How long does it take to read the theory of relativity?

If one was to find both the special, and general theory of relativity online, about how long would it be? How long would it take to read both?|||I've read both, and if you actually give a damn about understanding it it takes considerably longer than 30 minutes. There's a handy book "Relativity: The Special and General Theory" by Einstein himself that you can pick up at any Borders or Barnes and Nobles. I would say you could read it in under a month if it's an on-the-side thing, or in a week or two if you really focused.



Although in my personal opinion I would suggest the first half of "The Special Theory of Relativity" by David Bohm and all of "General Theory of Relativity" by Dirac. These books really give you a great intuitive grasp of ideas that at first seem counter-intuitive until you let go of a few very basic assumptions. I would suggest spending two weeks on each book and really trying to picture what they're talking about. You can buy them, but any local college library should carry them, and you don't need a student ID to read them on the comfortable chairs in the library.



And you really don't need barely any math but basic algebra to understand either one. To actually use General Relativity you would need a bit of math background, but just to understand it is different.



A lot of people are just put-off by it instantly and give up, but if you give it a little while and actually try and understand it it's really not very complicated. Just like Quantum Mechanics, which everyone tries to make sound so complex and magical. If you really look into it and consider the scale of what you're talking about it actually isn't very odd at all.|||Einstein's original paper on special relativity is only a few pages long. It would take you less than 30 minutes to read it. However, how long it would take you to understand what you are reading depends upon your background in math and physics. General relativity is a bit longer and might take an hour or so to read. Again, understanding it could take years. It is like reading E = mc^2. You can read that in a few seconds. However, fully understanding what is means depends upon your background.





I hope this helps.