About the book: 1971 / We present to the attention of readers the book by E. Taylor and J. Wheeler - a textbook on the special theory of relativity for younger students of physics and senior schoolchildren, written in that new style, which, having received well-deserved recognition, is successfully making its way into modern universities and, hopefully, will soon conquer secondary schools. This is a textbook for beginning physicists, and since the ideas of the theory of relativity have become the cornerstone of human culture these days, it is also a textbook for all people interested in the natural sciences. It is written simply, but scrupulously strictly: its authors are prominent physicists and excellent teachers.