RobinZ comments on Great Explanations - Less Wrong

23 Post author: lukeprog 31 October 2011 11:58PM

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Comment author: Vladimir_M 01 November 2011 02:22:01AM *  33 points [-]

I see that the physics list consists of math-free pop-science books. I don't see how these can possibly count as "great explanations," since it's impossible to gain any real understanding of physics from such materials.

For example, a good explanation of relativity would first present the concepts of Minkowski spacetime and proper time, and then show how all those "relativistic effects" follow from these reasonably simple concepts. (This as opposed to a bad explanation of the traditional sort that confuses the reader with various "effects" and "paradoxes.") Then it would explain how a curved metric with a Minkowski signature can make the geodesic lines look like the free fall curves of Newtonian gravity, thus providing an intuitive grasp of the whole "gravity is geometry" business. Beyond that, you just have to get into the hairy tensor stuff, and even this minimum requires a solid knowledge of algebra, analytic geometry, and basic calculus. Anything less than that is just rambling that may have a lot of entertainment and signaling value, but won't move you one millimeter closer to any real insight.

Comment author: RobinZ 01 November 2011 03:17:18AM 5 points [-]

Speaking as someone who has read a few popular treatments and none of the proper textbooks ... yeah, I agree. I have no insight into general relativity at all, and precious little into special relativity.