Product Description

This book invites the reader to understand our Universe, not just marvel at it. From the clock-like motions of the planets to the catastrophic collapse of a star into a black hole, gravity controls the Universe. Gravity is central to modern physics, helping to answer the deepest questions about the nature of time, the origin of the Universe and the unification of the forces of nature. Linking key experiments and observations through careful physical reasoning, the author builds the reader's insight step-by-step from simple but profound facts about gravity on Earth to the frontiers of research. Topics covered include the nature of stars and galaxies, the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy, black holes, gravitational waves, inflation and the Big Bang. Suitable for general readers and for undergraduate courses, the treatment uses only high-school level mathematics, supplemented by optional computer programs, to explain the laws of physics governing gravity.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #145737 in Books
• Published on: 2003-12-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 488 pages

Review
Advanced praise: ‘… A marvellous work! What strikes me is its immense range and its solid authority. For me this will be a great resource of encyclopedic knowledge, powerful models, and balanced judgement about our Universe.’ Professor Edwin F. Taylor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

‘… this splendid book … is in fact a guide to everything that is needed to understand astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology …’ Physics World

'This beautifully produced book is evidently the result of a labour of love … Schutz writes for people who not only want to be amazed but who also want to know how it is that scientists know all the amazing things they talk about on beautifully make documentaries.' CERN Courier.com

'This book is difficult to put down … The ratio of kg to £ makes it a bargain in any company of books and its contents emphasise its value in no uncertain terms … this presentation of its influence will even enlighten many who believe themselves to be already well versed in the subject … As a whole it is the work of a master teacher, authoritative and encyclopaedic and likely to give the average enthusiast many years of real pleasure.' Astronomy Now

'… the work of a master teacher, authoritative and encyclopaedic and likely to give the average enthusiast many years of real pleasure.' Astronomy Now

'Altogether, this is a very illuminating work … The general reader will profit from the well thought-out representation, and the specialist will find many original new view-points for looking at well-known facts.' General Relativity and Gravitation

About the Author
Bernard Schutz has done research and teaching in general relativity and especially its applications in astronomy since 1970. He is an author of more than 170 publications, including three highly-regarded books published by Cambridge University Press: Geometrical Methods of Mathematical Physics, A First Course in General Relativity and Gravity From the Ground Up. Schutz currently specialises in gravitational wave research, studying the theory of potential sources and designing new methods for analysing the data from current and planned detectors. He is a member of most of the current large-scale gravitational wave projects: GEO600 (operated by the AEI), LIGO and LISA. Schutz is a Director of the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, also known as the Albert Einstein Institute (AEI), in Potsdam, Germany. He holds a part-time chair in Physics and Astronomy at Cardiff University, Wales, as well as honorary professorships at Potsdam and Hanover universities in Germany. Born and educated in the USA, he taught physics and astronomy for twenty years at Cardiff before moving to Germany. In 1998 he founded the open-access online journal Living Reviews in Relativity. In 2006 he was awarded the Amaldi Gold Medal of the Italian Society for Gravitation (SIGRAV). He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the Institute of Physics, and a member of the German Academy of Natural Sciences Leopoldina and of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences Uppsala.

Customer Reviews

Another great from Schutz
B. Schutz has already written two excellent textbooks with Cambridge University Press, at the graduate student level. This long awaited book (publication has been delayed a few times by CUP) is a more accessible entry into the field of gravitation. Basically, someone wanting to discover the field (no pun) should read this one first then possibly the other two to go into the real details.
It is a large and extremely dense book. A lot of information is included, with historical notes, numerous illustrations, exercises (solutions can be obtained on the book's web site), even computer simulations (it seems you can download the s/w from the web but I have not tried that).
Although you will not find explicit advanced maths in this book, there is no compromise on the physics and it demands some effort for a newcomer I guess. I am personally an engineer who has read (most of) his two other books so this one was easier, but by no means a repetition.
I think this book is definitely the best introduction to gravity you can get, with excellent value for money.
If you are serious about getting some necessary background into gravitation, buy it and read it.

A very enlightening tour of Gravity!
Modern theories of gravitation are notorously difficult to grasp in any detail largely because of the volumes of off-putting mathemetics which comes with them. The Newtonian picture of an infinite force which acts instantaneously throughout the universe and follows a simple mathematical form required to calculate cannon shell trajectories for example is about as far as most people get with the subject. Even the more complex subject of two-body orbits can be daunting, never mind three or more bodies.
This book deals with Newtonian gravity in detail, covering things like cannon shell trajectories and then orbital mechanics including the sling shot process used to propel inter-planetary probes, but then goes on to deal with the physics of modern theories of gravity in as much detail. However the focus is on the physics, not the mathematics. This means you can consider the physics without getting bogged down in the mathematics of curved space-time. So if you want to know what the physical basis of magneto-gratvitation is, or know how a Kerr metric differs from a Schwartzchild one and more importantly what those things mean for the physics, then this is definitely the book for you.
Whilst there is a good deal of maths in the book it's based on high-school equation solving and algebra. The author has been careful to only use mathematics where it's necessary to support physical conclusions, or to extend arguments. The text is highly readable, but doesn't draw back from explaining moderately complex physical phenomena such as the formation and structure white dwarves and neutron stars and what causes a super-nova. Worked case studies are considered which provide order of magnitude calculations of important physical processes. These are highly illuminating in answering questions such as "Is it possible for a neutron start to be the size of a basketball?"
To further support the reader's curiosity, there's access to a web-site which allows you to download a software system which implements some of the more complicated mathematics. Again the emphasis is on allowing you to investigate 'what happens if' by considering scenarios in the software rather than having to implement the mathemetical models yourself. The software is easy to use and a great supporting feature to the book, though it isn't necessary to use the software to get a huge amount from the text alone. The last few chapters of the book review the cutting edge of theories of gravitation in the context of the Big Bang, cosmology and finally quantum gravity. Again, all the discussion is easy to follow but leads to some interesting and enlightening conclusions.
This book really falls nicely between the 'Pop Science' paperbacks which rely too much on less than clear or appropriate analogies along with phrases like 'it can be shown that...' and graduate texts which offer the full treatment along with the mathematics.
If you have an interest in the physics of gravitation but don't want to spend two years getting up to speed with the maths then this is the book for you.

A great book!!!
An amazing book about physic. Very very recommendable!!!!