Product Description

Suitable as a one-semester course in general relativity for senior undergraduate or beginning graduate students, this text clarifies the mathematical aspects of Einstein's general theory of relativity without sacrificing physical understanding. The text begins with an exposition of those aspects of tensor calculus and differential geometry needed for a proper exposition of the subject. The discussion then turns to the spacetime of general relativity and to geodesic motion, comparisons and contrasts with Newton's theory being drawn where appropriate. A brief consideration of the field equations is followed by a discussion of physics in the vicinity of massive objects, including an elementary treatment of black holes. Particular attention is paid to those aspects of the theory that have observational consequences. The book concludes with brief introductory chapters on gravitational radiation and cosmology, and includes an appendix that reviews the special theory of relativity. In preparing this new edition, the authors have made extensive revisions to the original text. In particular, the first three chapters - covering coordinate systems, tensors and the geometry of curved spaces - have been completely rewritten to make the material readily accessible to physics students. Many examples, exercises and problems help guide the student through the theory.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1328095 in Books
• Published on: 2001-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 230 pages

Customer Reviews

Good introduction
General relativity is hard to learn, not since it's hard in itself, but simply because the existing literature scares most readers away. After all, it takes only one look at the 20,000 pages Misner to make even the best autodidact give up. This book remedies this. What it does is offer a quick, yet logical and consistent, exposition of GR. Now, reading this book won't make you an expert on GR, but it will get you started as efficiently as possible on the subject. It should be noted that if you're taking a course in GR this book may turn out to be too short of a course for you; perhaps Schutz or Misner will do in that case.

good concise introduction
I have the 1st edition of this book: one of its strengths as an introductory book is the use of units in which c is NOT equal to 1, giving a ready appreciation of magnitudes.

It explicitly discusses rotating coordinates which are discussed in popular accounts of Mach's Principle but often ignored in textbooks, even introductory ones.
A more discursive and excellent introduction is by Roy D'Inverno (OUP).