Customer Reviews

Gravity: An Introduction to Einstein's General Relativity

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Many beginners in GR don't have a rudimentary intuitive understanding of what 4-vectors are and how to use them in a simple physical problem. This textbook helps with that - it gives you a workout in using 4-vectors and thinking geometrically about spacetime. It teaches you the basic notions of metric, embedding diagrams, hypersurfaces, observers carrying their orthonormal bases and performing measurements, geodesics, coordinate transformations, curvature and energy tensors. Along the way, it manages to explore in detail the three most important metrics in GR: black holes (static and rotating), cosmological models of the universe and gravitational radiation. The book covers the conceptual foundations (how Einstein developed the idea), the mathematical machinery, the analysis of the historical confirmations of GR as well as many contemporary observations like gravitational lensing, cosmic background radiation, or acceleration of the universe expansion (by the way the cosmological chapters are the most logical introduction to cosmology I've seen), even future experiments like gravity probe B that is going to measure the 'frame dragging' around Earth.

In the first 400 pages the book is exploring different metrics by calculating physical observable quantities like redshift, orbits, bending of light and so on using 4-vectors only. There are many examples that show you actual calculations right after a new concept is introduced and help you learn thinking in terms of 4-vectors. The usual tensor analysis, curvature, covariant derivative and Einstein equation are introduced in the last 100 pages. Each chapter has about 20 problems on average, ranging from very easy ones that familiarize you with the new concepts, average ones that train you to combine several concepts from the text, and quite hard ones (marked with [C]) that require a lot of creativity, guessing and effort on your part (sometimes you can't solve them but don't cry :). I've solved about 90% of the problems - unfortunately there aren't any answers ... Your calculus must be in prime shape, you have to know what differential is, you often have to solve integrals (for the time consuming ones use Mathematica), differential equations (only simple ones), approximate terms in formulas 'up to first order' in something and frequently convert between SI units and geometrized units (c = G = 1) but nothing fancier than that is required. The book has a web site

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with supplements (some more theoretical derivations, nothing scary) and downloadable Mathematica notebooks that calculate Christoffels and curvature for any metric you fill in (believe me they save you a LOT of algebra).

If you can spend about 6 hours per day, you can read the text and solve most of the problems in about 4 months. The text gave me many answers but often made me ask deeper questions whose answers I have to find on my own. I would say the presentation is 3/4 very clear and 1/4 is kind of fuzzy and could be improved by the author - it 'makes sense' when you read it but when you start solving the problems it turns out there are important details missing - I usually resolve these but it would be less time consuming if the text was more systematic. Solving the problems makes you really understand the concepts and is more valuable than reading the text alone! It is amazing how the book cuts through stuff that sounds 'too sophisticated' and after a few days you understand it and can even calculate it.

Lastly, this text covers the beginning level of GR. You will have to read other texts like Carroll or Inverno for intermediate level and Wald for higher level.

This is the best book for understanding gravity mathematically at the level of an advanced undergraduate. Though intended for the classroom (and based on a class at UCSB) there are many aspects of this book which make it nearly ideal for self-study:

* interesting side-bars, with some math
* thorough details in mathematical explanations
* never too much repetition of covered material
* moves from special cases (with applications) to more general cases, allowing the student to learn a little at a time (which is rare in books on general relativity)

The only downside is that it doesn't go quite as far into recent theories as you might like. This is fine for me as I, as a complete layman, would rather understand a bit of relativity well--something I missed in my undergraduate physics training.

Not many books on gravitation are clear and concise but this one is.
I have the big Bible "Gravitation" from Wheeler but then if you are
using for introductory course then this one is the best. It assumes that reader is new to this subject and proceeds step by step. Tensors are introduced as they are needed in the text so that you don't get lot of information at once. The chapters are as follows,

1: Gravitational Physics
2: Space, Time, and Gravity in Nwt physics.
3: Principles of SR.
4: SR Mechanics
5: Gravity as Geometry.
6: The Description of Spacetime.
7: Geodesics
8: The Geometry Outside a Spherical Star.
9: Solar System Test of GR
10: Relativistic Gravity in Action.
11: Gravitational Collasp and Black Holes.
12: Astrophysical Black Holes.
13: A Little Rotation.
14: Rotating Black Holes.
15: Gravitational Waves.
16: The Universe Observed.
17: Which Universe and Why?
18: A Little more Math.
19: Curvature and Einstein Equation.
20: The Source of Curvature.
21: Gravitational Wave Emmision.
22: Relativistic Stars.

I guess it's a very good text for the introduction to GR. Less math than Weinberg but precisely good. If you are considering an intro to GR, Gravitation then this would be a good choice. The price is also very reasonable.

This is a successful textbook covering intermediate levels between advanced undergraduate and graduate. This was long-sought book for senior students who understood special relativity and wanted to learn general relativity. Ofcourse those of Misner-Thorne-Wheeler and Weinberg are the classics in the field and Wald is the best known graduate text. But Hartle's text is a very good introduction for undergrads from other branches of Science and Engineering and for Physics as well. I personally was looking for a good introductory text for GR and I would congratulate Jim Hartle for being the author of this marvelous piece who is also a forerunner in the gravitational research.

Most books I read about GR assume that you are some kind of math genius who after a few pages where you are introduced to stuff such as "vectors as directional derivatives" etc; you are supposed to be able to master differential geometry, curved spacetime and all the mathematical equipment of GR.
James Hartle's book is nothing like that. The reader gets to the physics of GR with math he can actually understand (Newtonian and Lagrangian formalism of Mechanics is enough as a background)and equations he can derive easily for himself. It's amazing that just at the 9th chapter of the overall 24 chapters of the book you can see derived the easiest way the orbits of a particle outside a black hole!
In short, Hartle starts where the other books about GR end, that is with the physics. And he ends where the other books begin, that is with the difficult math. This is, in my opinion, what makes this book so interesting and where all his beaty and strength lies in.

Great introduction to Relativity. Many examples and relations to the 'real world'. Similar approach as The Bible (Misner, Thorne, and Wheeler), but, in my opinion, this book is much more organized and reads easier.

I purchased "Gravity" as part of an effort to learn more about modern physics. I do not have the money or schedule to take courses at a university, so I have been purchasing books and reading them on my own time. I wanted something that would give a deep, rigorous understanding of the subject matter. So far, after a month and a half of regular reading, I have made through the first seven chapters.
So far, I am not dissapointed. "Gravity" begins from where I left off (years ago, taking the physics courses mandatory for chemistry majors in a bachelors program) and builds precept upon precept to take the reader into the world of general relativity. The book uses language that is clear, and examples that help to further explain the concepts being taught in the course. For those of us who are not "mathheads", the mathematics needed to understand the material beyond basic calculus and algebra is taught within the text. This book is helping me to gain a better understanding of this area of physics.
I do have one "bone to pick", however, with the organization of the text. Like most textbooks, this one, usefully, has problems at the ends of the chapters. I like to work on a sampling of problems to solidify what I have learned. The problems are well written, and force you to think about the subject matter. However, none of the problems have answers in the back of the book! I understand that in a graded course, there is the temptation for some students to simply look up the answers, and not do the work. However, many textbooks have answers to selected problems. If this book had this, it would still leave many problems for assigned work for those taking a course, but allow self or independent studiers like me the opportunity to work some problems and see if we are on the right track in understanding the material.

When an author can write a book on a complicated subject so that anyone without prior knowledge can understand the content, he is truly a gifted writer. Gravity: An Intoduction to Einstein's General Relativity by James Hartle delivers. I studied calculus and had one course in non-calculus physics 35 years ago and was amazed at how much I could understand from this book. I am also reading "Relativity DeMystified" for a different perspective but Hartle is a true winner.

One note: If relativity is your primary goal you can read chapters 1-9 and skip to 20 and then 21 (Curvature and the Einstein Equation) for a short cut, according to Appendix D (Pedagogical Strategy). Its all great stuff though, so take your time and enjoy.

This is the best book I've seen in mathematics or physics. It brings out the beauty of the geometry and has wonderful examples that allow you to understand and remember the concepts more quickly and more throughly than I thought possible. The problems are beautiful too. And the price is great also. Read this book before the others, because once you start reading it, you won't be able to put it down.

Let me just say, for an introductory textbook, nobody does it better than Hartle!

Very motivating...keeps physics the central topic of discussion instead of wandering off topic.

My only complaint is that Einstein's equation is introduced towards end of the book, giving it a false idea that it is "incomprehensible" which is not true.

But really, great job Hartle!