title: Flatland : A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott ISBN: 048627263X Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 21 September, 1992 List Price(USD): $1.50 |
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Title: One Two Three . . . Infinity : Facts and Speculations of Science by George Gamow ISBN: 0486256642 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 01 September, 1988 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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Title: Flatterland: Like Flatland, Only More So by Ian Stewart ISBN: 073820675X Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: 16 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Fourth Dimension : A Guided Tour of the Higher Universes by Rudolf Rucker, David Povilaitis ISBN: 0395393884 Publisher: Mariner Books Pub. Date: 11 September, 1985 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: The Annotated Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott Abbott, Ian Stewart ISBN: 0738205419 Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: 04 December, 2001 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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