Is there an explanation of general relativity without math?

Answer 1

While there are explanations without math, application without math is not possible.

"General relativity (GR) is the geometrical theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915. It unifies Einstein's earlier special relativity with Isaac Newton's law of universal gravitation. This is done with the insight that gravitation is not due to a force but rather is a manifestation of curved space and time.
In the early 1920s Arthur Eddington claimed that there were only 3 people in the world who understood general relativity"

Answer 2

General Relativity theorizes that space-time is curved, and that objects with great mass (such as planets and stars and so forth) warp space-time; the fact that you stick to massive objects or that planets orbit stars is due to the geometry of space, rather than a "force." An analogy: think of space time as a trampoline. If you placed a bowling ball on the trampoline, representing a star, you can get an idea of how spacetime is warped by the presence of the mass. If you place a small ball near to the bowling ball it will fall into the "well" formed by the bowling ball--in other words, it is moving toward the bowling ball not because of an inherent attractive force generated by the bowling ball, but because it has warped spacetime so that the shape conducts objects toward it.

Answer 3

Its a good advice by Sententia to read the Brief History of Time. But why approach the master first. Try his follower's explanation, might be just enough 4 u.
I have read countless books on einstein's tewo theories and the related topics (including, of course, The Brief History of Time by Hawking). Here I present u with my very own essay on the topic.
THE GENERAL THEORY
The general theory of relativity is much more complex and difficult to understand than the special theory. It proves the force of Gravitation, as proved by Sir Isaac Newton, wrong. According to Newton, gravity was a force between two bodies, which depends on their respective mass and the distance between them.
The basic idea of general relativity can be illustrated with the help of an imaginary experiment as performed by Einstein. Suppose a lift is at rest in space. If a ball is released within the lift, it will float in space and not fall. If the lift accelerates upward, an observer within the lift will see the ball fall to the floor exactly as it would under the pull of gravity. The ball appears to fall because the floor of the lift, as seen from outside the lift, it accelerates upward toward the ball. All the effects we associate with gravity would be seen by the observer in the lift. Einstein called the phenomenon shown in this experiment the Principle of Equivalence. This principle states that it makes no difference whether an object is acted on by a gravitational force or is in an accelerated frame of reference. The result in both cases will be the same. From this principle, Einstein reasoned that matter in space distorts or "curves" the frame of reference of space. The result of this curvature is what we experience as gravity. The Euclidian or flat geometry was unable to explain the curve, so Einstein used geometries called Riemannian geometry to explain the effect.
According to Newton's theory, a planet moves around the sun because of the gravitational force exerted by the sun. According to the theory of general relativity, the planet chooses the shortest possible path throughout the four-dimensional space- time, which is deformed by the presence of the sun. This shortest possible path is called a geodesic. This may be compared to the fact that a ship or an aeroplane crossing the ocean follows the section of a circle, rather than a straight line, in order to travel the shortest route between two points. In the same way, a planet or light ray moves along the "shortest" line in its four-dimensional world.
So far, three things have been discovered in which Einstein's theory of general relativity receives experimental proof as opposed to the theories of Newton. These differences are not great, but are measurable. In the first place, according to Newton's theory, the planet Mercury moves in an ellipse about the sun. According to Einstein's theory, Mercury moves along an ellipse, but at the same time the ellipse rotates very slowly in the direction of the planet's motion. The ellipse will turn about forty-three seconds of an arc per century (a complete rotation contains 360 degrees of an arc and 360 X 60 X 60 seconds of an arc). This effect is rather small, but it has been observed. Mercury is nearest to the sun and the relativistic effect would be still smaller for other planets.
If we take a picture of part of the heavens during an eclipse of the sun and near the eclipsed sun, and then take another picture of the same part of the heavens a little later, the two photographs will not show identical positions for all the stars. This is so because, according to general relativity, a light ray sent by a star and passing near the rim of the sun is deflected from its original path because the sun's gravity curves space. The effect of gravity on light is also the reason why black holes are invisible. The gravitation in a black hole is so strong that light cannot escape from it.
Physicists have known for more than a hundred years that when some elements are heated to incandescence they give off a pattern of spectral lines (coloured lines), which can be examined through a spectroscope. According to the Einstein theory, the wavelength of light emitted from a massive object will become longer because of gravitation. This results in a shift of the spectral lines towards the red end of the spectrum; this type of red shift is called gravitational red shift. If we examine the spectral lines of an element on our earth with the spectral lines given off by the same element on the sun or on a star, the spectral lines of the element on the sun or star should be very slightly shifted toward the red end of the spectrum, compared with the spectral lines of the same element on our earth. Experiment has confirmed this shift. In 1960, two American physicists, R. V. Pound and G. A. Rebka, Jr., detected the red shift resulting from the earth's gravitational field. They measured the effect of altitude on the frequency of gamma rays.

Answer 4

no because relativity implies a relationship involving greater and less, or better and worse; no matter how you slice it, you're talking math. but then again, what can you talk about in this universe that doesn't involve math? not very much. it also depends on what you mean by math, in its narrow definition of equations and formulas, or just something that is quantifiable

Answer 5

Read Stephen Hawking's book A Brief History of Time.

Answer 6

yes. relatively speaking...it has nothing to do with math. If you are going one direction and an object is going a certain speed toward you it is only relative to where you are, and it's speed is only relative to your position. If i am standing at the point of origin of the object going toward you it is going away, relative to my position..to someone in a line with the object your speed and the objects speed are relative to its position. Light , being analyzed by nerve impulse is light everywhere at every speed. But, if you are traveling the speed of light away from me, someone coming toward me at the speed of light would not see you because you are going twice the speed of light , relatively ..

Answer 7

yes... unfortunetly without the math it's often more difficult to understand...

Answer 8

no. either you get it or you don't. do the math