Customer Reviews

The Mathematics of Relativity for the Rest of Us

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4 star:		(3)
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2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a superb example of how one can successfully explain abstract mathematics in a fluid and clear manner. The book is heavy on words compared to the number of equations, but that is how it should be. By that, I mean that Dr. Jagerman explains in detail the meaning behind the equations, so that when it's time to work an example, the user's intuition is sharpened. The purchasers of this book should not be fooled into thinking they can learn relativity in a week's time though, the book is over 400 pages long. However, motivated learners will find this text an enjoyable experience to read and learn from, much different than the 'dry' mathematics books which currently bore students in today's universities. The 400 pages pack a lot of substance into the material, unlike the other books on the market that promise to 'demystify' or 'make simple' difficult abstract topics like relativity or quantum mechanics.

This would be an excellent book along with Julian Barbour's "The End of Time," as the latter text is highly insightful into the minds of Einstein and the founders of quantum mechanics, with numerous historical anecdotes into what those scientists were most likely thinking as they formulated their theories.

Lastly, for the potential buyers of this book with 'math anxiety', I recommend they start with "The Cosmic Frontiers of General Relativity," by Willam J. Kaufman. This book is somewhat dated, as it was published in 1977, and is hard to find at on-line book dealers, but libraries tend to have it in stock. Reading Kaufman's book is a good way to whet one's curiousity, as it is written for the layperson with many illustrations of the concepts.

This was the book I was looking for before I read Hartle, Schultz, McMahon and Penrose. Jagerman presents relativity in a conversational and understandable level so that the reader lacking a math or physics degree can grasp some fairly difficult concepts. It amazes me that Hawking can be a best selling author when there is a book like this available. While Jagerman's book lacks the glossy pages and more sophisticated illustrations of other best sellers, I urge anyone interested in relativity to pick up "The Mathematics of Relativity..." You will not be disappointed! Thank you Dr. Jagerman.

I am a "motivated and attentive reader", trying to appreciate the meaning of relativity for so many years, with frustrating results. And yes, I'm full of books explaining relativity,from popular to technical texts, never reaching the goal. This is the book I was looking for, a book anyone can understand, a step by step guide to the mind of the Master.

The thought experiment is not wrong,the whole point being made was that the ships A & B although at rest "relative" to each other were not at rest "relative" to the vacuum and hence the invariance in the "propagation" velocity of em radiation caused "relative" errors in time of reception. Remember they were in rectilinear motion, say they were moving at .5c relative to the vacuum, then you cant have the forward moving pulse moving at 1.5c through the vacuum and the responding pulse moving backwards at .5c just to keep the timing right! thats the whole point of this. The speed of light is "invariant" to the inertial frame. please reread and retract. oh yeah by the way the book is GREAT buy it! Regards.
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This 450 page book covers Special Relativity in ~50 pages and the remainder of the book is devoted to General Relativity. Some of the chapters have very little math and their point is to give a verbal description of the key points of SR and GR. However, the bulk of the book is devoted to developing the math of General Relativity in all of its gory details.

It's been said that Special Relativity can be understood, using only High School Math, but that's certainly not true for GR. So this book will be highly useful for those who are trying to tackle the "heights" of GR because there isn't any other book (i.e. non-textbook) that attempts to do that for the general reader. For those, looking only to understand SR, try Wolfson's "Simply Einstein" (2003).

There's a number of reviews that discuss page 5 and whether or not it's a big blunder on the part of the author. To be honest- I'm not sure myself esp. after the previous review. The question is whether the author is incorrectly saying time dilation can occur in the case of two spaceships which are NOT "moving" wrt each other. (My take is the author is talking about simultaneity and NOT time dilation.)

He covers time dilation explicity on page 17, and does it correctly I believe. Either way, the book is really devoted to GR, so for those readers interested in that topic, it may not matter much.

The book truly does cover all the math of GR, but I'm not qualified to say if his coverage is correct. However, it's definitely much more user-friendly than a real physics textbook, and the author writes well.

Update: Page 5 is correct. The other 2 reviewers below are confused- check out the relativity book by Lillian Lieber (one of Jagerman's references), which was favorably reviewed by Einstein. It has the same thought experiment with more detail.

I don't know how I missed this book for so long. This is one of the BEST Relativity books on the market with just the right amount of math for those of us willing to put in an effort but not formally trained beyond college level physics. All formulae are intuitively derived but explained in detail and require a good deal of effort. But if you want to have a fuller understanding of Relativity beyond the numerous general-reader level books do not pass this one up because without the math one does not get far in truly understanding the subject.

Dr. Lagerman, a medical doctor, has got just the right medicine for those of us who for years have had the general picture of Relativity but nothing beyond that. Please note that you will by no means fully and truly understand Relativity and all its implications after reading this book but you will have journeyed far towards that goal. But for some this book is a vehicle that will take you all the closer to the stage.

Superb. Very highly recommended.

I teach relativity to roughly the same audience that Jagerman is
trying to reach, and I would NOT want my students near this book. It
is full of conceptual errors; the whopper on page 5 is just the
beginning. As another reviewer says of page 5, "the end result is
correct but the reasoning is incorrect." I would add that the type of
faulty reasoning employed there will get students very much on the
wrong track from the very beginning; I don't see how they can build further understanding on this flawed foundation.)

Jagerman has his heart in the right place. I've been trying to find
books which bridge the gap between overly conceptual books for mass
consumption on the one hand, and books for upper-division physics
majors on the other hand. So when I read Jagerman's statement about
why he wrote the book, I ordered it immediately. But it is a real
disappointment.

I thought I would never find a book that would explain tensors well and Einstein's general relativity in its mathematical description but this book amazingly is able to do it. Previous more mathematical books take a bit too much higher level math for granted. The author, as he himself states, begins with high school math and explains every other piece of calculus, geometry, etc., that he introduces. I am really amazed at how well he is able to explain everything, starting with the metric of space-time, tensors relating to curvatures, moving on to the energy-momentum tensors, then on the solutions of Einstein's equations.

This author really has a skill at explaining complicated math well, obviously predicated on the fact that he understands general relativity and the equation through and through. The fact he spent so much time on this large book and effort to make it clear and concise, astounds me and I am really grateful that he produced it. I can imagine how much time, as a medical doctor, he had to devote to this extracurricular labour of love.

In short, this is such a well written and clear book, anyone who has even high school math can wind up understanding not just the principles of general relativity, which are themselves quite simple, but the equations that are used for solving problems of gravity, I guarantee it.

Mathematics of relativity--for me. Takes concentration but the material is there for those willing to work.

This is the finest "lay person" science book I have ever read. Although one must have some mathematical exposure, preferably through calculus, his clear explaniations and analogies could be understood by anyone willing to invest the time. An absolute must for anyone interested in developing a real feel for relativity and what it really means.