Product Description
Makes a quick, directed thrust through general relativity and black holes. Brings preliminary insights concerning the history and structure of the Cosmos. DLC: General relativity (Physics)

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 14 reviews)

A Breakthrough in Undergraduate Texts by John Matlock (Winnemucca, NV)

5 Stars
March 14, 2007
A book I really wouldn't have thought could have been written. There are a lot of books on general relativity at the superficial level, call these books 'mathless.' There are monumental tomes aimed at the graduate student level, call these books 'tensor calculus.' Here is a book exquisitely positioned between these others. The student will need to have had differential calculus, and perhaps a bit of basic physics, and with these he will get a pretty good, introductory understanding of General Relativity. The real key to this book is that it explains a lot, but then it open up a bunch of other questions, questions that we really haven't answered yet -- things like dark matter, dark energy, accelerating expansion of the universe, and more. The book ends with: 'How can physics live up to its true greatness except by a new revolution in outlook which dwarfs all past revolutions? And when it comes, will we not say to each other, Oh, how beautiful and simple it all is! How could we ever have missed it so long.' That's just the awe, the vision, that we want new and budding physicists to have.

Good book if you like mathematics! by Flemming Toft (Denmark)

5 Stars
January 04, 2007
This is the best book about General relativity ( GR ) that I have ever read. Instead of trying to explain GR with words the author is using mathematics to to illustrate some of the consequences of GR. This means that some mathematical knowledge is required ( but not knowledge about tensors and dfferential forms ) and that the reader need to spend some time with paper and pencil to truly understand the text. The examples is concentrated on what is happening around black holes but the advance of Mercury's perihelion and the slowing of light around the Sun is also described. A very good book!

Amazing Introduction to a Very Esoteric Subject by Serious Inquirer (Jacksonville, AL USA)

5 Stars
June 10, 2006
Einstein's general theory of relativity is perhaps one of the most mathematically intense areas of research any physicist or astronomer could undertake. However this book takes the subject and turns it into a joyous romp through curved spacetime. By avoiding the field equations and focusing on their solutions the authors impart to the eager student an overview of general relativity and set the stage for a more rigorous approach to be undertaken later. This book is the perfect introduction to the subject. The book is well suited for advanced undergraduates who have had several hours of physics and mathematics. It is likewise suited to serve as a introductory text for graduate students that are studying astrophysics and astronomy. In the latter case the text serves well as an overview of what general relativity is, many of its findings, its predictions, and its relevance to observational astronomy. If you have a basic understanding of calculus and have studied the special theory of relativity in some detail then this book is well suited to your needs.

Excellent delivery! by Travis P. Watson (Costa Rica/US)

5 Stars
September 24, 2005
This book was delivered in immaculate condition and is exactly how I was hoping it would be. Thank you for your product and i hope to do business with you again! Sincerely, Travis

Gives an intuitive understanding of General Relativity by Neal J. King (Munich, Germany)

5 Stars
August 18, 2005
This book sidesteps the hard work needed to motivate and develop the Einstein field equations, and goes directly to one of the most important solutions of the equations, the Schwarzschild solution, which gives rise to the concept of a black hole. By exploring what observers in different parts of space-time would experience along their different trajectories (whether falling into a black hole or watching from a safe spot far away), Taylor and Wheeler manage to convey an intuitive understanding for such typical GR "paradoxes" such as the fact that the same "event" (the crossing over of an object through the event horizon) can be seen to take 15 minutes, or forever, depending on who's watching it. Because of what it omits, this book is not a complete presentation of GR. It does present the most fun part of GR, however, in a way that is mathematically accessible. Along the way, a few side questions are adddressed, like "How painful would it be to be squished/torn apart as I fall into a black hole?" A lot of time is also spent explaining how the weird trajectories of light within the event horizon will transmogrify what is seen by the observer. This is a great book and a lot of fun. I am also left with a greater motivation to go back to a more complete presentation, to be convinced that "this is where you have to end up". Although much longer, this book is a worthy successor to the original output of this dynamic duo, "Spacetime Physics".

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

	Special Relativity: (M.I.T. Introductory Physics Series) by A. P. French (Author) A self-contained introduction to special relativity for students who have completed an introduction to classical mechanics. The book covers the transition from Newtonian to Einsteinian behaviour for electrons, the relativistic expressions for mass, momentum and energy of particles. Later chapters cover the Lorentz transformations, the laws of kinematics and dynamics according to special relativity. The approach taken is traditional in that it does not rest heavily on electromagnetic theory....
	Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy (Commonwealth Fund Book Program) by Kip S. Thorne (Author), Stephen Hawking (Foreword) In this masterfully written and brilliantly informed work, Dr. Thorne, the Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics at Caltech, leads readers through an elegant, always human, tapestry of interlocking themes, answering the great question: what principles control our universe and why do physicists think they know what they know? Features an introduction by Stephen Hawking.
	Spacetime Physics by Edwin F. Taylor (Author), John Archibald Wheeler (Author) Edwin Taylor and John A. Wheeler-one of this century's most distinguished physicists - have completely reorganised this popular and well known book to make it accessible to an even wider audience. New topics, imaginative problems, and exceptionally clever illustrations, combined with a compelling narrative and intellectual authority make this a classic text. It is an ideal text for undergraduate courses in special relativity and modern physics.
	Introduction to Special Relativity by Robert Resnick (Author) Introduction to Special Relativity By Robert Resnick, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute This book gives an excellent introduction to the theory of special relativity. Professor Resnick presents a fundamental and unified development of the subject with unusually clear discussions of the aspects that usually trouble beginners. He includes,for example, a section on the common sense of relativity. His presentation is lively and interspersed with historical, philosophical and special topics (such...
	Electromagnetic Vibrations, Waves, and Radiation by George Bekefi (Author), Alan H. Barrett (Author) This text was developed over a five-year period during which its authors were teaching the subject. It is the culmination of successful editions of class notes and preliminary texts prepared for their one-semester course at MIT designed for sophomores majoring in physics but taken by students from other departments as well. The book describes the features that vibrations and waves of all sorts have in common and includes examples of mechanical, acoustical, and optical...