Customer Reviews

Gravity from the Ground Up: An Introductory Guide to Gravity and General Relativity

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is possibly the best book i own. The book basically covers "all" the important topics in gravity, cosmology and astrophysics. For example equivalence principle, general relativity, gravitational waves, neutron stars, black holes, even a bit of quantum gravity (especially in last chapter) etc etc.

Though i must warn that anyone who reads this book might accidentally turn into a theoretical physicist. Its that fascinating/exciting really and it really makes one feel that this is a special time in theoretical physics (waiting for quantum gravity and new astronomical observations and theories). In this respect it is somewhat similar to popular books.

But i wouldnt call this a popular science book, since it goes deeper into things. For example i have Schutz's "First course in general relativity" and i think that up to the chapter on Einstein's equation it is easier than this. The reason is probably that this book doesnt use explicit calculus (well in a way it does with finite differences) or tensors; for example the chapter dealing with differential geometry and general relativity was pretty difficult to understand without tensors, but it gives very nice intuitive understanding for differential geometry/general relativity. There were other places were i understood something i havent really ever understood but was well explained here. All in all, this is an excellent book on gravity and cosmology and i recommend it to anyone.

I wanted to understand relativity, and tried many books. Up to know i met two kinds of books, the ones which i could not understand because they are to difficult, and the ones with a minimum of math, which are incomplete and oversimplified. I did not understand everything (e,g the Einstein equation and tensors) but most of this book gives me a deep insight in the beauty of relativity, cosmology and astronomy in a way no other book has done.

How many authors of popular science books begin their books by boasting that they can teach real science to readers who have no math--or no math beyond basic algebra? And then what do you get? Either a tub full of metaphors sloshing about promiscuously or else a math course so compressed it would leave Newton saying, "Duh?" But not in this book. Bernard Schutz takes the reader by the hand and leads him gently on. There is scarcely a bump in the road; yet, by the end of the book, you've not only learned a good deal of physics, astrophysics and cosmology, you've also gotten an inkling of how a physicist thinks. How does Schutz manage to succeed where failure is the rule? Well, partly by magic, I think. But partly by the clever use of simple computer simulations (downloadable for free) and partly by means of a very carefully thought out pedagogical strategy. This gentleman is a teacher par excellence. If you're only going to read one science book in your life, read this one. Just be prepared to spend some time with it.

This is a truly wonderful book. It is suitable for those with little physics and math backgrounds as well as those with more. It is, in fact, incredible how much one can learn here with so little math about topics normally associated with advanced math. In addition to learning many new things, I got great new insights into what I thought I already knew.

I went to this book to learn about general relativity and cosmology. I got that and so much more. The book covers many fascinating topics about the earth, the solar system, galaxies, and brings in physics concepts when they are needed. A recurring theme is the effect of gravity and what resists gravity. So, e.g., white dwarfs are explained by quantum effects resisting complete collapse due to gravity. In addition to learning a lot about general relativity, you get introduced to some aspects of mechanics, statistical mechanics and quantum theory. All this while learning a great deal about astronomy and cosmology.

Calculus isn't required and most of the demonstrations are done with physical arguments, analogies, and simple algebra. Computer programs are available from a website for those who want to use them to illustrate numerical results. (You don't need to use the programs to enjoy the book.) Of course, further study will, at some point, require more math. But this book demonstrates how much can be explained with the simplest concepts, and would be worthwhile for someone to read before getting immersed in the higher math.

The software is (as of this writing) still available. Software details below for those that want them (hopefully saves you searching like I did); it is not at all obvious that the software is a major requirement to enjoy the book, though.

Be aware that the website for the book also has a PDF of solutions to the problems, which is great for someone doing self-study.

Also, I have not read that much of the book yet, but it is a quality item and a good read so far - well typeset, pictures, 400+ pages of fairly small print (but not too massive to read in bed), good binding, unlike many expensive physics texts these days. I am giving this 5 stars just to balance out the other review that dinged it due to the software link being broken - the book is 8 years old, the SW is free & not put out by the publisher, Schutz has moved institutions; it's not reasonable to hate on the guy for not having the links all straight.

FYI, while the math may be accessible to a high-schooler, the writing style is more in the style of a standard undergrad physics text. It would need to be a pretty advanced, self-motivated high school student (at least by US standards) to get through much of this for that reasons, despite the math being only algebra.

As to the software, it's called `triana', and is some sort of java front end. In fact, the idea seems to be that one might use this as an opportunity to teach oneself (or ones' students) java by messing with the code if you want... which actually seems like a very nice idea. Anyway, Most of what you need can be found at the book's website, but all the links to the main software package itself are broken - don't get you even close to a place you could find it. Amazon usually seems to delete all typed links, so I will try to enter them below in a way that won't get trashed by a `bot: w^3 should be obvious, dd means "dot", ss means forward slash. They are:

Book: w^3 dd gravityfromthegroundup dd org
This link has color images, the PDF of the problem solutions, etc.

Software:
w^3 dd gravityfromthegroundup dd org ss programs ss index dd html
this is java code, help files, descriptions of everything (actually, code is nicely documented). Probably worth downloading it all in case it goes away. WORTH BOOKMARKING for later use.

w^3 dd trianacode dd org ss gettingstarted dd html
the actual triana software place; this page has directions. Note: I got the SW (see below), extracted it, put it in a folder as specified on c drive, used set TRIANA=C:\triana at the command prompt, and then ran the `triana app snapshot' executable jar file without doing any of the other things I was supposed to do, and it works fine. So consider just extracting the files, putting them where you want, & running that file - ignore everything else. Seems like the SW no longer requires a full build on your own. *** the version I used already had the toolboxes installed - no need to download those separately either. Ironically, except for the broken links, things have gotten EASIER re: SW install.

w^3 dd trianacode dd org ss triana4 ss download ss
parent dir for the code. I used the triana-4.0.0 zip, since it didn't require a lot of mucking about with tar files or gzips. Easy as pie on Win 7. Nb: this version didn't seem to have the source for the java, but that is in the help pages listed in the 1st link above under "Software". NB#2: You MUST have java installed before doing all this. Most people do, but if not search for `java', download, & install it first.

Last notes: when you run triana, you get a program window with an "Untitled1" subwindow with nothing in it. To get started:
- open the `gftgu' folder on the left side (gftgu = title of the book...)
- drag `cannontrajectory' over to the grey `Untitled1' window & drop it there
- open the `output' folder on the left side
- drag `SGTGrapher' over to the `Untitled1' window
- if it doesn't happen automatically, left-click on the little black tab on the `cannontrajectory' box, and drag a connector to the tab on the `SGTGrapher' box.
- right click each box, and click on the `properties' tab to open the control and graph windows
- when changing parameters here, click `apply', not `OK' - the latter closes the windows.
- click `run' (or the "play" button on the toolbar for the main window). A plot will appear in the graph window.
- Nb: this plot never seems to change when you change parameters... unless you uncheck the `x-autoscale' and `y-autoscale' in the graph window :)

From there you'll have the idea. The help files available at the 1st link under `Software' above seem sort of necessary to understand some of the modules, and `F1' does not bring up help on my triana install, so that page is worth bookmarking.

All in all, pretty easy to deal with, though - the instructions above make it sound a lot harder than it actually is.

There are not a lot of books that come under this category.
This is meant for high school to college students who understand math like trigonometry, some algebra, but no need to know calculus.
The book lays out the graviy topics very well starting from Galilean, Newtonian physics to Einstein's relativity and quantum to some extent.
That is no small feat by any measure.
The market is crammed with two kinds of books. Its either:
a)Popular science books with no maths and throw a bunch of exciting facts at the reader.
b)Advanced Texts with indepth calculus, vectors, riemann geometry, tensors to make sense of the contents

And the author is right-on when he say this in the book.
"this is a book for people who are not afraid to think, who want to understand what gravity is, who want to go beyond the superficial level of understanding that many popular books settle for. But this is also not an advanced texbook. We shall steer a careful middle course between the over-simplification of some popular treatments and the dense complexity of many advanced mathematical texts. This book has equations, but the equations use algebra and (a little) trigonometry, not advanced university mathematics. What is required in place of advanced mathematics is thought"

All in all - an awesome book that I hoped I had when I was in highschool. I have lost count of the books I studied and cross-referenced to get a good understanding of all these topics while in high school.

If you are the person that cannot settle for facts thrown at you by popular science books and cannot deal with advanced calculus math (yet), this book is great for you. Even those with some Calculus background will learn a lot form this book because, the kind of calculus needed to under Riemann surfaces, Maxwell equations, Schrodinger equations, Quantum mechanics is very advanced calculus and vectors. This book can prepare you logically and mentally towards that.

I give two thumbs up to this book

Let me start by saying that I absolutely love this book. If it was just the book, I would have rated it 5-stars. The author's explanations are very well thought out, and extremely interesting. They are also technically correct. Now, I am also working through (very slowly) this author's book, "A First Course in General Relativity." That book definitely is not for the math timid or math deficient. At times, I wonder if my own math skills, rusty after 30 years out of college, are up to the challenge. But for GFTGU, the math is no problem. It is a GREAT book.

So what's the problem? Why only 2 stars? Well, the software so prominently mentioned in the ads for this book, and so prominently a part of the authors presentation IN the book, are no longer available for download. The book website is still there, the exercise answers are there. But the link for downloading the software leads to a site that was closed in December 2010. Seems like that is long enough for an alternate to have been found. Bring back the Software, and this will turn into a 5-star review.

I'm fascinated by gravity. What causes it, how it behaves, how does it relate to quantum mechanics. But for someone other than an advanced (graduate) student, it's too much. The descriptions are all in math, no verbage particularly, except to tell what the math is about.

If you're a graduate student, this is probably an excellent text. But not for the above-average amateur (but well read and knowledgeable) scientist.

This book could just as well have been published freely on a website - perhaps it's already available for free somewhere on the internet.
The book is clearly written from an anti - Galilean perspective since it lies about Galileo by saying that what he was doing in his research was turning science away from philosophy and speculation.
What is thinking about gravity and trying to explain it to other people else than speculation and philosophy?
This book gets one star for a cool cover, and one star for the overall text.
But if the authors would have been more careful with the text, then perhaps I would have given it four stars.
Galileo did not turn science away from philosophy and speculation.
He was a deeply religious mystic who believed that science should be interwoven with philosophy and rarely mentioned the word 'speculation'in his writings.
Some of the authors seem to be anti - speculation, which I would characterize as simply meaning anti - thought although I doupt they're aware of that in their criticism towards Galileo.
This book reads otherwise quite interestingly for me and helps me to understand some of the principles behind gravitation, and anti - gravity.