Buy new:
$14.76
FREE delivery Saturday, May 4 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Ships from: Amazon.com
Sold by: Amazon.com
List Price: $18.99 Details

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Save: $4.23 (22%)
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Saturday, May 4 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Thursday, May 2. Order within 15 hrs 18 mins
In Stock
$$14.76 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$14.76
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime
FREE delivery Saturday, May 4 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Thursday, May 2. Order within 15 hrs 18 mins
Used: Acceptable | Details
Sold by Shakespeare Book House
Fulfilled by Amazon
Condition: Used: Acceptable
Comment: Item in acceptable condition including possible liquid damage. As well answers may be filled in. May be missing DVDs, CDs, Access code, etc.

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service we offer sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. Something we hope you'll especially enjoy: FBA items qualify for FREE Shipping and Amazon Prime.

If you're a seller, Fulfillment by Amazon can help you grow your business. Learn more about the program.

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the authors

Brian Cox
Follow
Jeff Forshaw
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Why Does E=mc2? (And Why Should We Care?) Paperback – July 13, 2010

by Brian Cox (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,978 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$14.76","priceAmount":14.76,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"14","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"76","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"UyI4L%2FDxONexE%2Bv6hnWEoKSpFzC5zJ%2BHiiYqKLBWv7YfgkdcY8ahZAoClRRRkSdW8BAuOhBqcdiNqQ64cuuOswNYbX5d0qVSDPCF8xKeMUb8t6jZx0ty3FZ%2Bc0VGSwqqlZEQHhbUSe4%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$7.59","priceAmount":7.59,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"7","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"59","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"UyI4L%2FDxONexE%2Bv6hnWEoKSpFzC5zJ%2BHzgO00MUXM3e2XQlbIiPClDkRnHjpCLHQRzPp4ssp%2B8pMKKmvl3grYw%2FloMHSsLWewMVPP7b4LsZRtxGeVV888LKTlUX39dL%2Byxl4oYZ%2FR1H71diRT%2FvTLdX116q0zNzlZk8du%2B7lyA5zac0Xks4bIODeRhOzPWXw","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

The international bestseller: an introduction to the theory of relativity by the eminent physicists Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw

What does E=mc2 actually mean? Dr. Brian Cox and Professor Jeff Forshaw go on a journey to the frontier of twenty-first century science to unpack Einstein's famous equation. Explaining and simplifying notions of energy, mass, and light-while exploding commonly held misconceptions-they demonstrate how the structure of nature itself is contained within this equation. Along the way, we visit the site of one of the largest scientific experiments ever conducted: the now-famous Large Hadron Collider, a gigantic particle accelerator capable of re-creating conditions that existed fractions of a second after the Big Bang. A collaboration between one of the youngest professors in the United Kingdom and a distinguished popular physicist, Why Does E=mc2? is one of the most exciting and accessible explanations of the theory of relativity.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    249 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    July 13, 2010
  4. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.68 x 8.25 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    0306818760
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0306818769
  7. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Frequently bought together

Why Does E=mc2? (And Why Should We Care?)
$14.76
Get it as soon as Saturday, May 4
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
Quantum Universe
$15.52
Get it as soon as Saturday, May 4
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
Black Holes: The Key to Understanding the Universe
$18.29
Get it as soon as Saturday, May 4
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Choose items to buy together.
Popular Highlights in this book
What are popular highlights?
Previous page
  1. In science, there are no universal truths, just views of the world that have yet to be shown to be false.
    Highlighted by 381 Kindle readers
  2. The sun, with the earth in tow, is traveling around the Milky Way at 486,000 miles per hour, at a distance of 156,000 trillion miles from the center. At this speed, it takes 226 million years to complete one orbit.
    Highlighted by 377 Kindle readers
  3. Science is a discipline that celebrates uncertainty, and recognizing this is the key to its success.
    Highlighted by 320 Kindle readers
Next page

Editorial Reviews

Review

"If you're not a physicist (or not yet a physicist) and you want to understand what Einstein and relativity are all about, you would do well to read this book. This writing is clear, sparkling in places, and totally without vanity...Read this book. It's your world, isn't it?"
―Dan Agin, Huffington Post

"A mild mannered, digressive, mostly math-free walk-through of the world's most famous equation...[It] remind[s] us that Einstein's equation is not some esoteric idea best pondered by scientific supermen, but a profound insight that continues to change lives...Cox and Forshaw's enthusiasm for their material is plain...You will find them accommodating escorts."
―Boston Globe

"Cox and Forshaw skillfully combine biography with a narrative of discovery, employing some of Einstein's own thought experiments...I expected Cox and Forshaw to lament the current gaps in physics...But they are optimists tempered by hard doses of reality."
―The American Scholar

"Pairs the enthusiasm of newcomers with the knowledge of experts...Cox and Forshaw have aimed their tour of gravity, mass and quantum weirdness squarely at the math-shy general public...A useful reminder of how profoundly strange physics can appear to the novice."
―Physics World

"Master Einstein's famous equation in 266 easy pages: The authors answer their title question without using math more complicated than the Pythagorean theorem, providing a rich history of modern physics along the way."
―Discovery

"Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw tackle the most famous equation of all time in a remarkable comprehensible way...The pair make some surprising points that I haven't seen expressed in quite the same way...Well worth a read."
―New Scientist

"To get at the origins of E=mc2, the poster-child for Einstein's special theory of relativity, [Cox and Forshaw] must delve into deep principles of science and wield a good deal of mathematics. They do it well...They have blazed a clear trail into forbidding territory, from the mathematical structure of space-time all the way to atom bombs, astrophysics and the origin of mass."
―New Scientist

"To move beyond a cursory understanding of Einstein's iconic equation, put yourself in the adept hands of physicists and science educators Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw. Using clear language and a few clearly explained equations, they demystify physics' most counterintuitive claims."
―Seed

"[Cox and Forshaw] bend over backwards to reassure math-challenged readers...This is not only a painstakingly accessible explanation of spacetime, mass, particles, gravity, and a whole bunch of things that are just plain not simple. It's also an explanation, for non-scientists, of what physicists do, and why they want to do it."
―Bookslut.com

"Makes some of science's most famous tenets easily accessible-even for those who barely passed sophomore chemistry...Crisp, engaging prose."―Flavorwire.com (Daily Dose Pick)

"A fun romp with science...The often amusing lecture by British physicists Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw is written in plain language and full of fun examples."―Charleston Post and Courier

"A popular account of the intellectual interplay between elementary particle physics, relativity theory, and cosmology...It does a very nice job of explaining the counterintuitive aspects of spacetime and the relationship between time, space, energy, and mass...Readers of this book will be better prepared to understand the news coming out of CERN...Recommended."
―Choice

"[An] easy-to-read little book...Along the way, [Cox and Forshaw] very cleverly introduce all the ideas we will need to get to the world's most famous equation, E=mc2...Cox and Forshaw have made an important contribution in this area, one that will help school science teachers as much as it will their students."―New York Journal of Books

About the Author

Brian Cox, OBE, FRS, is a Professor of Particle Physics at the University of Manchester and the Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in Science. His many highly acclaimed BBC television documentaries include, most recently, Human Universe and Forces of Nature.

Jeff Forshaw is a Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Manchester, specializing in the physics of elementary particles. He was awarded the Institute of Physics Maxwell Medal in 1999 for outstanding contributions to theoretical physics.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Da Capo Lifelong Books; 37446th edition (July 13, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 249 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0306818760
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0306818769
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.68 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,978 ratings

About the authors

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Previous page
  1. Brian Cox

    Brian Cox

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Brian Cox, PhD, is a leading particle physicist and professor at the University of Manchester, as well as a researcher on one of the most ambitious experiments on Earth, the ATLAS experiment on the CERN Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland. A Royal Society research fellow, professor Cox was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 2010. He is the author of Why Does E=MC² and is well known as presenter of the television series Wonders of the Solar System and Wonders of the Universe. He was also the keyboard player in the UK pop band D:Ream in the 1990s.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Jeff Forshaw

    Jeff Forshaw

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

    See more on the author's page
Next page

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
1,978 global ratings
Excellent
5 Stars
Excellent
Excellent
Hide
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

Jaume Puigbo Vila
5.0 out of 5 stars A readable book on XXth century physics
Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2009
Verified Purchase
Francis Ford Coppola has said that happiness consists on learning new things every day. People like Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw help us to become happier. Scientists like these who devote part of their precious time to divulge scientific ideas are the real missionaries of the XXIst century helping to extend the gospel of science, which, contrary to other gospels, it is non dogmatic and subjected to possible disproval by experiment , a feature of science introduced by Muslim scientists (!) according to the book (page 40).
The book is not only, as it title suggests, an explanation of the famous Einstein formula but a very up-to-date and understandable review of XXth century physics, including cosmology, special and general relativity and the Standard Model with its awe inspiring master equation.
The book uses, sometimes, very simple mathematics, which the authors suggest the math averse reader to skip, if necessary, but with important results. For instance, making use of the very famous, old and simple Pythagorean theorem Cox and Forshaw prove that the half life of muons accelerated to 99.94% of the speed of light is extended, due to relativistic effects, 29 times, a fact that is verified experimentally.
There are also several examples of theoretical predictions confirmed experimentally which is one of the beauties of physics. Fred Hoyle's prediction of an energy level of the carbon nucleus which makes it crucially possible the synthesis of heavier elements in the stars, gravitational waves (whose existence has been indirectly confirmed studying a double pulsar) , the masses of the W and Z bosons (confirmed at CERN), the existence of the positron posited by Dirac or Chandrasehar's limit for the mass of white dwarves.
The story unfolds from Faraday's experiments and Maxwell's equations which lead to the constancy of the speed of light which, in turn, lead to the Special Theory of Relativity, to Minkowski's space time, the conservation of the energy-momentum vector and the famous E=mc2 formula (which is an approximation, by the way). The final chapters are devoted to General Relativity (and its clear effects on the GPS system), the Standard Model (with a good introduction to gauge symmetry) and the Higgs boson, the last particle, among the fundamental particles of the model, to be found experimentally (in the Large Hadron Collider hopefully when they get it working) .
There are also some curiosities such as that if the Earth was flat we would see a laser fired horizontally bending to its surface. To sum up: a very entertaining book that I hope will make you happier. It made me.
11 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Mabus4444
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Explanation of Time Dilation
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2011
Verified Purchase
I'm a big fan of Brian Cox, he's fantastic on video documentaries, so when I saw this book I jumped all over it. The focus of the book is quite explicitly an attempt to make relativity accessible to a lay audience, using nothing but the most simple mathematics, with as little mathematics as possible

At times it works, for example, he lays out complex mathematical equations and breaks them down into their individual parts to explain to the lay person what he's looking at, and what the different parts of the equation represent, and why. I didn't get a lot out of this, but it was fun to see the equations dissected in this way.

Where the book fails is when it attempts to tackle geometry. At that point the book's attempt to make relativity accessible falls to pieces. The geometry explanations are baffling to anyone who is not proficient in the field, and are clearly not intended for a lay audience. After reading through numerous chapters where it delves into this, I came away understanding absolutely nothing.

If you can get through the geometry sections, you do actually get something from the book. There are two key areas where the book absolutely shines. In the first, he explains time dilation using the analogy of a motorcycle rider cruising along a countryside. The analogy works brilliantly and clarifies a lot of things that other books (and i've read many) on the subject never really make clear.

Then the author builds on this (after confusing the heck out of you with several chapters on geometry), by dissecting carefully, and in great detail, the twin paradox. Everyone who has read anything about relativity is familiar with the famous twin paradox, one twin goes on a rocket and accelerates to near light speed, stops, turns around, and comes back. When he comes back he finds the twin has aged a great deal more than himself.

We all know that relativity says this happen, but I've never read a book before, which gave me any deep fundamental understanding of WHY it was so. This book explains it in luxurious detail, going over the different aspects of it over and over, from many different angles, making sure you get exactly what is happening and exactly why. That section of the book (to be read after the section on the motorcycle rider) is worth the cost of the book alone.

If you want a light begginers read about relativity, this book is NOT for you. If on the other hand, you are very well versed on relativity on a basic level, (you know what the twin paradox is for example) and want to get a fuller sense of WHY time dilates, and what time dilation means in a physical sense, then you may very well enjoy this book.
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars For all the astrophysicists out there
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2024
Verified Purchase
This is a good read. A little complex if you aren't educated in physics, but you can still read a long pretty easily if not. I would recommend this to the aspiring physicist out there who want to know a little bit about the theory of relativity and Einstein's role in our understanding of modern physics.

5/5 from me!!
Helpful
 Report
Zvi Rosenfeld
5.0 out of 5 stars Very well explained
Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2022
Verified Purchase
The Theory of Relativity isn't simple, yet somehow this book made it (mostly) easy to understand. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone without a scientific background that wants to understand modern physics (but keep in mind that understand the finner point of the theory will require some mental work).
Another thing I liked about this book is that it tells you how the story of modern physics continued beyond Einstein's theory - both by describing modern experiments that confirm the theory, and by explaining the basic ideas built upon the theory.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Firstboomer
5.0 out of 5 stars As a non-scientist and math flunky, I followed most of it…
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2024
Verified Purchase
I started out wondering why scientific equations are peppered with squares and square roots, i.e., what is it about them that make for satisfying answers. The simplest and ubiquitous formula is Pythagorus’s solution for the length of the hypotenuse in a right triangle. What led him to use the squares of the right angle sides to equal the square of the hypotenuse? It is certainly not intuitively obvious. This book did not answer that directly, but instead explains some of the math and scientific brilliance that led to E=Mc (squared). I planning to re-read the book to absorb more of this fascinating explanation of nature.
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Barbara
5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and entertaining
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 12, 2024
Verified Purchase
I loved the whole thing. Its well written, informative and entertaining at the same time.
Report
Buckley
5.0 out of 5 stars Très satisfait
Reviewed in France on May 23, 2022
Verified Purchase
Très satisfait. Livraison parfaite, colis parfait.
Le produit est parfaitement conforme à la description et a été livré dans les délais.
Report
the big pen
5.0 out of 5 stars beautifully explained
Reviewed in Australia on July 24, 2022
Verified Purchase
I have a confession. I have a physics degree, I managed to understand Special Relativity, but have always struggled with General Relativity.

It was never the maths, you must have a good grasp of maths to obtain a physics degree, but the concepts were challenging. Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw do an excellent job of building the explanation of Special and General Relativity from the very basics in a clear and easy to follow narrative.

The ideas are still as challenging as when I first came across them as an undergraduate, but Cox and Forshaw have an ability to break down the physics into bite sized manageable issues and build a step-by-step explanation of one of the great achievements of science.
Report
大顔連
5.0 out of 5 stars 一度紛失したので再購入
Reviewed in Japan on December 17, 2019
Verified Purchase
中古本でしたが，状態もよく，価格も小さくてお買い得でした。前回は海外線で忘れてしまったので，非常にありがたいです。
Report
Francesc H.
5.0 out of 5 stars Genial!
Reviewed in Spain on April 13, 2016
Verified Purchase
Creo que por fin he encontrado el libro que me hará entender la teoria de la relatividad! Voy por la mitad y pinta genial. Llego en perfecto estado, de segunda mano, a un precio difícil de creer. Espectacular!
Report