There is little doubt that Einstein's theory of relativity captures the imagination. It is unrivalled in forming the basis of the way we view the universe and the many surprises that the theory has in store -- the characteristics of black holes, the prospect of detecting gravitational waves, and the sheer scope and profundity of current cosmology excite all students of relativity. The aim of this textbook is to provide students with a sound mathematical introduction coupled to an understanding of the physical insights needed to explore the subject. The book follows Einstein in that it introduces the basic field equations by discussing the relativistic theory of gravitation from a physics point of view, and the structure on the resulting equations is discussed carefully before going on to their solution in simple settings. The book is designed with two objectives: to familiarize students with the basic ideas and equations of the theory, and to cover three main topics: black holes, gravitational waves, and cosmology. Throughout, the author has included numerous exercises (of varying degrees of difficulty) to illustrate and extend the ideas covered. As a result, this book will make an excellent first course for any student coming to the subject for the first time.
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Editorial Reviews
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`Ray d'Inverno's Introducing Einstein's Relativity seems to have done a wonderful job of taming what many undergraduates consider a ferocious course. The book has a large, reader-friendly format, with a lot of illustrations. Important equations are highlighted in boxes and the reader does not have to wade through an undifferentiated mass of tensor calculus.' New Scientist
'The visually stunning dust jacket cloaks exceptionally well-presented text and figures, making reading irresistible. This is a fine book which I have added to the recommended bibliography for my courses; colleagues at other universities are advised not to overlook it.' Times Higher Education Supplement
'This book is designed to explain the theory in terms which many students will find easier to digest.' Aslib Book Guide, Vol. 58, No. 1, January 1993
'a highly accessible undergraduate text book packaged in a reader-friendly style ... a comprehensive and accessible book' Felicity Mellor, The Observatory, Vol. 113, No. 1114
'a very readable and well illustrated treatment of general relativity, gravitational waves, black holes and cosmology' Australian and New Zealand Physicist, Volume 30, Number 3, March 1993
'The great experience of teaching Relativity is reflected by an excellent presentation of the material in the book ... It is a highly recommended introduction to the mathematical foundations as well as physical ideas underlying Einstein's Relativity. The text is concise and clear but nevertheless of a high level. The author has succeeded in writing a beautiful self-contained text ... very useful for students and graduates who want to become familiar with Einstein's theory of Relativity ... it can be unreservedly recommended as a good tool for preparing examinations in relativity. In all respects it is a pleasure to read this distinguished textbook.' D. Kramer, Class. Quantum Grav. 11 (1994)
'an intuitive and motivating presentation with mathematical precision where the latter is needed ... Extremely helpful are more than 200 figures, illustrating subjects which in many cases are difficult to imagine ... this book is one of the best pedagogical approaches to introduce general relativity and to present a connection to more advanced topics in this field. Hence it is highly recommendable for every student or teacher interested in this subject.' Bernd Wegner, Mathematics Abstracts, 774/93
'The visually stunning dust jacket cloaks exceptionally well-presented text and figures, making reading irresistible. This is a fine book which I have added to the recommended bibliography for my courses; colleagues at other universities are advised not to overlook it.' Times Higher Education Supplement
'This book is designed to explain the theory in terms which many students will find easier to digest.' Aslib Book Guide, Vol. 58, No. 1, January 1993
'a highly accessible undergraduate text book packaged in a reader-friendly style ... a comprehensive and accessible book' Felicity Mellor, The Observatory, Vol. 113, No. 1114
'a very readable and well illustrated treatment of general relativity, gravitational waves, black holes and cosmology' Australian and New Zealand Physicist, Volume 30, Number 3, March 1993
'The great experience of teaching Relativity is reflected by an excellent presentation of the material in the book ... It is a highly recommended introduction to the mathematical foundations as well as physical ideas underlying Einstein's Relativity. The text is concise and clear but nevertheless of a high level. The author has succeeded in writing a beautiful self-contained text ... very useful for students and graduates who want to become familiar with Einstein's theory of Relativity ... it can be unreservedly recommended as a good tool for preparing examinations in relativity. In all respects it is a pleasure to read this distinguished textbook.' D. Kramer, Class. Quantum Grav. 11 (1994)
'an intuitive and motivating presentation with mathematical precision where the latter is needed ... Extremely helpful are more than 200 figures, illustrating subjects which in many cases are difficult to imagine ... this book is one of the best pedagogical approaches to introduce general relativity and to present a connection to more advanced topics in this field. Hence it is highly recommendable for every student or teacher interested in this subject.' Bernd Wegner, Mathematics Abstracts, 774/93
About the Author
Ray d'Inverno is at University of Southampton.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Review by author of Relativity Demystified,
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This review is from: Introducing Einstein's Relativity (Paperback)
This was one of the books assigned when I took general relativity in college. I found several of the chapters very enjoyable to read. D'Inverno does a great job getting into some of the fascinating physics that lies behind general relativity and its development, like Mach's principles and a great discussion of the equivalence principle. Much of the book is devoted to teaching you the mathematics, and it does so in a good fashion. He has two nice chapters on tensors with homework problems that are doable. One drawback was the book didn't have anything on Cartan's equations or discuss one forms (although he talks about contravariant and covariant vectors). The first half of the book is better than the second half, I found his chapters on special relativity excellent but felt his chapters on black holes and gravity waves were a bit lacking. In any case, I recommend it. Try beefing up your education by reading it along with Schutz so you get some exposure to one forms and all that.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good introduction to general relativity,
By A Customer
This review is from: Introducing Einstein's Relativity (Paperback)
D'Inverno provides a very solid introduction to the general theory of relativity, starting with a short review of the special theory and moving through tensor calculus, the field equations, and some applications. One caution: the approach is entirely coordinate-based, so people wishing to get a full picture of general relativity may wish to supplement it with a more modern treatment, such as Wald or Hawking and Ellis.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
By far the best introductory text,
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This review is from: Introducing Einstein's Relativity (Paperback)
There are far too many books written on relativity, black holes and cosmology. Of these books, the best (e.g. Hawking and Ellis, Wald, Stewart) can be studied with minimal prerequisites and you should walk away with a good grasp of the issues, problems and results. However if you want to have more than a coffee shop knowledge of relativity you should begin with something that provides examples and problems you can churn out yourself. D'Inverno provides these. He puts down no result that you can't check for yourself with nothing more than basic calculus and some intuition. From this book you can then, after perhaps studying something beyond basic calculus, fruitfully study the above classics.
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