Why does E=mc2? Book Review

This is one of those books that you will probably find yourself reading in fits and starts, as it is interesting enough to finish but not gripping enough that it'll be one of those books that you just can't put down.

The book talks you through one of the most famous equations ever (perhaps the most famous in the popular consciousness), and that is E = MC^C, or E = MC2 if you could do superscript here.

That is, why does energy = mass x the speed of light squared.

The book talks you through various thought processes Einstein went through and has lots of slowly paced explanations.

However it is a little slow and sometimes labours the point in such a way that you end up more confused than a briefer treatment would have given you (when an obvious point is stated five times you start to wonder if it is actually obvious and get confused before realising no, that bit was obvious).

A redeeming feature is that a lot of the discussions are very interesting, and the book is not just a dry treatise about why E=MC2 but rather discusses lots of interesting scientific debates such as the origin of mass, warping spacetime and so on.

You may have come across one of the authors, Brian Cox, before, as he has recently started presenting science programs on BBC TV. Overall worth reading, but if there are other popular science books on your target reading list, prioritise those over this.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Reviewer: dan moore