A student-friendly style, over 100 illustrations, and numerous exercises are brought together in this textbook for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students in physics and mathematics. Lewis Ryder develops the theory of general relativity in detail. Covering the core topics of black holes, gravitational radiation, and cosmology, he provides an overview of general relativity and its modern ramifications. The book contains chapters on gravitational radiation, cosmology, and connections between general relativity and the fundamental physics of the microworld. It explains the geometry of curved spaces and contains key solutions of Einstein's equations - the Schwarzschild and Kerr solutions. Mathematical calculations are worked out in detail, so students can develop an intuitive understanding of the subject, as well as learn how to perform calculations. The book also includes topics concerned with the relation between general relativity and other areas of fundamental physics. Password protected solutions for instructors are available at www.cambridge.org/9780521845632.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"This superb and spirited modern introduction to Einstein's theory of gravitation covers all of the essential topics with admirable clarity. A penetrating discussion of the basic concepts of the theory is followed by a wonderfully lucid development of the mathematical formalism using modern differential geometry. Ample illustrations and problems enhance and complement the text; moreover, a generous list of references is provided at the end of each chapter for further reading. This scholarly yet accessible textbook is highly recommended for a course on general relativity."
Bahram Mashhoon, University of Missouri
"This book offers a lucid introduction to Einstein's theory of gravitation which is finally part of mainstream physics in many undergraduate final year options. The style is pedagogic and notable for a gentle but concise introduction to modern calculational tools in applied differential geometry along with traditional tensor calculus. The student will surely find the careful attention to detail in the many explicit computations of advanced topics (such as action principles, pseudo-tensors, gravito-magnetism and the Dirac equation in a curved space-time) of immense help in developing an understanding of general relativity. The book provides a welcome fresh approach for all students wishing to take the subject further."
Robin Tucker, Lancaster University
"This modern and inspiring textbook is highly recommended not only for a course on General Relativity, but also to those who wish to learn this exciting subject by a self-study."
Milutin Blagojevic, Annalen der Physik
"...handsomely produced volume... I would recommend anyone teaching this subject to take a look at this text, a strong candidate for the best treatment on the market."
Graham Farmelo, Times Higher Education Supplement
Bahram Mashhoon, University of Missouri
"This book offers a lucid introduction to Einstein's theory of gravitation which is finally part of mainstream physics in many undergraduate final year options. The style is pedagogic and notable for a gentle but concise introduction to modern calculational tools in applied differential geometry along with traditional tensor calculus. The student will surely find the careful attention to detail in the many explicit computations of advanced topics (such as action principles, pseudo-tensors, gravito-magnetism and the Dirac equation in a curved space-time) of immense help in developing an understanding of general relativity. The book provides a welcome fresh approach for all students wishing to take the subject further."
Robin Tucker, Lancaster University
"This modern and inspiring textbook is highly recommended not only for a course on General Relativity, but also to those who wish to learn this exciting subject by a self-study."
Milutin Blagojevic, Annalen der Physik
"...handsomely produced volume... I would recommend anyone teaching this subject to take a look at this text, a strong candidate for the best treatment on the market."
Graham Farmelo, Times Higher Education Supplement
Book Description
A student-friendly style, over 100 illustrations, and numerous exercises are brought together in this textbook for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students in physics and mathematics. It covers the core topics of black holes, gravitational radiation, and cosmology. Password protected solutions for instructors are available at www.cambridge.org/9780521845632.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good for what it sets out to be,
This review is from: Introduction to General Relativity (Hardcover)
Although Ryder's book is riddled with typos (mostly in index manipulations) and lacks detail on many advanced topics, it does contain some of the clearest explanations and detailed derivations of any GR book out there. The author provides ample illustrations and motivation for more abstract concepts, such as curvature, before diving into the math in order to make the results easier to comprehend. Furthermore, he gives several examples, like calculating the components of the curvature tensor via differential forms, that I have never seen in other GR books but are definitely instructive. Most importantly, Ryder gives some of the clearest (though occasionally pedestrian) explanations of technical concepts that take the student beyond mindless manipulations of mathematical symbols. There were numerous instances when reading this book that I remarked "that's what all the other authors were trying to explain but couldn't." For this, Ryder's book is a good place to start learning GR at the advanced undergraduate level before moving on to more formal and rigorous texts. It's probably not suitable as a formal textbook for a course, but it is invaluable for actually understanding the material, a statement that does not apply to the vast majority of unnecessary GR books out there. Ryder and Hartle are the perfect starting point before moving on to Wald, whose masterpiece remains unequaled.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Dr.Benjamin Hobhouse,
By
This review is from: Introduction to General Relativity (Hardcover)
This book contains conceptual and calculational errors. It contains nothing new, and the level is also not very high. It is also not pedagogical, for example the chapter about newer mathematics in Relativity is confusing. There are many better books on General Relativity, like for example the books of James Hartle, Landau+Lifshitz, Adler+Bazin+Shiffer and of course the very complete book of Misner+Thorne+Wheeler. In this sense, the book of Ryder is irrelevant. To learn Relativity on a solid and a higher level basis , one should not use this book.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Easy and simple introduction to general relativity,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Introduction to General Relativity (Hardcover)
The fonts are quite small and hard to read in my case. But this book is good for beginning
graduate students. It can serve as an easy and simple introduction to general relativity.
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