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.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 20 reviews)

Phenomenal by Gary A. Lamotte (Scottsbluff NE and Loveland CO)

5 Stars
November 16, 2009
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.

Good Introductory book by Tomas Rodriguez (Spain)

4 Stars
May 13, 2009
This is an introductory book for people who desire to learn the basics of general relativity but do not have much background on the subject. The book follows a somehow unconventional path. As opposed to the traditional approach, where you need to survive the difficult introductory chapters covering the necessary mathematical background, the author has managed to explain most of the subjects on general relativity without using tensors, the Einstein field equation or related difficult topics. Only at the end of the book these subjects are introduced. This is one of the barriers most beginners find when approaching general relativity. Many people get lost in the mathematical introductory chapters and have no real chance to enter into real physics. The advantage is in this book, from the very beginning, you get immersed into interesting physical phenomena; explained systematically and very pedagogically by the author. The disadvantage is some concepts look too forced with unconventional explanations and, since tensor calculus is covered only in the last few pages, the level of detail is not very high. Overall, I recommend this book for beginners with good background in physics. It is a pleasure to the read and you can learn quite a few interesting subjects. Do not misunderstand me, the book has lots of formulas and you must be fluent in mathematics, but a least you can avoid tensors, which are too difficult for most readers. On my side I prefer the traditional way. It is true going trough the tensor calculus part is hard, but you cannot avoid the beauty of discovering general relativity using this powerful tool.

Gravity - heavy but not a burden by D. Whitmore (WashDC)

4 Stars
January 14, 2009
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805386629/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_title The is an incredibly interesting book and very well written. While not the place to start for the physics novice, anyone with more than a passing interest in General Relativity will be engrossed by the authors treatment and approach to illustrating gravity.

Great text mixing both the math and physics by D. Kroeger (League City, TX United States)

5 Stars
October 07, 2008
I'm really enjoying this book. It is by far the most comprehensible delivery of general relativity I've read. Other books have the math, but lack in explaining how the math relates to physical reality. This gets both, without going light on the math. I understand general relativity much better than I did before.

great book

5 Stars
September 09, 2008
It's a great book. I like it. No too much mathematics, but it is enough to explain the physics.

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