Everything's Relative: and Other Fables from Science and Technology
By, Rothman, Tony
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Class No.: 509 ROT
Accession No.: 012243
Year: 2003
Pages: xii, 236 p.

The surprising truth behind many of the most cherished 'facts' in science history Morse invented the telegraph, Bell the telephone, Edison the light bulb, and Marconi the radio . . . right? Well . . . the truth is slightly more complicated. The history of science and technology is riddled with apocrypha, inaccuracies, and falsehoods, and physicist Tony Rothman has taken it upon himself to throw a monkey wrench into the works. Combining a storyteller's gifts with a scientist's focus and hardheaded devotion to the facts-such as they may be-Rothman breaks down many of the most famous 'just-so' stories of physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, and technology to give credit where credit is truly due. From Einstein's possible misunderstanding of his own theories to actress Hedy Lemarr's role in the invention of the radio-controlled torpedo, he dredges his way through the legends of science history in relating the fascinating stories behind some of the most important, and often unsung, breakthroughs in science.
Everything’s Relative tells fascinating “truth-is-stranger-than-fiction” story behind this and many other scientific discoveries and breakthroughs, including how:

• Henry Young, the greatest American scientist after Benjamin Franklin, severed his friendship with Samuel Morse after not receiving proper credit for his key role in inventing the telegraph.
• Thomos Young’s celebrated “double slit” experiment is so laden with ambiguous language, it raises the question: Did Young really act alone in his experiments?
• Albert Einstein, one of the greatest twentieth-centaury physicists and a titan of science, misinterpreted his own highly celebrated theory of relativity.
• More than 600 lawsuits were filed against Alexander Graham Bell after he took sole credit for inventing the telephone.
• And much more.