Relativity - The Special and The General Theory
by Albert Einstein
1916

To quote Einstein himself, this slim volume was "intended, as far as possible, to give an exact insight into the theory of Relativity to those readers who, from a general scientific and philosophical point of view, are interested in the theory, but who are not conversant with the mathematical apparatus of theoretical physics". Despite his formidable intellect, Einstein writes in a clear and engaging style, using familiar examples to illustrate his theories and their surprising conclusions. Anyone with a curiosity about the man, and his often misquoted theories, would do well to settle down with this book in a comfortable chair, and shut the door - you will need to think and imagine hard to keep up with Einstein! Delve into the world of the infitinely small, infinitely large, and lightning fast, and at least scrape the surface of these two great concepts which laid the foundations for atomic, nuclear and quantum physics in the following decades, and made space flight and modern astronomy possible.