Product Description

Product Description

This book is the result of more than twenty years of lecturing a master course on the General Theory of Relativity at the University of Oslo, Norway, by Dr. Øyvind Grøn. The text has been continuously updated by Dr. Grøn and is written so students can follow the deductions all the way throughout the book. The conceptual content of the general theory of relativity is presented briefly but reasonably and completely. Both bachelor students and master students will find the text useful as the manuscript is organized to easily find the topics one wants to read about, with separate lists of contents, figures, definitions, examples, and an index.

Customer Reviews (1)

Some serious errors in describing the General Relativity!
Quite unfortunately, in this overall well written book the author makes some serious mistakes regarding the essence of the GR. For instance:

1. On the page 10, the author states that in non-inertial
frames the following postulates apply:

"G1. The laws of nature are the same in all reference frames."

"G2. An observer with arbitrary motion may consider himself
to be at rest and the environment as moving."

The both statements, especially G2, are incorrect. An observer
in an accelerated frame definitely can tell that he is
in an accelerated frame, because, for instance, he will be
feeling g-forces, the period of a pendulum will be changing
from the magnitude of the acceleration, etc., quite different
from an inertial (non-accelerated) frame, where everything
will be floating in weightlessness! The correct statement,
describing the equivalence principle is:

"An observer in an uniformly accelerated frame may consider
himself to be at rest in a frame with an uniform gravitational
field. The laws of nature are the same in the both frames."

Since "uniform" gravitational fields do not exist in the
nature (except as an approximation in a very small volume),
Einstein came to the concept of space-time curvature expressing
the "real" gravitational field, etc.

Because of this initial error, on the page 33 the author,
when explaining the (in)famous "twin paradox" concludes
"In order to arrive at a clear answer to these questions,
we shall have to use the result from the general theory
of relativity." This statement is absolutely false, as it
had been shown countless times before in various texts, as
long as the "real" gravitational field is not present
(the Riemann tensor equal to 0), the twin paradox can be
easily resolved using only the special theory of relativity
(see the book by Taylor and Wheeler)! This argument has already
been discussed to death, so it's quite bad to open it anew
in this book :-(
... Read more

Product Description
General Relativity has passed all experimental and observational tests to model the motion of isolated bodies with strong gravitational fields, though the mathematical and numerical study of these motions is still in its infancy. It is believed that General Relativity models our cosmos, with a manifold of dimensions possibly greater than four and debatable topology opening a vast field of investigation for mathematicians and physicists alike.Remarkable conjectures have been proposed, many results have been obtained but many fundamental questions remain open. In this monograph, aimed at researchers in mathematics and physics, the author overviews the basic ideas in General Relativity, introduces the necessary mathematics and discusses some of the key open questions in the field. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Best Review of Constraints in General Relativity
Okay, this book has positive and negative aspects to it.

First the negative aspects. There are typos, which should be expected for such a huge book's first edition. Some are severe, others are not (e.g. when showing a rank-2 tensor is symmetric, it writes $X_{ab}=X_{ab}$ instead of $X_{ab}=X_{ba}$). These are the only negatives that come to mind.

The positives are that this is probably the most (if not *the*) authoritative reference on constraints in general relativity. It covers York's conformally formulated constraints, and Moncrief's contributions as well. This is done in a scholarly manner, so one can refer to the original sources, and in a self-contained cohesive manner (so you don't have to refer to the original sources). It is really quite beautifully written.

It may be a bit intimidating for the uninitiated working with constraints. I cannot help but apologize to the neophytes, I know no good introduction to the canonical formulation of gravity (except perhaps Poisson's book "The Relativist's Toolkit"). I cannot really deem this either a good or bad introduction, I was using the book as a reference.

There are exercises, however, so if the reader performs all the exercises...she will be far more astute when it comes to the computations and theory behind esoteric topics in general relativity.

But wait, there's more! This book covers black holes (in a rather mathematical way, so all of your favorite singularity theorems are here presented with proofs in a cohesive and beautifully well written manner).

My two cents is to refer to this book when working on canonical formulations of gravity; I am currently in a reading group on black hole thermodynamics, and this book is my first recommendation to other students in the group. ... Read more

Product Description
A modern self-contained introduction to key topics in advanced general relativity. The opening chapter reviews the subject, with strong emphasis on the geometric structures underlying the theory. The next chapter discusses 2-component spinor theory, its usefulness for describing zero-mass fields, its practical application via Newman-Penrose formalism, together with examples and applications. The subsequent chapter is an account of the asymptotic theory far from a strong gravitational source, describing the mathematical theory by which measurements of the far-field and gravitational radiation emanating from a source can be used to describe the source itself. The final chapter describes the natural characteristic initial value problem, first in general terms, and then with particular emphasis for relativity, concluding with its relation to Arnold's singularity theory. Exercises are included. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The only book for advanced GR
Although it seems to be a general relativity book, this is actually an excellent book for learning advanced mathematics. The sections on differential geometry and spinor analysis rival any of the dedicated textbooks on these subjects. This is also the only book to give a clear and concise introduction to tetrads and the Newman-Penrose formalism of general relativity.

This book is a must for any serious physicist.

treasure trove of knowledge
It seems to me that there are far too many in number, and far too few in quality, books on on general relativity.

John Stewart, rather than waste time on the hordes of cute little cartoon models apt for a tourist ratherthan physicist, gets straight to the heart of the matter and presentsamazingly powerful results (on differential geometry/ Spinors/Asymptopia/Initial Value Problem). He doesn't skip any steps in his proofsand doesn't try to appeal to science fiction intuition.

As someone whohasn't encountered spinors before reading this book, I'm grateful for thehelpful appendi on the matter. Unfortuneately however I've found indifferent books the notation for spinors can vary wildly. The result isthat I must refigure out all the basic properties to understand thenotation. My complaint is that Stewart doesn't seem* (perhaps it's myignorance) to use the most common notation, but on the other hand, he alsoprovides the most easily used and referenced appendix.

In summary, ifreading most of that relativity tripe make you a tourist, Stewart makes youa citizen. ... Read more

Product Description
Einstein's general theory of relativity is perhaps the most important perspective to emerge in a century of astonishing progress in the field of physics.However, it is also a notoriously difficult subject for beginning students. This book describes general relativity in terms understandable to undergraduates in physics and astronomy. It discusses concepts and experimental results, and provides a succinct account of formalism.A brief review of special relativity is followed by a discussion of the equivalence principle and its implications.Other topics covered include concepts of curvature and the Schwarzschild metric, tests of the theory of relativity, black holes and their properties, gravitational radiation and methods for its detection, the impact of general relativity on cosmology, and the continuing search for a quantum theory of gravity.A set of worked examples, background appendices, and an annotated bibliography are also included. Written at a level accessible to nonspecialists, this book is especially strong on the experimental physics of relativity. ... Read more

Product Description
Widely considered the greatest contribution to the philosophy of science, Einstein’s theory of relativity has often been viewed as comprehensible only to highly trained scientists. This book, however, contains the great physicist’s own explanation of both the special and the general theories, written for readers interested in the theory but not conversant with the mathematical apparatus of theoretical physics. Presenting the ideas in their simplest, most intelligible form, this three-part volume outlines the special theory, the general theory, and in a final part, offers considerations on the universe as whole.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

An augmented version of Einstein's book for a general audience
There are many versions of Einstein's book on relativity, written for a general audience.This book was written in 1916, in German and then translated into English.The book being reviewed here uses a 1920 edition, but it is far from being the newest one that Einstein wrote.The newest, the 15th edition, was written in 1952, and it is the most complete, as it contains several appendices that are not in earlier editions, as well as some corrections of errors that appeared in earlier editions.I have read both the 15th edition and this one, and if you want the best version of Einstein's text I would definitely get the 15th edition, as opposed to the one being reviewed here.However, the edition being reviewed here has been augmented with new material, and I think that this makes it a better choice than the 15th edition.

This book contains an interesting introduction by Roger Penrose, which provides some insights concerning Relativity Theory and the cosmological advances that have grown out of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity.The book contains lengthy commentaries by Robert Geroch that clarify many of Einstein's chapters.Finally, there is an essay by David Cassidy on the "Cultural Legacy of Relativity Theory".In my opinion these additions more than make up for the appendices that are provided in the more complete 15th edition of Einstein's book.

I liked this book and recommend it over the 15th edition, but I cannot give it 5 stars.I found Einstein's prose to be typical of 19th century scientific prose, that is to say somewhat tedious and less than clear.This is especially true of the latter half of the book, which is devoted to the General Theory.To make matters worse, it was originally written in German and may have lost some clarity in the translation.There is a final chapter on cosmology that, because of the rapid advances in this field, make this section largely only of historical interest.

I recommend this book if you really want to read Einstein, albeit in translation, but there are better choices if you want an introduction to Relativity Theory.If you want a better introductory treatment of Relativity, I highly recommend Martin Gardners "Relativity Simply Explained" and if you want an introductory treatment with a little more scientific detail (but still without any math) I recommend Richard Wolfson's "Simply Einstein - Relativity Demystified".

Something Important Is Missing.
This version does not have any diagrams, only refs to nonexistant GIF image files.
This is involved stuff here, a reader needs the illistrations.
Please explore the other versions even if they cost more.Without the formula images this is just about unreadable.

This is a HORRIBLE Kindle Version
This was my first bad experience with the Kindle.Had I picked this book up at a store, I would've flipped through the pages and realized that it was poorly formated.There are carriage returns at all the wrong places, it's nearly impossible to read.I wish I'd paid a few bucks more and gotten one of the other versions.

If you're a kindle owner - go elsewhere.

Harder than it needs to be
This Dodo Press edition is riddled with annoying typos -- even in some equations and variable names. In addition the section numbers referred to in the text are only found in the table of contents, making navigation cumbersome.

A classic like this deserves better. Look for another edition.

Bah!
No, Einstein's Relativity IS amazingly brilliant and eloquent, I assure you of this. My review, although, is a buyer beware scenario. I ordered this exact copy of the text and the one that arrived had all sorts of horrendous typos. One? Two? No, more like...a ton. In an example of this, the 'aether' where the character 'ae' is a single one, somehow in the process of printing it, the character got repaced by a space and question mark! So when Einstein talks about the 'process by which the?ther happens...' or some such example, I translate it as 'bad' and not 'aether'.

By all means, buy Einstein's copy of Relativity, but please be cautious when ordering from this particular publisher. I'm unaware of whether or not this problem is widespread, but to those who get the one with the maddening typos riddled all over it, just bear through it and appreciate Einstein's eloquence and not the translator or publisher's, in my own personal opinion, bad spellchecking. ... Read more

Product Description

This four-volume work represents the most comprehensive documentation and study of the creation of general relativity; one of the fundamental physical theories of the 20th century. It contains the direct facsimile, transcript and explanation of and comments on the Einstein Zurich Notebook as written in 1912. The research by Einstein herein forms a pivotal part of his creation of the theory of General Relativity (1915) from Special Relativity (1905) and Newton's law of gravitation. Additional sources from Einstein and others who from the late 19th to the early 20th century contributed to this monumental development sources are presented here in translation for the first time. The volumes offer detailed commentaries and analyses of these sources that are based on a close reading of these documents supplemented by interpretations by the leading historians of relativity. All in all, the facets of this work, based on more than a decade of research, combine to constitute one of the most in-depth studies of a scientific revolution ever written.

Product Description

Suitable for a one-semester course in general relativity for senior undergraduates or beginning graduate students, this text clarifies the mathematical aspects of Einstein's theory of relativity without sacrificing physical understanding.

The text begins with an exposition of those aspects of tensor calculus and differential geometry needed for a proper treatment of the subject. The discussion then turns to the spacetime of general relativity and to geodesic motion. A brief consideration of the field equations is followed by a discussion of physics in the vicinity of massive objects, including an elementary treatment of black holes and rotating objects. The main text concludes with introductory chapters on gravitational radiation and cosmology.

This new third edition has been updated to take account of fresh observational evidence and experiments. It includes new sections on the Kerr solution (in Chapter 4) and cosmological speeds of recession (in Chapter 6). A more mathematical treatment of tensors and manifolds, included in the 1st edition, but omitted in the 2nd edition, has been restored in an appendix. Also included are two additional appendixes – "Special Relativity Review" and "The Chinese Connection" - and outline solutions to all exercises and problems, making it especially suitable for private study.

Customer Reviews (12)

exellent introduction
This textbook provides an excellent introduction to a topic that is extremely easy to get bogged down in. I took a one semester course that used this text as an undergraduate, during which I thought the book was merely decent, but then when I took a gradute course that used Carroll's Spacetime and Geometry is when I really came to appreciate the preparation this book gave me (not that Carroll's book is bad, I just wouldn't recommend it for a first reading). Not to mention the book is pretty cheap as far as physics texts go.

Poor choice of textbook
I chose this book as the text for an undergraduate mathematics seminar, thinking that the students
would like something very elementary. Unfortunately, the book's presentation isn't simply pedestrian---
it is completely muddled. Many elementary points are presented via circular arguments which simply left the students baffled and confused. It is a real pity to see an elegant subject like general relativity butchered
so thoroughly. In retrospect, it would have been far better to first have them read Rindler's ESSENTIAL
RELATIVITY,and then give them selected excerpts from the elementary track of GRAVITATION by Misner, Thorne, and Wheeler.

I couldn't use it.
This book has everything I found to be correct in a text book but when I tried to teach with it I found it to have a lot of mathematics and not much of physical ideas.
Landau's Classical Field Theory book is much better but it is for advanced level, so I still didn't find a proper book.
Now I will try Schutz one.

A great first book on general relativity
I like this book because it has the best elementary introduction to the mathematics of general relativity.It starts out with simple multivariable calculus and geometric notions about vectors.It then explains the ideas of the natural basis and the dual basis, first in a plane and then on a manifold, with very helpful figures.With too many other books it is possible in a first exposure to completely miss the point of these ideas, which really are pretty simple when you come right down to it.It is true that the physical motivation and meaning of general relativity are not treated in that much depth, but these can be picked up from other sources.In my view it is the mathematics that is the most intimidating thing about general relativity -- the physical ideas are exhilirating and natural by comparison!

Great for independant study
As a person who did postgrad physics and maths over 5 years ago and has been out of the field for way too long, I found that this was a great introduction to GR, a subject I never got to do at university.It introduces the maths (tensors, manifolds and geodesics) in the earlier chapters and relies heavily on them in the introduction to GR.

The book has great solutions, or at least very helpful hints, to the problems that are given throughout the book.Though at times I was stuck with some, it generally it required me to only look at the first step of the solution to be able to solve the problem.

This book is a quantitative approach, while "A First Course in General Relativity" (Schutz) is a more qualitative approach.I personally perfer the quantitative approach, and found this book better than Schutz.If you're looking for a more verbose and wordy book, go for Schutz, while if you're going for a mathematical approach (includes the derivation of the Schwarzchild's solution and the rise of black holes coming from Schwarzchild's solution) then this book is more for you. ... Read more

Product Description
The theory of relativity, explained by the greatest mind of the 20th century. Albert Einstein discusses the special and general theories of relativity, and the core concepts of modern cosmology, including time dilation, the spacetime continuum, and the energy-mass relationship, in simple non-mathematical terms. ... Read more

Product Description
Exposition of fourth dimension, concepts of relativity as Flatland characters continue adventures. Popular, easily followed yet accurate, profound. Topics include curved space time as a higher dimension, special relativity and shape of space-time. Accessible to layman but also of interest to specialist. 141 illustrations.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

geometry, relativity and the fourth dimemsion
too abstract. Didn't touch on relativity until the 4th chapter and had trouble following the book til then.

Well Written Introduction to the Fourth Dimension
A great mathematical read! Fascinating diagrams. Begins with accessible concepts for all who love geometry. Gets into spacetime later in the book. Considers some philosophical/spiritual elements too, but mostly geared toward math and physics. A classic read. Highly recommend!

Good intro to related topics to Special Relativity
I found this work to be quite readable and something I can introduce to people with less math background.However, reading the book raises more questions than answers in my mind regarding the history of mathematics.For example, non-Euclidean geometry has been around for a long time and is the basis for ancient systems of navigation.

Similarly, for those who have studied the history of astrology (and its initimate relationship in the ancient world to navigation and agriculture), a great number of things (for example, the divisions of the houses) are all based on spherical geometry and many go back nearly two thousand years.For anyone who has ever known that the earth was a sphere, many of these problems were largely taken for granted.The only real problem with disproving Euclid's 5th postulate has been defining parallel lines on a sphere.I am not entirely sure that Rucker answers this in looking at the flattened sphere because the sphere could be rotated to make any two lines parallel.

Otherwise, I think this is a decent beginner book relating to the subjects in question.It is a useful work and I would generally highly recommend it as an introduction.

Instructive, and interesting
I found the book to be both educational, in that I learned great deal about geomtery and the history of diemsions from this book, as well as being fun to read. Both interesting and intellectually stimulating--I find this combination rare. I recommend ths book to anyone interested in the field.

With few exceptions, it is a readable, stepwise explanation of how the universe is structured
To understand relativity, it is necessary to understand geometry, specifically how a straight line can be curved. For nearly everyone, any attempt to understand four-dimensional space begins with understanding how a three-dimensional creature would appear to a two-dimensional one. One of the earliest and still the greatest of all introductions to going up a dimension is "Flatland" by Edwin A. Abbott. Quite naturally and sensibly, Rucker starts with Abbott's rendition of the properties of Flatland.
Rucker then moves on to the idea of curved space, where the shortest distance between two points is a "straight line", which is curved by the properties of the space. The space that we occupy is curved by the presence of matter, as Einstein claimed in his relativity theories. Furthermore, movement causes shrinkage in the direction of the movement and the slowing of time, which causes time to become just another dimension of space. As counterintuitive as this may appear, Einstein's relativity theory has been verified over and over again to a large number of significant figures.
One of the best things about this book is that Rucker has included problems at the end of each chapter. These problems reinforce the concepts of the chapter; it is unfortunate that no solutions were included.
In this book, Rucker steps the reader through all of the background material necessary to understand relativity and four-dimensional space. With few exceptions, the accounts are understandable to anyone with an understanding of college algebra.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Ancient and Obsolete
The beauty of general relativity (GR) lies in the connection it provides between geometry and physics.Weinberg's algebraic approach completely obscures this connection.Instead Weinberg teaches how to crank through complex calculations without any insight or geometric intuition.It is a fairly good book when compared to Misner-Thorne-Wheeler (another ancient text).However, by modern standards, Weinberg's book leaves much to be desired.Having been published in 1972, the book lacks modern examples in cosmology and quantum gravity.It also lacks a proper introduction to differential geometry and makes no mention of topology or other mathematical ideas prevalent in current GR research.In the 35 years since its publication, it has been surpassed by many much better books.For an excellent introduction to GR, read Carroll's book.For a more rigorous study of GR read Wald's book.For an easy introduction to GR, read Schutz's book.

Unique,IdiosyncraticApproach
Flashback to 1979.I Purchased Weinberg's Gravitation book and
Misner,Thorne, Wheeler's Gravitation book, simultaneously. Back then it took four weeks to get hold of a book by mail. The waiting made it all the more special when the books finally arrived. I still have those same two worn copies. Still re-read each. Sure, they are different viewpoints of General Relativity.
But, how greatly they both enrich the world. Together, those two
books started a pedagogic revolution. Weinberg has no
equal,cherish this book. Cherish MTW, also.

A great book by a great physicist
This is the bestbook written on general relativity, and I have read or at least looked at nearly every one of them. It is better than Wald's book because Steven Weinberg is a better physicist than Robert Wald. The only people who will not be pleased with it are those mathematicians who are looking to physics for elegant mathematics and not for physical insight.

A virtue of this book is that so far as I can see Weinberg has thought through general relativity for himself, and he has worked through all of the derivations himself - certainly the ones that I have checked - rather than quoting others.
This is not always the case for books in physics. Weinberg is careful, and I have yet to find an error in the book.

Old book that is hostile to the spirt of G.R.
There was a time when this book was probably very authoritative and useful (though I can't see myself preferring it over Hawking and Ellis, even then).Put it out of your mind: that time is gone.There are a slew of much better, much more modern books out there.Furthermore, this book is written from a perspective that attempts to filter a huge chunk of the geometry out of G.R., sullying a lot of the beauty of Einstein's central idea.If you are interested in cosmology, you can do a lot better looking at Hawking and Ellis, or one of the more recent books that will, due to their newness, emphasize the numerous advances in cosmology since the 70s.If you are interested in Relativity, PLEASE look at Schutze (beginner) or at Wald (graduate).Don't waste time and energy on this book.

That being said, there are some interesting advanced topics here, and a few things that I haven't seen elsewhere.This can be a useful reference for a researching relativist.

Elegantly and concisely written
I used this book in a class taught by its author. That makes it hard to disentangle the experience of taking the class from the book itself. However, I found this far more readable that Misner, Thorne, & Wheeler's ponderous tome. As enjoyable as I found Taylor & Wheeler's Spacetime Physics (written in a similar style), MTW is leaden in contrast to Weinberg's text. I had no problem with the notation: the rules for manipulating indices are quite straightforward and easy to apply. Furthermore, this is the notation used in a variety of other applications of tensors, from electrodynamics to mechanics (stress and moment of inertia tensors), so get used to it. As other reviewers have observed, one cannot help but think that MTW could have been edited down considerably; Weinberg's book is much tighter. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

unique and fundemental viewpoint
As a student of physics, I'm always plagued by the presentation of any modern physics. Questions of "where does this come from" or "what does this mean" are never answered and rather students are expected to simply work calculations until those questions fade away, answered (or rather unanswered) by a new familiarity with just how to do calculations. It is as if understanding the theory was only a means to an end.

Anyway, this book went a long way for presenting the material in a way that satisfies those questions. Even if the answer is just "it seems somewhat plausible to define something that way based on what we observe experimentally", the book actually gets down to it and says that and defines it -- rather than just assuming that you knew it was obvious to describe particles using a mass density function, for example.

Also, the book actually covers not just GR, but also electrodynamics (the foundational way) and also matter models. It's worth it just for the chapter on matter.

Outstanding math/physics text
I took the course on which this book is based from Mr. Sachs at UC Berkeley when the book was in the form of printed handouts.
This book is aimed at readers with a fairly advanced level of mathematical background - differentiable manifolds and some basic riemannian geometry (e.g Warner "Differential Manifolds"). This background is assumed and a prospective reader without this knowledge would be well advised to use the Hawking and Ellis book The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time (Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics) as a companion volume.
Penrose's Techniques of Differential Topology in Relativity (CBMS-NSF Regional Conference Series in Applied Mathematics) (CBMS-NSF Regional Conference Series in Applied Mathematics) is also a good companion volume.

As the title says....
It is too bad this book is out of print, as it is nicely written and addresses a mathematically sophisticated reader with a solid background in differential geometry. It is written by two very competent mathematicians, and still could be read as background for more modern developments in general relativity, particularly singularity theorems and as mathematical preparation to the current research in quantization of gravity. It could serve as a textbook in a class the mathematical foundations of general relativity at the graduate level. ... Read more

Product Description
Modern physics rests on two fundamental building blocks: general relativity and quantum theory. General relativity is a geometric interpretation of gravity while quantum theory governs the microscopic behaviour of matter. Since matter is described by quantum theory which in turn couples to geometry, we need a quantum theory of gravity. In order to construct quantum gravity one must reformulate quantum theory on a background independent way. Modern Canonical Quantum General Relativity provides a complete treatise of the canonical quantisation of general relativity. The focus is on detailing the conceptual and mathematical framework, on describing physical applications and on summarising the status of this programme in its most popular incarnation, called loop quantum gravity. Mathematical concepts and their relevance to physics are provided within this book, which therefore can be read by graduate students with basic knowledge of quantum field theory or general relativity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Not for beginners
This is an excellent technical account of the loop quantum gravity program and the current state of progress in reaching the program's goals.
However, as Theimann suggests, those starting to study the subject would be well advised to begin with Carlo Rovelli's book. ... Read more

Product Description
This collection was designed for optimal navigation on Kindle and other electronic devices. All books included in this collection feature a hyperlinked table of contents and footnotes. The collection is complimented by an author biography.

Table of Contents:

Customer Reviews (1)

The worlds greatest mind
Works of Albert Einstein: On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, Relativity: The Special and General Theory, Sidelights on Relativity, Dialog about Objections ... & more. Published by MobileReference (mobi)

For the dedicated reader, for whom learning is a mission, and who has learned his high school Math and Physics, this is an excellent ebook. It gives the dedicated and prepared reader the chance to interact with one of the greatest minds of all time. ... Read more

Product Description

Based on a course given at Oxford over many years, this book is a short and concise exposition of the central ideas of general relativity. Although the original audience was made up of mathematics students, the focus is on the chain of reasoning that leads to the relativistic theory from the analysis of distance and time measurements in the presence of gravity, rather than on the underlying mathematical structure. The geometric ideas - which are central to the understanding of the nature of gravity - are introduced in parallel with the development of the theory, the emphasis being on laying bare how one is led to pseudo-Riemannian geometry through a natural process of reconciliation of special relativity with the equivalence principle. At centre stage are the "local inertial coordinates" set up by an observer in free fall, in which special relativity is valid over short times and distances.

In more practical terms, the book is a sequel to the author's Special Relativity in the same series, with some overlap in the treatment of tensors. The basic theory is presented using techniques, such as phase-plane analysis, that will already be familiar to mathematics undergraduates, and numerous problems, of varying levels of difficulty, are provided to test understanding. The latter chapters include the theoretical background to contemporary observational tests - in particular the detection of gravitational waves and the verification of the Lens-Thirring precession - and some introductory cosmology, to tempt the reader to further study.

While primarily designed as an introduction for final-year undergraduates and first-year postgraduates in mathematics, the book is also accessible to physicists who would like to see a more mathematical approach to the ideas.

Customer Reviews (1)

A GR intro that is clear, concise, up-to-date and mathematically impeccable
I really like N. M. J. Woodhouse's two books on relativity: General Relativity (Springer Undergraduate Mathematics Series)and Special Relativity (Springer Undergraduate Mathematics Series) (Volume 0). They're both short, well organized, exceptionally clear and mathematically impeccable.Woodhouse is a very gifted writer: he knows how to get to the point!

Be forewarned though: they're written for senior math majors and so not suitable for anyone whose math skills are sub-par.But if your math skills are honed, both books are really a pleasure to read, especially compared to the mathematically inadequate, long-winded and sometimes downright confusing expositions of many other books.

Even though the book is short and mathematically oriented, it does not shirk the physics motivations, as you can see via the Look Inside this Book function.Woodhouse manages to cover the basic or essential aspects of many key topics in just 178 pp. For example, Einstein's Equation is introduced and discussed in chapter 6 (pp. 89 - 94); the curvature tensor is discussed on pp. 96-98 and Killing Vectors on pp. 102-104. Other chapters deal with Spherical Symmetry, Orbits in Schwarzschild Space-time, Black Holes, Rotating Bodies, Gravitational Waves, Redshift.

Fast pace, yes; but he makes every word, definition, equation and theorem count!Anyone, like me, who has been frustrated by the many introductory general relativity books that are either confusing -- mathematically or otherwise -- or else just too detailed (I love GR but am not gonna become a physicist :), should find this new (2007) introductory book a "breath of fresh air".

[If your special relativity isn't up to par, I also recommend his book Special Relativity (Springer Undergraduate Mathematics Series) (Volume 0)as a "prequel".]



... Read more

Product Description
Einstein's general theory of relativity is introduced in this advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate level textbook. Topics include special relativity, in the formalism of Minkowski's four-dimensional space-time, the principle of equivalence, Riemannian geometry and tensor analysis, Einstein field equation, as well as many modern cosmological subjects, from primordial inflation and cosmic microwave anisotropy to the dark energy that propels an accelerating universe.

The author presents the subject with an emphasis on physical examples and simple applications without the full tensor apparatus. The reader first learns how to describe curved spacetime. At this mathematically more accessible level, the reader can already study the many interesting phenomena such as gravitational lensing, precession of Mercury's perihelion, black holes, and cosmology. The full tensor formulation is presented later, when the Einstein equation is solved for a few symmetric cases. Many modern topics in cosmology are discussed in this book: from inflation, cosmic microwave anisotropy to the "dark energy" that propels an accelerating universe.

Mathematical accessibility, together with the various pedagogical devices (e.g., worked-out solutions of chapter-end problems), make it practical for interested readers to use the book to study general relativity and cosmology on their own. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Best book for self-study
Learning general relativity has always been a dream of mine.This book made it possible for me to learn GR on my own.A dream come true!

The Fundamentals
Excellent overview text.Enough detail for people with a physics background; an alternative to an exhaustive course on general relativity.

This book is a gem
Intermediate level, with clear presentation, lots of graphics and exercises, ideal for self-study. In one word, excellent.

Excellent Material to begin with and test yourself.
I'm a second year astrophysics student from Ireland.
Recently I've tried to learn the Mathematics of General Relativity in detail, outside of my course and have bought numerous books in the process.

In my opinion this book and "A First Course in General Relativity by Bernard F. Schutz" are perfect complementary texts to learn the main basis of General Relativity on your own.

The author has provided an unbelievable amount of questions and not a single one of them is pointless exercise.

The book is Divided into three sections:

Part 1: Metric description of Space-Time
Very well written intro to General Relativity which delves into Black Holes and Mercury's Orbit, without the full on Field Equation and Tensors.

Part 2: Cosmology
Still keeping to the metric description of space-time, cosmology is introduced. The mathematics of concepts like the closed and open universes are explained really well.

Part 3: Full Tensor Formulism
I was able to learn Tensors from this, using Chapter 3 from Schutz's book as a companion.

The questions at the end of each chapter really test your knowledge and after reading this you will be able to manipulate the field equation for simple cases and move onto more advanced books if you wish.
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