Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists, 2nd Edition

By: Richard Wolfson, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Richard Wolfson

Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

"It doesn't take an Einstein to understand modern physics," says Professor Wolfson at the outset of these twenty-four lectures on what may be the most important subjects in the universe: relativity and quantum physics. Both have reputations for complexity. But the basic ideas behind them are, in fact, simple and comprehensible by anyone. These dynamic and illuminating lectures begin with a brief overview of theories of physical reality starting with Aristotle and culminating in Newtonian or "classical" physics. After that, you'll follow along as Professor Wolfson outlines the logic that led to Einstein's profound theory of special relativity and the simple yet far-reaching insight on which it rests. With that insight in mind, you'll move on to consider Einstein's theory of general relativity and its interpretation of gravitation in terms of the curvature of space and time.

From there, you'll embark on a dazzling exploration of how inquiry into matter at the atomic and subatomic scales led to quandaries that are resolved-or at least clarified-by quantum mechanics, a vision of physical reality so profound and so at odds with our experience that it nearly defies language.

By bringing relativity and quantum mechanics into the same picture, you'll chart the development of fascinating hypotheses about the origin, development, and possible futures of the entire universe, as well as the possibility that physics can produce a "theory of everything" to account for all aspects of the physical world. But the goal throughout these lectures remains the same: to present the key ideas of modern physics in a way that makes them clear to the interested layperson.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2000 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2000 The Great Courses

Engaging, I wish it went deeper

What made the experience of listening to Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists, 2nd Edition the most enjoyable?

It's a fascinating topic, and Prof. Wolfson is clearly passionate about the subject.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I found myself listening to 2-3 lessons at a time, and doing more chores than usual, because I was learning so much.

Any additional comments?

Prof. Wolfson does sometimes sound like he's rushing to get through the material, in the tone and nature of his speech, but I was able to follow along with everything he explained. Obviously he couldn't cover everything. He made the comment several times "no math!", which must say something about the intended audience. I'm not afraid of math, so I would've liked a little more on the math side, and more-detailed explanations of some of the more complicated subjects.

Also, I'm not sure when it was recorded, probably early 2000s? Which means he's a bit out of date, e.g. talking about the Large Hadron Collider at Cern that was *going* to be built, which has now been built, and the Higgs Boson being a speculative particle, which they've now discovered. But hey, now I know what the "Hadron" in "the Large Hadron Collider" means!

Overall, it's an easy-to-follow intro to both relativity and quantum physics. Almost certainly you can find all of this information elsewhere, but this is a nice format and a nice presentation.

Would be better with visuals.

Good overall presentation, but it's obviously a recording of a live presentation with visual aids. Would really like to see it as a YouTube or Ted video.

Best description of Relativity for non scientists

Wolfson's explanations are so vivid and exciting I have listened to lecture several times. I strongly recommend this series to anyone interested in a description of space time.

Enjoyable but got lost at some parts

I'm glad I listened but I do think not seeing his visuals hurt my understanding of what the professor was saying.

Very clear lessons of modern physics!

A short, non-mathematical approach of relativistic and quantum physics passionately taught by a professor with analogies to everyday situations to make the se theories conceptually understandable to all of us.

Outstanding, and clear.

I am a big fan of this course. It started out simplistically, which turned me off a bit, but when I came back to it I was entranced. I’ve read a number of physics books, and they are generally of high-quality and can be very readable, but in many cases the fundamentals of how things really work escaped me. The professor takes his time to ensure you really understand what something means, citing examples and building to a premise. I have a good understanding of the basics of physics because of this course. Highly recommended.

Good Modern Physics Overview

If you've never taken a modern physics class this would be a good place to start. Nice amount of detail with very little math. Pretty good physics history lesson as well.

Starting to get Old.

So much has changed in the last 15+years that affects our understanding of physics and this leaves us with a very outdated picture of the state of physics. That is, what we currently believe.
4 for performance because it's an audio track from a video and you do miss some things.

My brain hurts

Maybe it’s just as important to understand and accept how little I really know about the cosmos.

Good, Not Great, Modern Physics Primer

Review date: May 2020.
This series of lectures is an excellent *introduction* to modern physics. The presenter conveys the concepts clearly with good descriptions and analogies.
The issue, particularly in the later lectures dealing with particle physics and cosmology, is that some of the concepts are noticeably out of date. The Higgs Boson was just a theoretical idea and *accelerating* cosmic expansion was a fringe theory. Gravity waves are presumed to exist but hadn’t yet been observed. And some of the analogies won’t hold up well, especially to a younger audience, such as repeatedly using cathode tube televisions for examples.
I wasn’t aware of a production date when I purchased this series but based on the lecturer’s understandings I’d place it in the early 2000’s.
Again, it’s an excellent and well produced series of lectures, just noticeably dated in the later parts of the series.