# Chapters


• 1.1: To c or Not to c
Einstein’s famous special theory of relativity has gained unquestioned acceptance in the scientific world. It has been proved in countless ways and is the foundation upon which gravitation and high-energy quantum physics are based. Is it something that a “normal” person can understand? Relativity forces us to abandon our ideas about time, which is a hard thing to do, but the basic mathematics of it are relatively simple—just a picture away.
• 1.2: Mixmaster Universe
To prove Einstein’s famous mass-energy relationship most clearly, it helps to return to our graphic calculator from the previous chapter and figure out why it works so well for low-ish speeds.
• 1.3: A Trip to Alpha Centauri
• 1.4: Gravity Lite
Einstein extended his theory of the constancy of the speed of light to describe situations in which acceleration was present. He called this his general theory of relativity since it contains zero acceleration (constant speed) as a limit.
• 1.5: Cosmology

This page titled Chapters is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Jack C. Straton (Portland State University Library) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.