Suggestions for Additional Reading

Special relativity has perhaps been the subject of more books for the nontechnical reader
than any other area of science:
L. Barnett, The Universe and Dr. Einstein (Time Inc., 1962).
G. Gamow, Mr. Tompkins in Paperback (Cambridge University Press, 1967).
L. Marder, Time and the Space Traveler (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971).
N. D. Mermin, It’s About Time: Understanding Einstein’s Relativity (Princeton
University Press, 2009).
B. Russell, The ABC of Relativity (New American Library, 1958).
L. Sartori, Understanding Relativity: A Simplified Approach to Einstein’s Theories
(University of California Press, 1996).
J. T. Schwartz, Relativity in Illustrations (New York University Press, 1962).
R. Wolfson, Simply Einstein: Relativity Demystified (Norton, 2003).
Gamow’s book takes us on a fanciful journey to a world where c is so small that effects
of special relativity are commonplace. 

Other introductions to relativity, more complete
mathematically but not particularly more difficult than the present level, are the
following:
P. French, Special Relativity (Norton, 1968).
H. C. Ohanian, Special Relativity: A Modern Introduction (Physics Curriculum and
Instruction, 2001)
R. Resnick, Introduction to Special Relativity (Wiley, 1968).
R. Resnick and D. Halliday, Basic Concepts in Relativity (Macmillan, 1992).


For discussions of the appearance of objects traveling near the speed of light, see:
V. T. Weisskopf, “The Visual Appearance of Rapidly Moving Objects,” Physics Today,
September 1960.
I. Peterson, “Space-Time Odyssey,” Science News 137, 222 (April 14, 1990).


Some other useful works are:
L. B. Okun, “The Concept of Mass,” Physics Today, June 1989, p. 31.
C. Swartz, “Reference Frames and Relativity,” The Physics Teacher, September 1989, p. 437.
R. Baierlein, “Teaching E = mc2,” The Physics Teacher, March 1991, p. 170.
Okun’s article explores the history of the “relativistic mass” concept and the connection
between mass and rest energy. The article by Swartz gives some mostly classical
descriptions of inertial and noninertial reference frames. Bayerlein’s article discusses
some of the common misconceptions about mass and energy in special relativity.