Niks Relatief (Dutch)

In his book ‘Niks Relatief’ (Nothing Relative), physicist Vincent Icke explains Einstein’s theory of relativity in a simple, understandable, yet complete way. The insights from this theory won’t miss their effects on society in the long term, so for me this book was a must to read. Icke divides his book in two parts. In the first part he explains the theory in ‘normal’ language. In the second part (which can be read by turning the book) he uses scientific formulas as an explanation.

Einstein found two very important facts:

• The speed of light is absolute. Where other speeds are always relative to the speeds of other objects, the speed of light always stays the same.
• The speed of light is also the absolute maximum speed. Even an object that keeps adding speed (going a little bit faster every second), will never make the speed of light due to relativity effects.

Icke explains how Einstein came to his formula E=mc2. Or how mass and energy are connected through a constant c2 (as c is the speed of light, which is always the same). Then Einstein showed that in theory it should be possible to travel in time. It is possible to travel in space, take a year to do that, and after a year in space, the earth is 150 years further.

Icke shows that it is not just a theory. The GPS systems for example have to correct themselves for effects of relativity. A device we use every day brings the theory of relativity to life.

One of my questions after reading this book is if people’s aging process has relativity effects. It is clear that if you would travel in space, you would stay younger. Although not in relation to the other people on board of the space ship. Also, I once understood that people working on the highest level of a sky scraper, have been proved to age quicker than people working on the ground floor. Can we use relativity to slow down the process of aging?

All in all, ‘Niks Relatief’ is a nice book giving marketers insight in new products to be developed in the far future. There will be less and less focus on physical products and services, and more and more focus on virtual experiences. The insights in this book mark the basis for this.