Wilfred Thinking Aloud

Niks Relatief (Nothing Relative At All)

This summer, during the holidays, I read a great book on formal languages. It had been quite some time since I read something as fundamental as that, but after I got a taste of it, I find it hard to let go. So for this holiday, I added some semi-scientific literature to my wishlist.

The book that I ended up reading is called "Niks Relatief" - Dutch for "Nothing Relative At All" - by Vincent Icke. From the title, it might not be that obvious, but it is about relativity theory. Definitely interesting. It exists of two parts: the first part does not contain any formulas, and explains classical mechanics and quantum mechanics in general. The other part of the book explains the math behind all of it.

I never really enjoyed physics so much, partly because I almost electrocuted my sister when I was nine, thinking I had it all under control, and partly because it seemed to me that mathematicicans just had much more fun than physicists. This book makes me wonder if I should have given it a second chance, ten years ago.

Anyhow, it is a great book. The author does writes in a very compact way, and there are situations in which rookies like me loose track, but then again, this is entirely compensated by the enthousiasm and wit of the author.