The manga guide to relativity

✍ Scribed by Nitta, Hideo;Yamamoto, Masafumi;Takatsu, Keita

• Publisher: No Starch Press; Ohmsha
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 196
• Edition: English ed
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Everything's gone screwy at Tagai Academy. When the headmaster forces Minagi's entire class to study Einstein's theory of relativity over summer school, Minagi volunteers to go in their place. There's just one problem: He's never even heard of relativity before! Luckily, Minagi has the plucky Miss Uraga to teach him.

Follow along withThe Manga Guide to Relativityas Minagi learns about the non-intuitive laws that shape our universe. Before you know it, you'll master difficult concepts like inertial frames of reference, unified spacetime, and the equivalence principle. You'll see how relativity affects modern astronomy and discover why GPS systems and other everyday technologies depend on Einstein's extraordinary discovery.

The Manga Guide to Relativity also teaches you how to:

Understand and use E = mc2, the world's most famous equation Calculate the effects of time dilation using the Pythagorean theorem Understand classic thought experiments like the Twin Paradox, and see why length contracts and mass increases at relativistic speeds Grasp the underpinnings of Einstein's special and general theories of relativity

If the idea of bending space and time really warps your brain, letThe Manga Guide to Relativitystraighten things out.

✦ Table of Contents

Preface......Page 11
1. What is Relativity?......Page 21
1. What is Relativity?......Page 26
2. Galilean Principle of Relativity and Newtonian Mechanics......Page 29
3. Mystery of the Speed of Light......Page 35
4. Einstein Discarded Newtonian Mechanics......Page 46
What is Light?......Page 52
Light is Constant (And They Prove it Every Day in a Lab Called Spring-8)......Page 55
Case of Newtonian Velocity Addition (Nonrelativistic Addition)......Page 56
Case in Which the Speed of Light is Constant (Relativistic Addition of Velocity)......Page 57
Galilean Principle of Relativity and Galilean Transformation......Page 59
Wait a Second—What Happens With the Addition of Velocities?......Page 60
2. What Do You Mean, Time Slows Down?......Page 63
1. Urashima Effect (Time Dilation)......Page 66
2. Why Does Time Slow Down?......Page 68
3. The Slowing of Time Mutually Affects Each Party Equally......Page 76
4. Looking at the Slowing of Time Using an Equation......Page 85
Using the Pythagorean Theorem to Prove Time Dilation......Page 90
How Much Does Time Slow Down?......Page 92
3. The Faster an Object Moves, the Shorter and Heavier it Becomes?......Page 95
1. Does Length Contract When You Go Faster?......Page 98
2. Do You Get Heavier When You Go Faster?......Page 104
Using an Equation to Understand Length Contraction (Lorentz Contraction)......Page 118
Muons With Extended Life Spans......Page 119
Galilean Transformation......Page 121
Lorentz Transformation......Page 123
Does Light Have Zero Mass?......Page 124
4. What is General Relativity?......Page 127
1. Equivalence Principle......Page 132
2. Light Is Bent by Gravity......Page 145
3. Time Is Slowed Down by Gravity......Page 155
4. Relativity and the Universe......Page 161
The Slowing of Time in General Relativity......Page 170
Bending of Light (Gravitational Lensing) Near a Large Mass (Such as the Sun)......Page 174
Black Holes......Page 176
Global Positioning System and Relativity......Page 177
Epilogue......Page 179
Index......Page 187

✦ Subjects

Science;Sequential Art;Manga;Physics;Nonfiction;Comics;Graphic Novels