本文是作者为Minkowski Institute Press 2021 年4 月出版的新书Albert Einstein, Relativity: Meaning and Consequences for Modern Physics and for our Understanding of the World 所写的引言。该书收录了爱因斯坦本人的一本书The Meaning of Relativity 和他的六篇论文“The Principle of Relativity and its Implications in Modern Physics” “Notes on the Origin of the General Theory of Relativity” “Non-Euclidean Geometry and Physics” “ The Problem of Space, Ether and the Field in Physics” “On the Method of Theoretical Physics” “Physics and Reality”。这些文章是爱因斯坦对自己理论的解释以及他对物理与世界的看法。（此文由曹南燕译）