Books Related to Einstein and his General Theory of Relativity

I thought it prudent to start this list off with an excellent general biography of the man himself. If you're not familiar with his work, the author, Walter Isaacson, is known for making the most complex tremendously accessible (which probably comes from all his years running Time Magazine and CNN).

Next, it seems to make sense to move to the words of the man himself. Now, don;t go thinking this book will be jammed with impossible mathematical formulae. This book covers Einstein's popular writings. Yes, it includes his General Theory of Relativity but it also covers nuclear war, peace, religion, general science... as well as economics, human rights, our form of government... Einstein was no slouch. ;-)

Fred from Romeoville, IL says:

This novel is a genre-bender (not gender-bender, genre-bender. It's a love story. And it's a mystery. And because it's based on time travel it's a bit of a light sci-fi story. And the entire time travel premise revolves around Einstein's General Theory or Relativity.

What could be more UNscientific than love? This aptly-named collection of short stories does an excellent job of showing how there's no right answer to a romantic equation.

Rachel Goldberg from Charlotte, NC says:

So now we get the the Theory itself. I thought I'd list this volume so you could learn it in Einstein's own words. It's only 208 pages so it can't be that hard to understand, right?

Alternatively, you can read this relatively short (~350 pages) "biography" of the equation itself. It's hard to imagine how a math equation could have a compelling story but by all accounts, this one does.

Finally — and we don't do this often here at Flashlight Worthy — I include this DVD from NOVA, the excellent PBS science series. Quite simply, it's an excellent documentary that actually leaves you understanding Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. Or, at least you think you do. For a little while. :-)