Einstein's close friend explains his theories to the public. First English language edition, based on the text of the third German edition, American issue with E.P. Dutton cancel title. This book was originally a series of lectures presented to non-specialists, and 'the reader is assumed to have but little mathematical knowledge' (introductions). The contents begin with classical and Renaissance attempts to measure space and time, and proceed through Newtonian physics to electrodynamics and then Einstein's special and general theories of relativity.

Max Born (1882-1970) was one of the founders of quantum mechanics and a good friend of Einstein. At the University of Göttingen he studied under the scholars David Hilbert and Herman Minkowski, and as a professor at the same institute he taught the young Werner Heisenberg.

In 1925 Heisenberg developed a system that explained the atom according to the quantum theory of Max Planck, and Born realised that by substituting matrix algebra for Heisenberg's equations the theory was made more powerful. When Erwin Schrödinger published his own paper proposing a wave model of quantum mechanics in 1926 Born proved that the two systems were equivalent. He then proposed a probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics, in which the wave equation gives only the probability that a particle will be found in a certain state or location. It was in a letter to Born in response to this that Einstein made his famous statement, 'At any rate, I am convinced that He [God] does not roll dice' Despite his reservations Einstein nominated both Born and Heisenberg for the Nobel Prize in 1932, but Born was overlooked by the committee and would not be awarded until 1954 (Linda Hall Library Scientist of the Day, December 11, 2023).

'Besides the fundamental contributions to quantum theory for which he is most remembered, [Born] also did wide-ranging work on atomic, solid-state and optical physics, as well as early investigations of Einstein's special theory of relativity' (New Scientist biography).

First English language edition, American issue; 8vo; portrait frontispiece, diagrams and equations throughout the text, pencilled ownership signature to the front free endpaper, spotting to the early and late leaves and more substantially to the edges of the text block and endpapers; original blue cloth, titles to spine gilt and to the upper board in blind, cloth rubbed with a little wear at the extremities, a few small spots and marks, a very good copy; 293pp.