This was a very enjoyable and revealing course, covering what at first may appear to be a somewhat impenetrable subject. But the step by step approach and sensible progression of topics made the subject matter easily understandable, and the obtaining of that understanding a joyful and insightful experience. It can't be easy to teach such a course to camera, so big thanks to Larry Randells Lagerstrom.... he definitely deserves a strong lager!!

I would highly recommend this course to anyone with a general interest in Einstein and special relativity. The presentations by Professor Lagerstrom were exceptionally good. The material was presented in a well paced manner with great explanations of somewhat esoteric ideas. I also really enjoyed the historical narrative of Einstein's life before and after the "miracle year". It was so good I am almost tempted to go through the course again!

A fabulous course giving great notions and ideas of how things operate in the universe. Beyond the interesting part of this class, you will get a noteworthy approach enabling all to understand how things came out to be discovered. I think it makes sciences more accessible and anchored in the reality of our lives. Anyway, I loved it, the teacher is outstanding. It will be useful for my 12th grade in France and most importantly my future!

Easily one of the best course I've ever taken. I like how Dr. Larry really tries to build a strong foundation so his students - regardless of their background - can gain a reasonably deep understanding of the theory. It is a very well-made introductory course on the special theory of relativity, and it shows that everyone can understand this concept if they have the passion and the willingness to invest a little bit of their time.

This was not just a course, but an experience in learning. The professor took us through a journey of learning about a topic very difficult understand, and patiently led us through the learning experience with right amount of maths and excellent use of examples, quotes etc., to keep the interest alive all through. I wonder if some such course on General Theory of Relativity can be there, even if that is perhaps more mathematical.

I did the course because I had developed an interest in cosmology and felt the need for understanding Einstein theories. The course did this for me and also gave me insights into how scientists work. As a big picture thinker, I have limited patience for detail. The instructor, in addition to having extensive knowledge of the subject matter, is also a good educator and and thorough teacher. So well done and keep up the good work!

This was an excellent course about The Special Theory of Relativity. The topics were explained in a way that was easy to grasp with minimal math (mostly algebra). If there's one thing to be improved for this course is to make this a 10-week course. Weeks 5 and 6 were quite long and anyone who is even slightly busy with other things in life will struggle to finish them on time. That's all. All else considered, I learned a lot!

This course is superb! The professor explains complicated concepts and mathematical equations in the simplest manner possible. I learned a ton!

Note: the course keeps mathematics at a minimum, so if you want a quantitative approach to the Special Theory of Relativity, this is not for you. However, even if you are looking for a quantitative approach, this course will enhance your conceptual understanding of Einstein's theory.

.Great. Very clear and we'll explained. Excellent course materials. Lecturer outlined the key points very well, with clear examples. The prepared notes were first class and the tests clearly focused on the critical concepts. Reference materials were selected to be highly relevant and introduced at the right time. I would love to do further courses by the same organisation and the same lecturer. I would highly recommend.

Until I took this thoughtful, extremely well organized course, I could not get my head around many of the weird concepts in Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity, no matter how much I read about it. Prof. Lagerstrom is to be congratulated for the very excellent, logical manner in which he has taught this course. I would highly recommend this course to anyone seeking a great mental challenge and scientific curiosity.

I seriously love this course. It gave me a lot of insight in the realistic world. I love the way it is explained, it could not have been better! Thank you so much! This is the first course I have ever done, and I think I will move on towards the General Theory of Relativity. So much thanks again! This course changed my life, positively. I'm more motivated than I ever was. You are doing a great job, I love it. -Remko

As a geologist engineer, this course showed me that no modern physics can be out of reach. We all can play with these ideas and get a solid understanding of them. Prof. Lagerstrom really made the most important points clear and I got a clear picture regarding the Special Theory of Relativity, among history of science and other stuff as well. Great, solid course of which I can only feel thankful to Prof. Lagerstrom.

My idea was to undestand the Special Theory of Relativity from a qualitative point of view and this course really accomplished that. Although I don't speak English in my day to day, the teacher made it easy to undestand not using a lot of difficult vocabulary and writing and drawing on the board. I highly recommend this course for those who are curious and want to learn more about the Special Theory of Relativity.

Wonderful course that has opened so many doors of thought and knowledge. Thanks to the professor, Larry Randles Lagerstrom for his instruction and for bringing this amazing course of one of the greatest minds of all time to Coursera. My interest in physics has been piqued and i will continue to pursue a deeper understanding after this wonderful course. Thank you again to the professor and to the team at Coursera.

O curso tem uma abordagem minuciosa dos conceitos, num ritmo lento o bastante, permitindo uma contínua e eficaz apreensão do conteúdo da teoria especial da relatividade. O professor Larry Lagerstrom tem o condão de tornar simples o entendimento de conceitos contraintuitivos e aparentes paradoxos. A abordagem histórica, incluindo a vida e visão de Einstein, é um sabor a mais e ajuda a valorizar o aprendizado.

This is a great course for understanding concepts as the principle of relativity, the constancy of velocity of light, the relativity of simultaneity, the invariant interval, time dilation, length contraction, the famous equation E=mc^2 and a short introduction to the General Theory of Relativity with the Principle of Equivalence, everything in a quantitative and qualitative way given by an excellent professor.

This is a very wonderful course. I really enjoyed it. The professor really shared the insight of having a struggle to understand will lead to an ennobling, enriched experience and how we can look at the big picture of what the universe is like and how this works. Understanding Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity really helped a lot (in context and some key concepts of space and time). Thank you professor.

Course is very well organized and concepts are clearly explained and illustrated. Quizzes are well designed for review and reinforces the material covered. A lot of references provided for parallel and further exploration of the subject. Course is well balanced in the presentation of historical, humanistic, and scientific materials, making it very enjoyable for learning the subject with a broad perspective.

The course is a beautiful marriage of history, humanity, and science. The pace is slow at first but picks up steadily. I never thought I would ever understand special relativity but thanks to Professor Lagerstrom's thorough explanations, I am now comfortable with the concept and see the world in a different light. I wish Professor Lagerstrom will eventually produce a similar course on general relativity.

Dr Lagerstrom is a fantastic instructor and makes the most fearful physics seem ordinary. The course layout was perfect along with the pace. Also, Dr Lagerstrom made the concepts detailed with the right amount of math. I didnt believe I could understand Einstein without all the math. I enjoyed this opportunity to get a deeper understanding of one law of the universe and am eager to learn more.

Es el primer curso que encuentro con un nivel muy adecuado, va más allá de lo que siempre se dice sobre relatividad pero no es tan complejo como ser solo comprensible por especialistas o matemáticos.

It is the first course that I find with a very adequate level, it goes beyond what is always said about relativity but it is not so complex as to be only understandable by specialists or mathematicians.

Amazing introductory Course for Special Relativity. Might be a bit too basic at times w.r.t to maths but hey!, it never hurts to listen to things for a second time. Will definitely recommend to anyone looking to get into higher level physics. Being a High School student myself, I learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks a lot to Stanford and Prof for making education freely available to all.

This course is engaging and interesting. The lecturer inspires you to learn and open your mind. The course itself can be hard in areas but if you stick with it, eventually you can work it out. There is a fair bit of algebra (which I never studied at school) but I still made it! I recommend this to anyone who wants to understand time and space and be drawn into the fantastic world of Einstein.

After reading almost a lifetime books about the works and accomplishments of Einstein (not being a graduated scientist but huge fan of the topic), it is amazing to follow this this course and explore this world in a whole new sight. Fantastic stuff brought by the best instructor by far. I think I will start all over again. A lot is much more obvious now, or is it? Triple A+ for Larry. Thank you.

I can't stress enough how good this course is. It's the best course i've ever taken in any subject. It's really impressive how much energy, thought, patience, care was put here. I'm deeply thankful for this. You guys made me so happy. Almost everything someone need to know about STR is here. And the teacher... maybe my favourite physics teacher ever. This guy is the golden standard of teaching.