In embracing Einstein, our century took leave of a prior universe and an erstwhile God. The new versions were not so rigid and deterministic as the Newtonian world. Einstein’s. God was no clockmaker, but the embodiment of reason in nature. This God did not control our actions or even sit in judgment on them. (“Einstein, stop telling God what to do,” Niels Bohr Finally retorted.) This God seemed rather kindly and absentminded, as a matter of fact . Physics was free, and we too are free, in the Einstein universe which is where we live.

因为信奉了爱因斯坦，我们的世纪告别了原有的宇宙和上帝。新的宇宙和上帝不再那么刻板、僵硬，象牛顿的世界那样。爱因斯坦的上帝不是钟表匠而是自然定律的化身。这个上帝不控制我们的行动，更不对其加以判决。（“爱因斯坦，别再管上帝该干什么。”玻尔最终反驳道）这个上帝实际上似乎有些和善，心不在焉。在这个爱因斯坦的宇宙中，在这个我们生息繁衍的宇宙中，物理学没有了束缚，我们也没有了束缚。
 
Einstein’s Theory of Relativity

爱因斯坦的相对论
 
Special Relativity

狭义相对论
 
Relativity says that light always moves in a straight line through empty space, and always at the same speed in a vacuum, no matter what your observation point. From these simple claims follow bizarre consequence that challenge common sense and our perception of reality.

它指出光在真空中走直线，且在真空中光速恒定，不论你的观测点如何。由这简单的结论得出一些奇怪的推论，它们挑战了我们对现实的日常感知。
 
A moving clock runs slower than a stationary one from the perspective of a stationary observer.

从固定的观察者来看运动中的表比静止的慢。
 
A moving object appears to shrink in the direction of motion, as seen by a stationary observer

固定的观察者来看运动的物体，它在运动方向上似乎会缩小。
 
General Relativity

广义相对论
 
In general relativity, time is considered a dimension like height, width and depth, creating a four dimensional universe called space-time. Einstein argued that gravity is really a warping of space-time,with the greatest distortions near the most massive objects. Because light travels in a straight line through the contours of space-time, a light beam will curve where space-time curves, this curving was first measured in 1919

在广义相对论中，时间被看作和长宽高一样的维度，并与它们构成了一个四维宇宙—被称作时空。爱因斯坦提出万有引力是一种时空变形，在巨大的物体附近有严重的变形。因为光沿时空走直线，所以光线在时空弯曲的地方会弯曲。这现象在1919年首次被观测到。

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