Product Description
Nonspecialists with no prior knowledge of physics and only reasonable proficiency with algebra can now understand Einstein's special theory of relativity. Effectively diagrammed and with an emphasis on logical structure, Leo Sartori's rigorous but simple presentation will guide interested readers through concepts of relative time and relative space.Sartori covers general relativity and cosmology, but focuses on Einstein's theory. He tracks its history and implications. He explores illuminating paradoxes, including the famous twin paradox, the "pole-in-the-barn" paradox, and the Loedel diagram, which is an accessible, graphic approach to relativity. Students of the history and philosophy of science will welcome this concise introduction to the central concept of modern physics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Better Available for Free
Understanding Relativity by Leo Sartori seeks to provide an introduction to Einstein's theory of special relativity to a non-specialist audience. The author discusses pre-Einstein views of relativity, the development of special relativity and some of its associated implications. The issues of general relativity and cosmology are also briefly touched upon. I offer the following comments to potential buyers:

1. Finding the right amount of math for a subject such as this is always a challenge. Not enough and the discussion can be too superficial; too much and you can lose the lay reader. Though sometimes useful, I generally found the author's repetitive use of simplified proofs distracting (they could have been reduced or added as a appendix).

2. Discussion of time dilation and some of its associated ramifications such as the Twins Paradox was weak.

3. Diagrams can be helpful in conveying special relativity. The author's diagrams were medicore.

Overall, not a terrible book. It warrants only 2 stars because it is not good value for money. Better material regarding this and related topics can be found on the Internet for free (just google special relativity).

Relativity made easy
Yes, there are better books on special relativity.And there are a few places where I'd have explained things a little differently.But I like this book.It is thorough and clear.It doesn't simply tell the reader to work it out for herself or himself, but patiently covers one topic after another in detail.Plenty of, um, time is spent on synchronization of clocks and half-lives of moving muons.The properties of moving meter sticks are discussed at, um, length.

Most relativity books leave it as an exercise for the reader why a signal that could travel just a tiny bit faster than the speed of light would go backwards in time.Not this book, which uses space-time diagrams to explain this very well.

The book goes on to make good use of Loedel diagrams, and uses them to help discuss some relativity "paradoxes."Once again, while other relativity books often leave the solutions to these paradoxes as exercises for the reader, Sartori spends some 35 pages addressing many of them outright.

There are a couple of chapters at the end on General Relativity and Cosmology.While they do not get into much of the formalism of these subjects, I think they are a valuable introduction for those who may be curious about them.

This book sure makes learning special relativity less of a chore. If you are a student who doesn't mind being spoon-fed this material, you should try it.

Democratizing relativity
Not only does this excellent text clearly explain Einstein's theories by offering a less numeri-centric study but it is by no means a watered down study either.The challenge of relativity is left to the ideas and not the equations--though the author does not shy away from explaining the mathematics of the theory with equations and diagrams.The book is also logically organized to facilitate understanding of the sequence of phenomena and research that guided Einstein. If all physics texts were like this one, there would be far more scientists around.

Best book to "understand" relativity
I read many books about the Twin Paradox and this one clearly explains the trip in detail, including the clock reading when the brother is leaving, turn-around and back from the journey.To me, relativity is truely amazingand this book can describe the true "meaning" of it.Highlyrecommended.

Excellent book at elementary level.
(from publisher's ad in Science, 10 May 1996):An extraordinarily well-written, well-researched, and carefully thought outpiece of work....The discussions of the paradoxes of relativity and of cosmology are the best discussions of these topicsat the elementary level that I have ever seen.[- Roger A. Freedman, UC Santa Barbara] {I don't why the publisher didn't submit this itself!-CCW} ... Read more

Product Description
With this reader-friendly book, it doesn't take an Einstein to understand the theory of relativity and its remarkable consequences.

In clear, understandable terms, physicist Richard Wolfson explores the ideas at the heart of relativity and shows how they lead to such seeming absurdities as time travel, curved space, black holes, and new meaning for the idea of past and future. Drawing from years of teaching modern physics to nonscientists, Wolfson explains in a lively, conversational style the simple principles underlying Einstein's theory.

Relativity, Wolfson shows, gave us a new view of space and time, opening the door to questions about their flexible nature: Is the universe finite or infinite? Will it expand forever or eventually collapse in a "big crunch"? Is time travel possible? What goes on inside a black hole? How does gravity really work? These questions at the forefront of twenty-first-century physics are all rooted in the profound and sweeping vision of Albert Einstein's early twentieth-century theory. Wolfson leads his readers on an intellectual journey that culminates in a universe made almost unimaginably rich by the principles that Einstein first discovered. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Best Book on Special Relativity!
I agree with the previous reviewers.This is an outstanding book that clearly explains Special Relativity.In particular, it has simple examples and outstanding figures that clearly explain Time Dilation and Simultaneity and the what is so special about the speed of light.

With General Relativity, this book is less successful because GR is far more complicated and requires high-level math.But it still summarizes the key points.

I've read a number of other books on SR and this is the best by far.I recently read "It's about Time", which is highly rated by some but I found it to be near incomprehensible compared to this gem of a book.

Informative, Clear, and Entertaining
The book was a very enjoyable for the layman.I didn't have any difficulty in following the discussion.He not only discussed Einstein's Theory of Relativity, but also presented some of the previous theories throughout history.For instance, he describes ether which was at one time believed to be the medium through which light propagates.

By the time I was finished with the book, I felt like I understood the intuitions behind relativity.I could also answer the questions I had about relativity prior to reading this book.An example: If a space ship is traveling at near the speed of light and an object inside the ship is accelerated, why can't it reach the speed of light?

Simply Terrific
I have read most of the general treatments of relativity theory, including those by Einstein himself and Nobel Prize Winners Max Born and Richard Feynman as well as books by Martin Gardner and Lillian Lieber and this is far and away the best introduction (with Gardner's book a very close second). Professor Wolfson clearly lays out the basic principles of both the special and general theories of relativity (although most of the book is devoted to the special theory). He begins the book by providing a basic background in the ideas of Galileo, Newton and Maxwell; using these to describe the basics of frames of reference, planetary motion and the ether theory. He then describes the Michelson-Morley experiment and why their null result shows that the ether theory was incorrect. Then he uses this background to develop the basic idea of relativity, namely that "The laws of physics are the same in all uniformly moving reference frames.". This approach is different from that used by others (including Einstein and Gardner) who start from the problem of what is a simultaneous measurement. I found Wolfson's approach to be clearer and easier to follow, but it still requires that the reader closely follow the chain of thought developed by the author. This is not a book to casually read without thinking, but if you put in the effort you should be richly rewarded.

This book studiously avoids any math. In fact, in addition to stating E=Mc^2 and one or two other equations (which are just stated) there is no math in the text. (There is, however, a two-page appendix that derives the time dilation formula of special relativity using only the Pythagorean theorem and high school algebra, but this can be skipped if desired.) The decision to present relativity without any math means that there is no discussion of the transformation of coordinates when two systems are moving at a constant velocity relative to one another, and this means that the book does not discuss why such a transformation works for mechanics but not electromagnetic waves and why the Lorentz transformation must be used for the latter (and the fact that it also works for the former making it the correct overall approach). I do not feel that this is a serious deficiency, as it eliminates an approach that I feel is not absolutely necessary for an elementary presentation. Instead, there is a very clear presentation of the behavior of systems that are moving relative to one another at a constant velocity. The idea of time dilation is clearly presented and is illustrated by many different examples. Even though I was very familiar with the ideas that were presented, I learned a lot and a lot of questions that I had were answered.

General Relativity is discussed in terms of the idea of free fall, which is very clearly explained, as is the idea that a system in free fall is equivalent to one moving at a constant relative velocity. I now more clearly understand the idea of what free fall actually is and why a satellite, such as the space station, does not fall to earth under the action of the earth's "gravity". The word gravity is in quotes because book clearly shows that there is no such thing as "gravity", but that what we call gravity is just the result of the curvature of space. The book ends with a discussion of black holes and how Einstein's General Theory of Relativity has changed our view of time, space and the cosmos.

I would like to comment on two things brought up by other reviewers. One disliked the quality of the paper used in this paperback. Rest assured, there is nothing abnormal about the paper that has been used. It is coarse and non-glossy, but it is exactly the same sort that is used in many other paperback books. In fact, I rather like the use of non-glossy paper because I find that there is less light reflection from it, making the text easier to read. Another reviewer felt that the book was difficult to understand. Relativity is a non-intuitive concept and it requires concentration and a willingness to think very heard about the material that is being presented. You will have to work and concentrate to get the most from this book, but in my opinion this book is the clearest presentation that you are likely to find. Unfortunately, this does not guarantee that you will understand or accept everything that is being presented.

I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to anyone interested in relativity. I liked the way the material was organized, the inclusion of background material and the constant restatement of the basic idea of relativity. As mentioned, I liked the discussion of free fall, the principle of equivalence and how these tie together the special and general theories. This book is very suitable for those with a limited mathematics and physics background. I think that book really "demystifies" relativity. It is a great place to start if one is interested in this subject. After reading this book, I would recommend that one then read Gardner's book ("Relativity Simply Explained")as it provides a more conventional approach and then Einstein's book ("Relativity, The Special and General Theory")as it provides the math required for the special theory. As a follow on to these books, I would recommend Feynman's "Six Not So Easy Pieces" as it provides a little more math and a superb analysis of the Michelson-Morley experiment and a derivation of the Lorentz equations. Finally, if one is desirous of learning more about the mathematical basic of the general theory I would recommend Lieber's book ("The Einstein Theory of Relativity"), but be warned you will be exposed to tensor calculus if you do.

Very Good Einstein Relativity Intro
This is a fairly thorough introduction to Einstein's theories of relativity (Special and General) for interested beginners. Using logic, examples, and a few diagrams, the author gives the basics of those theories in generally understandable terms.

Each chapter builds on the previous so it's not advisable to skip around too much. No significant mathematics are involved so that shouldn't be a stumbling block for any reader.

For me, this was a good companion book for "Einstein for Dummies" by Calle. This one was somewhat more advanced and delved into the theories a little more.

One nit-picking item was the poor quality of paper used for this paperback. One grade above industrial paper towels.

Wow!
I started off with his lecture series 'Physics in Your Life' (TTC) and was awestruck by it's content, which was both informational as well as accessible. I decided to read this book on relativity, and boy does it blow my mind. I've tried to learn about relativity from various places, and although it is a relatively simple (sry for the pun) concept to fathom (once you get the hang of it) I always had a few lingering questions that needed to be answered, and Prof Wolfson- as usual did a wonderful job of it. ... Read more

Product Description

Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity, first published in 1905, radically changed our understanding of the world. Familiar notions of space and time and energy were turned on their head, and our struggle with Einstein's counterintuitive explanation of these concepts was under way. The task is no easier today than it was a hundred years ago, but in this book Sander Bais has found an original and uniquely effective way to convey the fundamental ideas of Einstein's Special Theory.

Bais's previous book, The Equations, was widely read and roundly praised for its clear and commonsense explanation of the math in physics. Very Special Relativity brings the same accessible approach to Einstein's theory. Using a series of easy-to-follow diagrams and employing only elementary high school geometry, Bais conducts readers through the quirks and quandaries of such fundamental concepts as simultaneity, causality, and time dilation. The diagrams also illustrate the difference between the Newtonian view, in which time was universal, and the Einsteinian, in which the speed of light is universal.

Following Bais's straightforward sequence of simple, commonsense arguments, readers can tinker with the theory and its great paradoxes and, finally, arrive at a truly deep understanding of Einstein's interpretation of space and time. An intellectual journey into the heart of the Special Theory, the book offers an intimate look at the terms and ideas that define our reality.

Customer Reviews (2)

Presumes too much background
Although nicely concise, the style of presentation is quite dense and requires much energy from the reader who has not kept current with the general content of modern physics.

A Geometric Approach
In "Very Special Relativity," physicist Sander Bais uses basic spacetime geometry to provide a beginner's explanation of Einstein's theory. Topics include relativistic length contraction and time dilation, the twin paradox, Lorentz transformation, and a brief introduction to E=mc2. Spacetime diagrams are Euclidian, not Minkowski, with the time coordinate set to w=ct. This has the advantage of highlighting the Lorentz symmetry between space and time. On the negative side, it's not easy for beginners to understand the need for oblique coordinate axes and rescaling on the moving frame.

No matter what approach is used, the theory of special relativity will probably always seem a little complicated when learning it for the first time (after all, it took an Einstein to figure it out!) The best an author can do is not make it any more complicated than necessary, and I give Bais pretty good marks for this. There is a certain amount of hand-waving and "proof by picture" in it, but after all this is a book for general readers and not a textbook. The book is too short, and more explanation and examples would certainly have been helpful. All in all though, a diligent reader can indeed learn something about relativity from it. ... Read more

Product Description
After reviewing the basic concept of general relativity, this introduction discusses its mathematical background, including the necessary tools of tensor calculus and differential geometry. These tools are used to develop the topic of special relativity and to discuss electromagnetism in Minkowski spacetime. Gravitation as spacetime curvature is introduced and the field equations of general relativity derived. After applying the theory to a wide range of physical situations, the book concludes with a brief discussion of classical field theory and the derivation of general relativity from a variational principle. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

big problems
I was the TA for an undergraduate course that used this book.I read the book to reference equations when writing up homework solutions, and in response to students questions about it, but not otherwise.That is, I did not read it cover to cover, but selectively.However, almost invariably when I read a section I would think that something in it was either confusingly presented or simply wrong.I kept a list of my "grievances" as the semester went along, and I am writing them as part of this review.I probably should give the book one star, based on my experience, but since I haven't read very much of it, it's conceivable that other parts are very good.(So, it gets two stars.)Also note that the students uniformly complained about the book.

1.P. 10, treatment of length contraction.The equation for length contraction is "derived" with no discussion of simultaneity.Essentially, the book writes dx = gamma ( dx - v dt ), and sets dt=0 so that dx is "length".This is not a correct derivation without more explanation, because (for example) using the inverse Lorentz transformation would give the opposite answer.None of the words in the book explain why the the Lorentz rather than inverse Lorentz transformation should be used.It's just not possible to give a correct treatment of Lorentz contraction without being careful about the notion of simulteneity.(It also would help to have a spacetime diagram.)You need to say what length means in each frame, and then compare them.This came up because I was giving students very little credit on a homework problem that was essentially "derive length contraction", and it turned out they had copied out of the book.

2.P18,p117, notation for three-velocity.The book adopts the totally absurd convention of denoting the three velocity by \vec{u} and the four-velocity by u^alpha.Of course, the three-velocity is not equal to the spatial components of the four-velocity, so this notation is incredibly confusing (if not inconsistent, since u^1 would denote both the 1 component of u^alpha and of \vec{u}).A veteran of relativity can follow even an inconsistent notation, but this is incredibly confusing for somebody trying to learn the subject (which is the point of the book).I got lots of confused questions from students about this one, and no surprise.There are plenty of letters in the alphabet--choose a different one for the three-velocity!

3.p120, second paragraph.This one is so ridiculous I can't believe it made it past the first reprinting.The authors write, "So far, we have not mentioned the frequency (or energy) of the photon, which characterises it in much the same way as the rest mass m_0 characterises a massive particle."This is of course completely false.The rest mass is an invariant quantity, whereas the frequency/energy depends on the frame.The analog of the rest mass for photons is zero, the invariant quantity of zero rest mass.The analog of photon energy is particle energy.Frequency has to do with quantum mechanics and has no analog I'm aware of.This sentence sticks out like a sore thumb to anybody who has done some special relativistic kinematics.Again, I simply can't believe it wasn't caught as a mistake by the reprinting.

4. p21, discussion of uniform acceleration.This is a more minor point, but I don't think the authors do a good job of explaining the concept of "uniform acceleration".Uniform acceleration usually does me "uniform four-force", which is very confusing terminology.I think the authors could do a better job of pointing this out.Let me emphasize that this point is minor in comparison with the others

5. p123.The authors say that free particles move on "non-null" worldlines, rather than on "timelike worldlines".Again, this sticks out like a sore thumb; it should have been caught and fixed.

6. p183 and elsewhere.The authors write R^{\mu}_{\nu} instead of R^{\mu}_{\ \nu}.While it is indeed unambiguous to do this for symmetric tensors, I don't see the point.There is a perfectly good notation that works for all tensors, and doesn't need statements like "by the way you can check that both natural interpretations of this notation are in fact equivalent" to define it.Why confuse students with an index operation that is only okay for certain tensors?They are trying the best to get to grips with index notation, already.I think this is a very poor decision pedagogically.

7.p188-189, treatment of point particles.The authors give a very silly discussion of point particles in general relativity.To be clear, there are no solutions in general relativity with point particle stress-energy (see the paper by geroch and traschen).Yet, the authors say (for example) "the position of the particle is where the field equations become singular".It is fine to present the calculation that point particle stress-energy will be conserved only for geodesic motion, but don't pretend there is anything more to it than a (very) suggestive calculation.Since no solutions exist for that stress-energy, you haven't shown anything about the motion of particles in GR.(At the very least, don't discuss the field equations without pointing out that there are no solutions!)

Again, I haven't read the whole book, but you can understand from above why my impression of it is poor.

Great Book
I have this book along with the classic by Misner, Thorne, and Wheeler.Both are good, but I like the explanations in this book better.I think it benefits from being published in 2006.Physicists have learned how to explain General Relativity better.Misner, Thorne, and Wheeler is 3 times thicker and covers more topics, but this is actually a distraction from learning the subject for the first time.

Another advantage of being published in 2006 is that the quality of presentation has improved.

I recommend the book.

An excellent Introduction
While looking for a book to teach my undergraduates I was lucky to obtain a copy of thisbook.I was ready to implementthe Nightingale/Foster , but I was disappointed to seethe degradation of its second edition. I learned GR with the first edition of N/F!!!.
Well , I checked this excellent book and I was amazed.
In the first chapters the authorsexposeVectors tensors and manifold in the easierpossible way. Then they revise Special Relativity . Then , they proceed as usual , Curved spaces , Einstein's Field Equation , Scwh-Metric, Schw -Black Holes , Interior solutions, but , then : Kerr solution in great detail!!. Without going into Ehler's equations or Degenerated Algebras ,the authorsdescribevery wellKerr'sGeometry and Physics ( Penrose's , Celestial Mechanics..etc).
Cosmology ( FLW) solutions ,..Inflation in some extent!!..Linearization and Gravitational Waves (Production and detection).At the very endthere is the Hilbertactionetc.

I wish some Kaluza/Klein , which is possibleand necessary forthe new generation ( to understandcompletelyString Theoryyou need totaste KK- theory ) and also , I wisha given amount of solutionfor thelarge number of problems at the end of every chapter.

I hope to seeboth of these in futureversions of this magnificent introductory book and then I will give the 5-star. ... Read more

Product Description
There is little doubt that Einstein's theory of relativity captures the imagination. It is unrivalled in forming the basis of the way we view the universe and the many surprises that the theory has in store -- the characteristics of black holes, the prospect of detecting gravitational waves, and the sheer scope and profundity of current cosmology excite all students of relativity. The aim of this textbook is to provide students with a sound mathematical introduction coupled to an understanding of the physical insights needed to explore the subject. The book follows Einstein in that it introduces the basic field equations by discussing the relativistic theory of gravitation from a physics point of view, and the structure on the resulting equations is discussed carefully before going on to their solution in simple settings. The book is designed with two objectives: to familiarize students with the basic ideas and equations of the theory, and to cover three main topics: black holes, gravitational waves, and cosmology. Throughout, the author has included numerous exercises (of varying degrees of difficulty) to illustrate and extend the ideas covered. As a result, this book will make an excellent first course for any student coming to the subject for the first time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Excellent General Relativity Textbook
This text is well written. It is less well-known than it deserves to be, as it nowhas many competitors. Needless to say, it deserves attention by the serious student and professors alike.This marvelous resource should not be collecting dust on anyone's bookshelf.

Review by author of Relativity Demystified
This was one of the books assigned when I took general relativity in college. I found several of the chapters very enjoyable to read. D'Inverno does a great job getting into some of the fascinating physics that lies behind general relativity and its development, like Mach's principles and a great discussion of the equivalence principle. Much of the book is devoted to teaching you the mathematics, and it does so in a good fashion. He has two nice chapters on tensors with homework problems that are doable. One drawback was the book didn't have anything on Cartan's equations or discuss one forms (although he talks about contravariant and covariant vectors). The first half of the book is better than the second half, I found his chapters on special relativity excellent but felt his chapters on black holes and gravity waves were a bit lacking. In any case, I recommend it. Try beefing up your education by reading it along with Schutz so you get some exposure to one forms and all that.

This is the best book for an introduction to GR
D'Inverno presents all the prerequisite maths needed for GR perfectly. The book is presented perfectly and at the appropriate introductory level for someone who has already done special relativity and wants to jump into GR but doesnt know what a tensor is. There definitly is no better introduction to GR in existence. The exercises at the end of each chapter are brilliant as well. Usually I dont do exercises as they take too long but D'Invernos exercises are a must do. You learn soo much from them and they are more easy than hard. Most books at this level give exercises which are too hard or not that important to understanding the next few chapters. But D'Invernos exercises are perfect especially the ones on the chapters about the maths needed for GR.
After introducing GR he does stuff on black holes, worm holes, gravitational waves and cosmology.

The only problems with the book are that in the first section of the book he does an introduction to special relativity for those who have never seen it before. It is a very bad intro to special relativity. For the best intro to special rel. one needs to consult "University Physics" by "Young and Fredman".
But for those who have already done SR, d'invernos intro to SR is new and interesting as a method if a bit too difficult and mathematical.
Also I would be a bit critical of the fact that after explaining the geometrical structure of GR perfectly he does not even mention how this view of gravity as a force is not exactly "combinable" with the particle physics view of gravity as a force communicated by a graviton. Just a small thought which I think is important. (Weinberg introduces GR by another method which does not use the mathematical geometrical structure throughout as he considers it "overemphasized" and a bit "misleading")
Wienbergs "General relativity and cosmology" should be the readers next port of call after D'inverno

Where's the new edition?
This is an excellent book. But I have seen a 1996 edition of it, not described above.

The best intro book on GR !!!
This is without any doubt the best book one can use for starting with GR: it is self contained, well written and moreover it is full of Physical insight. In brief: a great book. Even the introductory mathematical part (about tensor calculus) is great written: not too short and not too long. If one would like to gain an additional point of view about tensor calculus I'd recommend to compare the way followed by R. d'Inverno with that followed by Richtmyer "Principles of advanced mathematical Physics" vol 2 (the last all done in geodesic coordinates: this is a book on maths and not about GR!!). The level of Ray d'Inverno is at advanced undergraduate/1st year graduate: in fact one can find a lot of well discussed topics that are generally left out in other books on the subject. Of course this is not an advanced text like R. Wald or Hawking-Ellis, which are the right books if one wants to get a deeper insight in particular topics. The only fundamental thing R. d'Inverno lacks to treat in a fully way is the form of the Energy of the Gravitational field in GR and its related problems: no specific discussion about it. I think this is an important topic. A valuable (and probably the best) discussion about the latter can be found in L.D.Landau "Field Theory" book, or even in Sean Carroll "Spacetime and Geometry" book (a very good one, my favourite together with Landau and Ray d'Inverno), or you can also have a look about it into P. Dirac or Weinberg. ... Read more

Product Description

First published in 1925, Bertrand Russell’s ABC of Relativity was considered a masterwork of its time, contributing significantly to the mass popularisation of science. Authoritative and accessible, it provides a remarkable introductory guide to Einstein’s theory of Relativity for a general readership. One of the most definitive reference guides of its kind, and written by one of the twentieth century’s most influential philosophers, ABC of Relativity continues to be as relevant today as it was on first publication.

Customer Reviews (2)

ABZ of Relativity
I think this book can justifiably be called ABZ of relativity. The author sincerely tries to tell us about relativity by building up from basic elements, but at the point it gets to the stuff that is supposed be really interesting, it becomes unintelligible for the less gifted. He gives three pages to tell us about the difference between mass and weight, but the central concept of "interval" is used for some pages before being poorly defined and explained. I am positively sure he understands relativity and all, and I am sure those definitions are correct in the strictest sense, however they didn't help a beginner, at least in this case. Having said this though, this book is still a very nice read and could be read even if only for its strange humor and wisecracks.

A Philosopher who truly understands relativity
Bertrand Russel was an excellent writer, and one of the few philosophers who truly understood relativity. This book is also a classic. However, the book attempts to explain relativity to the layman using "text" only. The book is not mathematical, and it contains very few graphs or diagrams. This is not the best approach to explaining relativity. Good graphs/diagrams/images can to a certain extent replace equations. There are many modern introductory books and multimedia presentations that does a better at job at introducing relativity.

I recommend this book as a "classic", but not as an introduction to relativity for the non-physicist. ... Read more

Product Description
A student-friendly style, over 100 illustrations, and numerous exercises are brought together in this textbook for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students in physics and mathematics. Lewis Ryder develops the theory of general relativity in detail. Covering the core topics of black holes, gravitational radiation, and cosmology, he provides an overview of general relativity and its modern ramifications. The book contains chapters on gravitational radiation, cosmology, and connections between general relativity and the fundamental physics of the microworld. It explains the geometry of curved spaces and contains key solutions of Einstein's equations - the Schwarzschild and Kerr solutions. Mathematical calculations are worked out in detail, so students can develop an intuitive understanding of the subject, as well as learn how to perform calculations. The book also includes topics concerned with the relation between general relativity and other areas of fundamental physics. Password protected solutions for instructors are available at www.cambridge.org/9780521845632. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (4)

A Labor of Love
This is a wonderful little book that certainly gives you insight into the theoriesof relativity; it is worth the effort to read it.
The 1945 edition happened to be in my high school library, so many years ago, but the last half of the book proved too formidable for me at the time.In those days one studied calculus in the second year of college; in the first year one studied college algebra and then spherical triganometry.Alas, I had to be satisfied with the knowledge the Liebers were able to convey to me.Also helpful to me was that little gem, "The Evolution of Physics" by Einstein & Infield (also in my high school library),and a small, well-written pamphlet by Phillip Frank (Einstein's successor at Prague, then at Harvard), "Relativity and its astronomical implications (1945)," available at the time at the Chicago Planatarium.
This 2008 edition is certainly a 'labor of love' by the editors, Messrs. Derbes & Jantzen, who are to be commended and thanked for their efforts.

Worth the considerable effort that must be expended to understand this book,
This is a republication of a book that was originally published in 1945.While the mathematical approaches to Relativity Theory have changed since then, this book still provides one of the most accessible treatments of the subject.There are, however, two very quirky features of this book of which any prospective reader should be made aware.(I mention these quirky features so that a prospective reader will look beyond them in order to see a very interesting book.)Professor Lieber had the idea that the book would be more easily read by putting each phrase on a separate line, making the book look like poetry.I found just the opposite.Furthermore, when I first saw this book I put it back thinking that is was some sort of cute attempt to discuss Relativity Theory in verse.This incorrect view was unfortunately supported by the numerous drawings that the author's husband contributed.For the most part, I found the drawings innocuous and if you looked at them carefully they did have some relevance to the text.Putting one phrase per line greatly reduced the amount of text per page.Had a conventional layout been used, and the drawings eliminated, the book would have been less than 150 pages long.The upside to this arrangement is that it did provide plenty of white space upon which I could write numerous notes.

This book aims at providing the mathematics of both the Special and General Theories of Relativity, in a manner that is reasonably accessible to someone with at least some mathematical background.However, this is not the book if you are looking for explainations using people on trains firing guns, twins in space ships or people in falling elevators.There is almost none of that sort of thing in this book. If that is what your are looking for I would recommend a book like Martin Gardner's "Relativity Simply Explained" or Wolfson's "Simply Einstein".The book being reviewed here focuses on the mathematics, not on general explanations.

The first third of the book is concerned with Special Relativity, and the treatment in this book is very similar to that provided in many other books, especially Einstein's "Relativity, The Special and General Theory", which was written for a general audience.(If you buy a copy of Einstein's book be sure to get the 15th and final edition, which contains all of the appendices and corrections.)Some of the text of Professor Lieber's book comes (with the proper attribution) from Einstein's book.I liked Einstein's treatment better (it had some of the moving train analogies as well as the math discussed here) and if you are just interested in Special Relativity I recommend it over the book being reviewed here.

The final two thirds of the book being reviewed here are devoted to the mathematics of the General Theory of Relativity, and if you are interested in this subject you should be interested in this book.The General Theory of Relativity is one of those subjects that is so daunting that every other treatment for a general audience eschews providing any mathematics at all and in-depth treatments are frighteningly complex. In my opinion, Professor Lieber did the near impossible in that she made the subject intelligible.I cannot say that after reading this book I can solve problems in General Relativity, but at least I now know what kind of mathematics Einstein utilized and I now have a general idea how General Relativity problems are attacked.General relativity replaces the idea of a gravitational force by the idea of the curvature of space and that this curvature is described by tensor calculus, by means of a curvature tensor.Solve the curvature tensor and you solve the gravitational problem.As illustrations, Professor Lieber uses the calculation of the phrihelion of Mercury, the bending of light by the Sun and the shift in spectra lines due to the curvature of space caused by a large mass (such as that of a star).The phrihelion solution cleared up a problem that had been unexplained for about 50 years when Einstein provided a solution, and was unexplainable by Newtonian mechanics.The confirmation of his prediction of the bending of light made Einstein world famous and the spectral line shift was something that had heretofore not been suspected, but when measured was further confirmation of General Relativity.

In addition to the original author, there are two editors who have done much more that just edit the book.They have provided 21 pages of notes that solve some of the problems that are left for the reader, provide the text from books that are referenced but are no longer in print or available, and provide modern references.The editors fill in some of the gaps that are left for the reader to search out from other books.This is a set of editor's notes that are essential and should not be skipped.

As I have noted the mathematics of General Relativity is that of tensor calculus.Professor Lieber defines contravariant and covariant tensors and how they are manipulated, but does not provide anything like a complete discussion of tensor calculus.For the most part, Professor Lieber defines the relevant tenors and how they are to be algebraically manipulated.Tensor mathematics utilizes a very compressed notation that allows hundreds of equations to be expressed by a single one, but one that utilizes subscripts, superscripts and many different symbols and Greek letters that define complex mathematical operations.The result is a very complex looking expression, but one that I think someone who is adept at algebraic manipulation may be able to follow.However, without the necessary physics and mathematical background they may not really understand why the mathematical operations that the equation describes are being performed.For someone with the right background this may not be too much of an impediment.

An important question to be considered is how much background mathematics does one require in order to get anything out of this book?I have been exposed to some tensor mathematics, but only the simple tensors used to relate vector qualities such as stress and strain.I had never been exposed to contravariant and covariant tensors.I found the discussions to be relatively clear, but the resulting algebraic manipulation of the tensors was daunting to say the least. I doubt that someone who had not studied college level mathematics would get very much from this book, but at least one other reviewer seems to have found otherwise.

The major problem that I had with the book was that there were many places where results were just stated and not properly explained.The editors cleared some of this up, but there were still many places where I wanted to know why a particular operation was being performed.I guess one cannot expect more from a book that effectively devotes only about 100 pages to the mathematics of the General Theory of Relativity.Anyone looking at a text on this subject will see that many, many, more pages of very, very, complex text are required to give a more detailed presentation, which is usually taught as a graduate level course.I am giving the book four rather than five stars because this lack of exposition and because of a concern that in spite of the efforts of the author and editors, the book may be over the head of a reader without the necessary background and I do not want to mislead prospective readers into thinking otherwise. However, with the right background, you should be able to understand what sort of mathematics is used and where to go to learn more (especially from the modern references provided by the editors).For me, that was sufficient and made the book well worth the time I spent with it.

A nice reprint
I'm glad to see this back in print. When in high school, circa 1965, I bought the hard copy version of this. It is indeed a nice introduction to the subject. I confess I did not finish it for some years, because I got stuck on trying to make meaning of the Christoffel symbols. But nobody else's books made me feel comfortable with those, so the fault is not with the author. Eventually (after a graduate course on General Relativity), I finished the book.
This is a lovely book, written with appreciation for the reader as well as the subject. And I loved tying in Hugh Lieber's drawings with the text. Sometimes his tongue was firmly in cheek.

I bought this with the hope that the notes would shed more light on Lillian Lieber, but sadly it appears that there is little left on the record.

Wish I had this book when started learning general relativity !
In my opinion, this is a "must" book for everyone, who wants to learn full general theory of relativity. I had read many books about the GTR (and had a rather difficult time to comprehend them!) before I found a reference to the original (1949!) edition of this book in R. D'Inverno "Introducing Einstein's Relativity" (a very good book itself). In the introduction D'Inverno mentions how discovering this book in a local library had led him to learn the full GTR while he was only 15! This made him to choose relativity physics as his profession, and also his foreknowledge of the "hard stuff" rather shocked his professors at Oxford! Back to me: a few years ago I have acquired a used original of this book (at a rather steep price!), and immediately loved it, despite that I have already learned lots about the GTR in a "hard way". When I found that this book is going to be re-issued, I immediately have ordered a copy! Well, first, the re-issue is of a very high quality. Second, it is supplemented by the new editor's notes, which add lots of the stuff, which is missing in the original edition due to space constraints and the efforts to keep the book as "elementary" as possible. If you want to get a great help in learning the GTR with tensors and all that stuff, to really understand why the star light is bent by the mass of the Sun, or why Mercury's perihelion precession has extra 43" arc-seconds per century, buying this at $10 is a no-brainer ! Get it ! Another two good books for the start are:

Schaum's Outline of Tensor Calculus (Schaum's),
The Mathematics of Relativity for the Rest of Us
and Sokolnikoff, Tensor Analysis (out of print).

... Read more

Product Description
Einstein's general theory of relativity requires a curved space for the description of the physical world. If one wishes to go beyond superficial discussions of the physical relations involved, one needs to set up precise equations for handling curved space. The well-established mathematical technique that accomplishes this is clearly described in this classic book by Nobel Laureate P.A.M. Dirac. Based on a series of lectures given by Dirac at Florida State University, and intended for the advanced undergraduate, General Theory of Relativity comprises thirty-five compact chapters that take the reader point-by-point through the necessary steps for understanding general relativity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

GR in 2 pages per Chapter
Yes, that's exactly the way i've entitled it. So, it should be used just as a quick reference guide to find some equation(s) you need when you already have studied and understood them. I mean, don't expect to understand GR from this small (nice)book. It is like a sumary of the whole theory as it was standing at the time Dirac wrote it. Therefore it does not contain solutions to Einstein equation but the Schwarzschild one. No Kerr-solution, no Finkelstein coordinates, no causal structure...

But anyway, maybe we could say it is the most fast/first-level source you can take a look to find clear equations and clear 1-paragraph-explanations.
For the price you can have it, I think it is a good purchase once you have passed through really teaching books like i.e.: Schutz, Weinberg, Wald, Hawking-Ellis...(in order of increasing mathematical hardness).
Math notation friendly.
No exercices.
Just what i said, 2 pages per chapter.

one of the most important surveys on general relativity already published
Paul Dirac was one of the most celebrated physicists in the history of physics. His "General Theory of Relativity" is a survey on the topic, but what a survey...

A pleasant way to review differential geometry
I've no interest in general relativity, but I have twice enjoyed reading the first part of the book because it is a succinct, elegant review of differential geometry. Light of mass and heavy of meaning, it makes a great companion on a long airplane flight.

You hear him speak
I took the course the book is based on in the Spring of 1973. We students took turns taking notes until the last few where for some reason we ran out of volunteers. The book is an excellent condensing of the lectures. Many of the steps are left out that were presented in the lectures or left for the students to fill in. While there are no explicit exercises in the book, going from one step to the next provides an excellent opportunity to test your understanding. I am in no way an expert in mathematics, but the equations are sufficient to follow point to point.
When I read this book, I can hear him speaking. He would have the day's lecture on a 3x5 card that he would look at at the start and perhaps one more time during the lecture. He had the ability to lecture on GR or quantum mechanics and you would sit there and say "Yes, that makes sense. Now I understand." They you would walk out and start thinking and come to the conclusion that you really didn't understand and that you needed to study it some more. This book lets you do that.

Crash course in Diff. Geometry aspects of General Relativity
This book is a marvel of presentation and concision.
However, you should not regard it as a first course on the subject, unless you merely want to learn its formal aspects.
As such, the subject would appear as a mere pot-pourri of formulas and mathematical concepts directly borrowed from a differential geometry course, with just a little grain of physics ideas.
Almost no mention is made of general relativity experimental tests or the ideas that led Einstein to formulate this theory ; nothing deep and elaborate on stars, the expanding universe ; there's not much on black holes beyond the section about the Schwarzshild coordinate singularity.
To really grasp the subject, you will have to be committed to much more hard and patient work from thicker books.
Reading this book, would be excellent for motivational purposes.
With such warnings in mind, go for it. ... Read more

Product Description
Radically reoriented presentation of Einstein’s Special Theory and one of most valuable popular accounts available. 60 illus.
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Customer Reviews (10)

it worked for me
I have read several relativity-for-the-layman books, including Einstein's own work, and this one got the points across to me the best.After digesting this book I could convincingly explain the time dialation (and coriolis effect) on a cocktail napkin.I think for the lay person, understanding of this stuff can be highly personal: dependent upon if the teacher "speaks to" you.In my case, Bondi spoke my language.

Excellent book for the right audience
Previous reviewers who rated this book less than four stars have simply misunderstood the purpose of this book. It uses a novel approach to present the special theory of relativity to an audience of non-physicists who are not afraid of a few - very few - equations, as in the proverbial "educated high school graduate." Hence Bondi uses numerical examples to avoid many equations. The book is not meant to be a college textbook or complete treatise on relativity!

Bondi's approach makes relativity seem almost obvious. The earlier chapters, which some felt were irrelevant, are designed to contrast sound with light, which may be more familiar, or at least less surprising. There is a lot of physics in this book

Some may be misled by a statement in John Durston's preface: "Professor Bondi derives Relativity from Newtonian ideas." One cannot derive relativity from Newtonian mechanics. But Newtonian concepts can be used to advantage.

My only caveat is that there are several unfortunate typos, especially Eq. (20) on page 123.

An illustration of Special Theory of Relativity
This is one of the first books which use common sense approach to the understanding of special theory of relativity using illustrations, drawings and diagrams. At one time this theory was considered mysterious, which is in fact obvious and clear-cut extension of ordinary ideas to the realm of high velocities. The author first presents Newtonian ideas followed by the concept and characteristic effects of special relativity in a non mathematical language. Then he introduces Lorentz Transformation (LT) in chapter 10, which involves systems of coordinates moving relative to each other and then uses LT to establish the basics of the theory. Readers with very limited mathematical background should have no trouble in understanding the elementary aspects of the relativity. This is a cute little book (177 pages, size 7.92'' x 5.36"), which is classified into three parts. The first part introduces the classical mechanics; concepts of force, momentum, angular momentum, velocity of light and uniqueness of light. The second part deals with the peculiarities of high speeds, relationship of inertial (uniformly moving, constant velocity) and moving observers and the need for theory of relativity to understand high speed situation and a brief introduction to Lorentz Transformation. The final part discusses the consequences of traveling faster than light, acceleration (non-inertial motion) and high velocities on mass. Chapters 8 and 9 are crucial to the common sense approach to the understanding of relativity. The reader may need time and patience to read these two chapters to understand relativity. Chapter 11 discusses some interesting consequences of special relativity; for travels faster than light there is no link between cause and effect, in other words that effect could precede cause. This book is very affordable and useful; I encourage the reader to consider adding this book to his/her personal library.

Something of a con job, but interesting, even informative
The basic theme of this book about relativity and common sense is so far stretched that one could call this a con job.Like the editor must have warned Bondi to stay away from equations so as not to turn off the average potential reader thumbing the pages, but we have pages and pages of mental figuring with three characters with individual names to boot.

Where he is really caught is in a diagram that is supposed to indicate the obviousness of a 30 degree rotation around the origin. Here 1/2 and the square root of 3 divided by 2 manage to show up, with absolutely no explanation at all.Apparaently he was afraid to say sin(30) = 1/2.Thus somebody who really did not know that would have absolutely no clue about how this self-evident diagram really worked!

Thus, as I say, it is con job.A preposterous attempt to link relativity and common sense, like everybody should think in microseconds of light, not feet.(Just try to explain to some youngster how a 8.5 x 11 inch paper is in fractions of a microsecond.) Anything else to Bondi being "degenerate" thinking. I guess he manged to fool even himself.

Yet, he does have his own way of looking at it, so if the subject of relativity usually results in drawing a blank sooner or later, well, this approach has a certain merit as a novel way of approaching the subject.It is possible to learn something from him.

Time Lost Forever
There's no doubting Bondi's credentials or the potentiality of his thesis on the common-sense derivation of special relativity from Newtonian physics, but Bondi fails on two basic fronts:

1) The bulk of his presentation relies on a cumbersome supposition (graphical and otherwise) involving several characters moving through space and time to prove that time is a route-dependent quantity. If the reader wants to truly understand Bondi's theory, he or she should plan to sit down with a chalk board or a paper and pen in order to keep the character's names and their travels straight.

2) The basis for the presentation is so tedious that eventually one reaches the point of sensory overload and, as a result, ends up accepting the conceptual foundation of Bondi's theory as is -- which is no different than taking Einstein's special theory of relativity at face value. In other words, for this reader, Bondi fails to convincingly derive special relativity from Newtonian physics. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (8)

A good book, but not an easy one
This book was produced from the lectures given for many years by the author for a course on Relativity that was given to Cornell University non-science majors.Aimed at an audience of non-scientists one would expect a watered-down, simplified book.While only basic algebra is utilized, with the introduction of almost no Physics, this is far from a watered-down or simple book.As the author clearly states, this in not a book that can be read like a novel.It requires deep concentration and a lot of patience to follow what is presented, but in the end the reader is rewarded for their efforts with a deeper understanding of what the Einstein's Theory of Relativity is all about- it's all about time.I have previously read the general treatments of relativity written by Einstein, Martin Gardner, Richard Wolfson, David Bohm, Max Born and the sections on relativity in Richard Feynman's physics text.Even with a considerable background I found a new understanding of the subject.

Unlike most relativity books, this one does not start with the reason's why Einstein developed a new way of looking at time and space and in doing so overturned Newton's ideas of time and space.The book focuses on the problem of examining events from different frames of reference, and in doing so develops the ideas of relativity without any detailed physics arguments, beyond the idea that the speed of light is the same for all observers, regardless of their velocity.The arguments are all logical and geometrical.Gradually one learns how events may or may not be simultaneous when viewed in the same or different frames of reference, how velocities combine, how time measured on a clock can be a function of the velocity at which the clock moves and how this leads to new concepts of space and time - to space-time.While relatively straight forward at first, the text got much more complex as it progressed and became so complex that after a while I found myself longing for the simplification of a bit more complex mathematics.In fact, it drove home to me how much mathematics can simplify a problem and how difficult things can get when one tries to do without it.

I found the first half of the book to be somewhat challenging, but in the end quite understandable.Unfortunately, I found the next third of the book to be much less clear.This portion of the book deals with the analysis of a "train of rockets" and the idea of space-time.Instead of dealing with the standard approach to space-time, Professor Mermin utilizes his own approach using the ideas of equiloc and equitemp, that he developed.I found this approach far more difficult to grasp than the conventional one.While it does bring out many features of space-time, it requires a difficult exercise in visualization, and in the end is used to only derive equations that had previously been derived in other, and in my opinion, much more assessable ways.I am sure that in Professor Memin's classes he assign's home work problems and discusses their solutions and in this way helps the student more firmly grasp the equiloc/equitemp concepts and how they are used.Studying this approach without them is, in my opinion, very difficult and a bit frustrating.One hopes that these might be included in future editions, or at least this section should be enlarged. The last sixth of the book deals with energy and mass, general relativity and why relativity may be as it is.I particularly liked the energy/mass chapter as it presents the subject in a modern manner, as opposed to the other books that I have read that follow Einstein's approach.This new approach utilizes the concept of mass being invariant in all frames of reference, so it is not a function of its velocity.Instead the analysis is done in terms of relativistic momentum.

Given that I liked this book and learned a lot form it, why am I giving it only four stars, instead of five?This is definitely not a book for someone who just wants to understand a bit about Relativity.For them I would recommend Gardner's book (Relativity Simply Explained) or the one by Wolfson (Simply Einstein).I would, however, recommend this book to someone, like myself, who has a reasonable general background in Relativity but is not studying the subject in a college course, with the understanding that this is a difficult book.I think that the book is best suited for a physics major studying relativity from another text.Physics professors who teach relativity will probably also like this book.I am thus giving the book only four stars because I do not think that it is a good choice for the stated target audience and I would like to be a slight counterweight to some of the five-star reviews that recommend this book without any reservations.

Relativity
Relativity is a damned hard subject to fully comprehend, but it is an important part of being an educated person.Without this knowledge, one can occasionally make a serious mistake in judgment and be dead wrong about certain things.David Mermin explains the necessary thinking in a beautiful, skillful way.I can't imagine his making it clearer or simpler, but nevertheless, it is a HARD bit of reasoning to master.This short book requires reading word-for-word and then some rereading, but this is not a burden.It is written with a light, pleasant touch that is a delight and I fully recommend it to anyone ready to make a serious effort at understanding the real world.

Immensely helpful on various levels
This is fantastic.The best thing is that it teaches the reader relativity via its mathematics and not just through words. The author also labels those mathematics that are perhaps too hard clearly for readers to skip if he or she likes.Only through the understanding of the mathematics underlying relativity can one really appreciate what it is all about.An immensely amazing book.

What others leave out.
If you've been away from the topic for a while it can be frustrating when you return to it when an author makes great leaps in logic or even algebra. This books fills in those details nicely for casual or rusty readers.

The one piece that is missing (and seems to be missing from all relativity texts) that would be great for the casual reader is a discussion of the evidence (theoretical and experimental) for the constancy of the speed of light. Since relativistic derivations take this as a given it would nice to be reminded how we know this is so.

It's About Time
Introduction of formulas a priori with only consecutive derivation is preceptionally inadequate. This combined with too a verbose and insufficiently organized progress of the argument makes for an uneasy reading. ... Read more

Product Description
Publisher: Cambridge, [Eng.] : The University pressPublication date: 1923Subjects: Relativity (Physics)Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Dollar Is Too Much For This Printing.
This is an absolutely atrocious edition.The equations are not typeset.Do not waste your time.In short if you do not understand math, this is the edition for you. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume consists of the first of the John Dewey Lectures delivered under the auspices of Columbia University's Philosophy Department as well as other essays by the author. Intended to clarify the meaning of the philosophical doctrines propounded by W. V. Quine inthe essays included herein are intimately related and concern themselves with three philosophical preoccupations: the nature of meaning, the meaning of existence and the nature of natural knowledge. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Ontological Relativity & Other Essays
W.V.O. Quine is one of the most influential philosophers of our modern times.The tide of philosophical history was ever changed by Quine's philosophies, particularly with the philosophies that he espoused after the fall of Logical Positivism.
"Ontological Relativity & Other Essays" is a collection that recapitulates the major philosophical themes that have come to be known as Quinean philosophy.From the two dogmas of empiricism, ontological relativity, radical translation, holism, and indeterminacy of translation, all of these issues are themes in this collection of essays.These essays discuss some of the core ideals of Quine, ideals that are central to understanding Quinean philosophy.

A powerful take on a misidentified issue
A wonderful book, although I believe the title of the book (at least that of its main essay) does not accurately describe the content of Quine's argument. Without providing any basis for such a step, Quine equates ontology with a study of the implications of the meta-language. True, language is a crucial part of how we form our conception of the world, but to assume that there is nothing (or very little) else to the foundational possibility of such a conception is to be too dismissive of what Fichte argued, with a set of very strong arguments, to be the main problem of philosophy: does the human mind's propensity to ascribe objective existence to the putative referents of its own ideas (and words) represent an illusion or a truthful induction?

Quine's marbles lost and found
The essay "Ontological Relativity" is the most significant of the six essays in this short book bearing the same title.Few ideas are as central to the contemporary pragmatist philosophy of science.Basically the outcome of the thesis of ontological relativity together with Quine's rejection of all prior metaphysics is that scientific criticism may never use any prior ontological criteria relative to empirical testing.This has special significance in social and behavioral science, where positivists such as behaviorists emphatically exclude all mentalistic ontologies, while romanticists such as sociologists and neoclassical economists just as emphatically require them. Unfortunately Quine is not altogether faithful to his ontological relativity thesis, since he is a behaviorist.Perhaps had he been less faithful to the notational conventions of the Russellian predicate calculus, he would not have required quantification of predicates to admit the reality of mental experiences, and thus would not have been reduced to referring to them as "mental entities", as thought they are little marbles inside the skull.One hesitates to say that when Quine decided to reject mentalism a priori, he lost his marbles. In fact ontological relativity does not imply behaviorism, but actually proscribes it as a prior criterion for empirical research, while permitting it a posteriori.Like the physicist's p-branes of string theory, mental constructs, such as cognitive psychologists postulate with their computer systems, are posits to be patronized on the basis of their promissory or redeemed cash value in the empirical test.The history of scientific progress fully vindicates ontological relativity.And the behavioral and social scientists' failure to recognize it goes far toward explaining the retarded condition of their sciences.

Thomas J. Hickey, www.philsci.com
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Product Description

Hermann Minkowski recast special relativity as essentially a new geometric structure for spacetime. This book looks at the ideas of both Einstein and Minkowski, and then introduces the theory of frames, surfaces and intrinsic geometry, developing the main implications of Einstein's general relativity theory.

Customer Reviews (11)

Excellent and will never find better !
This book is a terasure in its own right !
everything is explained using diagrams, figures with simplicity and rigor.
you will never feel you got lost anywhere. Although the introduction to tensors is limited, the application of Fermi coordinates is great although I would have expected to see the actual derivation of vacuum equations as einstein first wrote it .
The proofs are excellent. The application, though limited but clearly exposed.

A great intermediate level book.
We all get an initial taste of relativity in Freshman/Sophomore physics. But where to go next can be a problem.If you like the math accompanying your physics a bit more rigorous than "hand waving", this is a great book.I tried Schutz's book but didn't find the math self contained or rigorous, while trying to jump into Wald's graduate level text on General relativity was way too much to soon.This book strikes a good balance between the physics and the math. Nice coverage of the Lorentz transformation and the invariance of Maxwell's equations under it. Minkowski space time and "hyperbolic" geometry (nice review of hyperbolic functions in analogy with trigonometric functions). And a self contained introduction to differential geometry (as applied to general relativity).I'm finding this great for self study.

Great for learning how to actually use the math behind GR
This book is great for teaching the math behind GR using excellent examples from Math and Physics problems (for another great problem solver see also Schaum's Outline of Tensor Calculus, but this has less Physics). It is a bit long winded, spending alot of time on SR and in some place just over the top (for Physicists!), but once through it there should be no problem going to the more advanced texts which deal with more of the uses of GR. At the same level I would also recommend Schutz's First Course in GR, however, Callahan's book goes through and explains the use of the math better, whereas Schutz's is better for uses in GR, surprisingly this is the strength of Callahan's book: you can't really do the Physics properly unless you can do the math! After this it's on to more Physics orientated books like Carroll's excellent Introduction to GR, as a stepping stone to MTW's Gravitation and Wald's GR.

One of the best.
This is one of the best introduction to General Relativity. It is the most accessible introduction to differential geometry. Naturally you have to know calculus, linear algebra, and the basics of special relativity. I bought many books on the subject, and this one belengs to the set I suggest for self-learning.

Disappointing
I've only read the first third in detail, but so far this book is frankly disappointing. The treatment is lightweight and padded out with verbiage, some of it oddly off-key. What math or physics student at this level needs (for example) an elementary account of the properties of hyperbolic functions? Spacetime diagrams are drawn with the time axis horizontal, which is something I've never seen in any other relativity text. Okay, it's a minor point, but I found this and similar nonstandard usages a constant irritant. More seriously, the development of relativistic momentum and covariance in chap.3 is quite incoherent, and the definition of 4-velocity is WRONG (at least, by everyone else's standards - it isn't even a 4-vector). There are plenty of exercises, which is good, but no solutions at all - not even outlines - which is not so good.

The book takes over three hundred pages to get to general relativity (where there seems to be no mention of the equivalence principle!), and I doubt if it's worth the effort. You would do better to work through Foster & Nightingale's 'Short Course in General Relativity', which is a first-rate and accessible introduction if you have a little background in special relativity. And it's two-thirds the price.

Conclusion: There may be a good book waiting to be written on these lines, but I'm sorry to say this isn't it. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone as a first course in relativity. ... Read more

Product Description
A working knowledge of Einstein's theory of general relativity is an essential tool for every physicist today. This self-contained book is an introductory text on the subject aimed at first-year graduate students, or advanced undergraduates, in physics that assumes only a basic understanding of classical Lagrangian mechanics. The mechanics problem of a point mass constrained to move without friction on a two-dimensional surface of arbitrary shape serves as a paradigm for the development of the mathematics and physics of general relativity. After reviewing special relativity, the basic principles of general relativity are presented, and the most important applications are discussed. The final special topics section guides the reader through a few important areas of current research.This book will allow the reader to approach the more advanced texts and monographs, as well as the continual influx of fascinating new experimental results, with a deeper understanding and sense of appreciation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A good first book on general relativity

In 1905, with the Special Relativity (SR) theory, Einstein brought a completely new idea into the field of physics: space and time are not two separate entities (or "categories", as Kant had named them two centuries before), but they are related in some special way.By changing (inertial) reference system, i.e. by traveling with a different velocity, one can "transform" a bit of time in space and vice versa.This revolutionary idea left open the question about the _nature_ of inertial systems.Einstein was wondering what happens if, instead of changing my velocity with respect to the far stars, I move the entire universe in the opposite direction.The SR is completely symmetrical: two inertial observers will note the same effects when looking at the phenomena happening in the other's reference system.

On the other hand, the SR makes a neat distinction between uniform motion and accelerated motion, something which is also very near our common sense.For example, if we rotate a container filled with some water (and the water is also dragged to rotation), the surface of the water will change from a flat surface at rest to a concave shape due to the inertial force known as centrifugal force.On the contrary, if we leave the container still and _we_ sit into a reference frame which is rotating around the container, we do _not_ see a change on the shape of the water surface, but we (not the water) _feel_ the centrifugal force.However, what would happen if the entire universe were rotating around the container?We feel that, when speaking about "the entire universe", we should point to some very special reference system: we feel that the shape of the water surface _should_ change in this case.But there is no space for this kind of effect in SR: there is no preferred or special reference system in this theory.

The General Relativity (GR), when first introduced by Einstein, about a dozen years later than SR, represented a very new step in the history of science.The GR is a theory of _inertia_: it says (in axiomatic form) that the reference frame "attached to" a freely falling observer is _locally_ an intertial system.A freely falling observer is simply somebody (or something) who is moving without propulsion in a gravitational field.Because the observer is in a (local) inertial system, she can make use of the SR to describe all physical phenomena.

For example, a satellite orbiting around the Earth is a freely falling system, as long as its dimensions are small compared to the typical scale on which one is able to measure different values for the Newton's gravity force.The astronauts do not feel any gravity at all, and they can perform (small) experiments to verify that they really sit in an inertial reference system.To a quite good precision, the planets in the solar system are freely falling, even though the tides remind us that the Earth is not as small as a good inertial system would ideally require.In addition, the solar system itself can be considered an "object" which is freely falling in the gravitational field of the Galaxy, and so on.As long as one can neglect "tide" effects, everything is freely falling in the universe!

But the GR says more than this: inertial observers follow the _geodesics_ of the spacetime.Because the source of gravity is the energy (in _any_ form, like mass or momentum), the distribution of energy defines the geometry of the spacetime.In other words, a small test mass which is left free to move (i.e. has no propulsor) will follow a trajectory in the spacetime which is defined by its initial conditions (position and velocity) and by the distribution of the masses all around---of the whole universe, in principle.Hence, the inertial motion depends on the universe configuration: if we could rotate the whole universe, we should see a change in the shape of the water surface!In the GR, we can find a sort of "special" reference systems, and this is experimentally confirmed: the angular distribution of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation (the relic radiation from the hot Big Bang) has a dipole shape which is providing us a way to measure the _absolute_ (i.e. with respect to the special reference system) motion of the solar system.Once we correct for this dipole effect (i.e. we move to a reference system at rest, with respect to the special one), the distribution of the CMB is extremely flat, the fluctuations being at the level of a hundredth of percent.

This is how the GR is usually introduced: first one emphasizes the two basic ideas that a freely falling system is a local inertial system and that it follows the geodesics of spacetime, defined by the distribution of energy in the universe; then one develops the (complicate) mathematical tools needed to address problems in this new framework.However, the time has come to provide the students with a smooth transition from the classical mechanics to the GR, as in the book by Walecka.This already happened with all earlier "revolutions" in the history of science (still it has to happen with quantum mechanics): today, nobody is marveled how the Maxwell's equations are introduced by physics textbooks, just to make one example.Walecka introduces the differential geometry when addressing classical problems, and shows that the Newton's equation can be reduced to a motion along a geodesics also in classical problems.Simply take a system with some mechanical constraint and choose a set of generalized coordinates which reflects the actual degrees of freedom of the system: the Euler-Lagrange equations in these coordinates are the equations of the geodesics in themetric defined by the coordinate transformation.This way, the student is taught the mathematical tools without being "distracted" with the new, powerful, ideas of GR.

Once that things like tensor analysis, the affine connection, covariant derivatives, Riemann's and Ricci's tensors are introduced, Walecka starts speaking about SR and GR.In the first seven chapter, all the theory is exposed.The rest of the book is about applications of GR to solve problems like the orbital motion of the planes, the deflection of light, the gravitational and cosmic red-shifts, the neutron stars, the evolution of the universe, and the gravitational waves.Here, I should say that not all these items are addressed with the same depth, expecially the very last topics.However, a good literature exists on all of them and the book by Walecka provides the student with all the background one needs to browse the more advanced treatments.

In conclusion, this book is probably one of the best choices as a first book on general relativity, because it guides the student through the path of minimum steepness toward the goal of understanding and learning this fascinating theory.I did not assign the maximum rate to it only because it is not very complete when addressing the very last topics.However, a fuller treatment of those would have required almost twice the number of pages of the present volume!
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Product Description
The aim of this groundbreaking new text is to bring general relativity into the undergraduate curriculum and make this fundamental theory accessible to all physics majors. Using a "physics first" approach to the subject, renowned relativist James B. Hartle provides a fluent and accessible introduction that uses a minimum of new mathematics and is illustrated with a wealth of exciting applications.The emphasis is on the exciting phenomena of gravitational physics and the growing connection between theory and observation. The Global Positioning System, black holes, X-ray sources, pulsars, quasars, gravitational waves, the Big Bang, and the large scale structure of the universe are used to illustrate the widespread role of how general relativity describes a wealth of everyday and exotic phenomena.For anyone interested in physics or general relativity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (24)

theory
very good school text for beginning theory and mathematics that pertain to the forces of gravity

Excellent choice !!!
Excellent book ! It is not to hard and not to easy. It's just perfect for an «almost graduate» student. Sometime it's funny when you realize that you're calculating your proper-time in a wormhole... So if you're interested in near-science-fiction infinitely cool physics, then that's you're book !

Very clear explanation of such a difficult theory
I am learning by myself General Relativity. When I decided to buy a book in order to get more understanding of the theory I decided this book and, definitely, it was a good purchase. It has a unique pedagogical method, introducing mathematics in the right way along the entire book. I am not a physicist nor a mathematician and I had found most of the books about GR too complicated. Hartle's book is the right choice if you are a beginner with this great theory.

Self studier reads a textbook on general relativity
I purchased "Gravity" as part of an effort to learn more about modern physics.I do not have the money or schedule to take courses at a university, so I have been purchasing books and reading them on my own time.I wanted something that would give a deep, rigorous understanding of the subject matter.So far, after a month and a half of regular reading, I have made through the first seven chapters.
So far, I am not dissapointed."Gravity" begins from where I left off (years ago, taking the physics courses mandatory for chemistry majors in a bachelors program) and builds precept upon precept to take the reader into the world of general relativity.The book uses language that is clear, and examples that help to further explain the concepts being taught in the course.For those of us who are not "mathheads", the mathematics needed to understand the material beyond basic calculus and algebra is taught within the text.This book is helping me to gain a better understanding of this area of physics.
I do have one "bone to pick", however, with the organization of the text.Like most textbooks, this one, usefully, has problems at the ends of the chapters.I like to work on a sampling of problems to solidify what I have learned.The problems are well written, and force you to think about the subject matter.However, none of the problems have answers in the back of the book!I understand that in a graded course, there is the temptation for some students to simply look up the answers, and not do the work.However, many textbooks have answers to selected problems.If this book had this, it would still leave many problems for assigned work for those taking a course, but allow self or independent studiers like me the opportunity to work some problems and see if we are on the right track in understanding the material.

Phenomenal
This is short and sweet:Absolutely a phenomenal and exciting book for learning this subject!!Have tried for a few years on my own to learn GR. Am a former physics major.Have read other mathematically detailed books and got rather lost in the symbology. This book's approach is clean and based largely on the Lagrainian (which I certainly have had to review).Results of curved space altering the metric are presented first and the physics they result in.Don't kid yourself.Despite the better approach, considerable mathematical sophistication and work is necessary to follow the author.The pursuit is well worth it!!Buy it if you want a new passion read.

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Product Description
Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity provides a lucid and thoroughly modern introduction to general relativity. With an accessible and lively writing style, it introduces modern techniques to what can often be a formal and intimidating subject.Readers are led from the physics of flat spacetime (special relativity), through the intricacies of differential geometry and Einstein's equations, and on to exciting applications such as black holes, gravitational radiation, and cosmology.For advanced undergraduates and graduate students, or anyone interested in astronomy, cosmology, physics, or general relativity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Great GR book to learn GR from
I'm using this book as a supplement to Wald to teach myself and a few friends in my department GR. Apparently (according to my professor who was with Carroll at Harvard), thats how the book came into existance in the first place. As far as I can tell, the book is excellent. I highly recommend it. Basically it's Wald in English. Many things in Wald are explained in more detail (don't confuse detail with clarity, Wald posesses the supreme clarity of Math). Therefore, this text is best used in conjunction with Wald.

Wordy and Wonderful
This is an advanced text, but all the same it is not particularly rigorous or dense, so it is in principle accessible to the beginner.With an easy authority, Carroll leads us on a wandering journey through the mystical lands of general relativity.This is very different from, and compliments nicely, the clarity and directness of Wald.As a student of GR, I use Wald for the bottom line on any subject, and Carroll for the random physical or computational insights that I invariably find in any section of the book.Carroll's prose is like music to the ear and I always enjoy myself when I decide to open up this book.

Be warned that there are lots of mistakes in this first edition--you might want to wait for the second one.

Also, his chapter on cosmology is better than any I've seen.

BY FAR the best book on GR
I am currently on the 4th chapter of Carroll's "Spacetime and Geometry" and thus far I am amazed at how clear it is.Sure there is a lot of math in it however that also is very clearly explained.In fact, I think that Carroll explains the differential geometry material better than any mathematician has in any book on the subject.If you want to learn general relativity, there is no getting around the math; sooner or later you'll have to learn it.I'd suggest, especially if you are self-studying the subject, to rather pick up this book and go through it than pick up a more "elementary" text and a book on Riemannian geometry to look at later.

(Although I do also highly recommend Kay's (Schaum outline) "Tensor Calculus" for self study.The prima donnas don't like Kay's book because it "doesn't have enough theory."I suppose if a freshman calculus book does not have the Lebesgue integral defined in ti they'll complain about that too.)

Because, you can always skip through certain sections if the math is too heavy and go back through it later.And like I wrote earlier, you won't find a better introduction to the mathematical material than here.

Carroll should be given the Nobel prize for this book.If not in Physics, then in literature.I'd give this textbook 10 stars if I could.

A nice blend of the ideas of physics with mathematics
Kudos to Carroll.

This book is an excellent INTRODUCTION to SR and GR for the graduate physics student as well as the graduate mathematics students.

Pure mathematics often loses sight of the ideas which motivated it and physics often loses the mathematical foundations from which it is built.

This book offers some level of mathematical formalism to the physics student while exposing the ideas motivating the mathematical concepts.

I particularly like how he builds up the mathematical machinery of GR by introducing sets then topology on this set giving a topological space. Now he adds in the ideas of a manifold which make this topological space look like Rn locally with the patches sewn together smoothly. The manifold comes equipped with tangent space, cotangent spaces and their product spaces giving tensor spaces. These are defined nicely with reference to component formalism as well as the multilinear algebra approach as maps from products spaces to the reals, etc. He delves into forms and tantalized the reader with deRham cohomology although doesnt go into it. He shows how these can be differentiated ( exterior derivative ) and integrated.

Now the metric is introduced giving a geometry. To this is added a connection which is independent of the metric and leads to notions of parallel transport and differentiation of tensors ( covariant derivative ). One sees that in a special case one can derive a unique connection from the metric ( Levi-Cevita ) which is used in GR.

Fibre bundles, Lie derivatives, pullbacks etc are introduced as needed.

He then presents some introductory GR material by applying the mathematics.

Great Book But Won't Get You To The Promised Land
My comments come with a few caveats.

1. This is my fourth GR book.
2. I'm not hardcore into physics.I'm not a physic grad and I'm reading GR for fun.I have a decent graduate math background but I've been corrupted with 10+ years in working in various roles software engineering, electronics engineering and marketing.
3. I assume that since you're considering buying this book, you're goal is to get at the "real" GR, not the watered down discover channel version.

With these caveats in mind, here are my comments.

First, on a scale of 1-5, I rank Carroll at level 3 in terms of math/physics maturity and thoroughness.Here is my full ranking of authors from my limited reading:1. schutz2. hartle3. penrose3. carroll 4. wald5. physics journal articles

Second, using the rankings above, I recommend Carroll as the second port of entry.If you're comfortable with multivariable calculus, start with schutz (#1). You'll get warm fuzzies doing the toy exercises. But Schutz is tensor/math-lite.If you've had advanced calculus and geometry already, jump in with carroll (#3).But you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone else as polite to the reader.He won't prepare you for 80 percent of what's published.If you're ready to throw off the training wheels and jump dive into mainstream GR go with Wald (#4).

Note that Hartle (#2) is a good "tweener" book with feel-good exercises and some of the full-on GR equations at the end.I bet most instructors teaching a first year grad course would go with Hartle along with a dose of supplementary material.

Third, don't expect Carroll to be your last GR book purchase if you want to reach the promised land (see caveat #4).Living and breathing GR is found in physics journals and for that you'll need Wald or another advanced GR 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
Aimed at advanced undergraduates with background knowledge of classical mechanics and electricity and magnetism, this textbook presents both the particle dynamics relevant to general relativity, and the field dynamics necessary to understand the theory. Focusing on action extremization, the book develops the structure and predictions of general relativity by analogy with familiar physical systems. Topics ranging from classical field theory to minimal surfaces and relativistic strings are covered in a homogeneous manner. Nearly 150 exercises and numerous examples throughout the textbook enable students to test their understanding of the material covered. A tensor manipulation package to help students overcome the computational challenge associated with general relativity is available on a site hosted by the author. A link to this and to a solutions manual can be found at www.cambridge.org/9780521762458. ... Read more