Relativity: Special, General, and Cosmological [Paperback]

Wolfgang Rindler (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198508360 | ISBN-13: 978-0198508366 | Publication Date: October 18, 2001 | Edition: First Edition

This text is a considerable amplification and modernization of the authors' earlier Essential Relativity. It brings relativity alive conceptually and emphasizes the foundations and the logical subtleties rather than the mathematics or the detailed experiments. It includes 300 exercises and promotes a visceral understanding and the confidence to tackle any fundamental relativistic problem. Following a critical overview of the whole field, special-relativistic kinematics is presented three dimensionally before the mathematical level gradually rises. Four vectors preceded mechanics, four tensors precede Maxwell theory, and three chapters on cosmology end the text. This book brings the challenge and excitement of modern relativity and cosmology at a rigorous mathematical level within the reach of advanced undergraduates, while containing enough new material to interest lecturers and researchers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A textbook for graduate or advanced undergraduate physics students who are familiar with calculus up to partial differentiation, ordinary vector, and the binomial theorem. Rindler (physics, U. of Texas-Dallas) has essentially rewritten his earlier Essential Relativity to account for the growing sophistication and inquisitiveness about relativity in mainstream physics. He does not provide a bibliography."--SciTech Book News

"This book should be on the shelf of all who are intrigued by the startling modern advances in our understanding of space and time."--American Journal of Physics

About the Author

Prof. Wolfgang Rindler, Dept of Physics, The University of Texas at Dallas, Email: [e-mail], Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone]

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; First Edition edition (October 18, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198508360
• ISBN-13: 978-0198508366
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #810,701 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good, December 26, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Relativity: Special, General, and Cosmological (Paperback)

I think both undergraduates and graduates students in physics will find this text enjoyable and enlightening. The sections on general relativity and cosmology are, I think, a little less thorough and complicated than those in Wald or Shultz, though I've only briefly perused those other texts. (GR is still plenty abstract and mathematical in Rindler.) The end of chapter exercises are well-chosen and lead the reader to understand the material. Rindler does an excellent job of keep physical insight at the forefront of his discussions. He points out and resolves a number of interesting paradoxes, and he mentions a number of interesting modern experiments when relevant.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Whoosh, May 1, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Relativity: Special, General, and Cosmological (Paperback)

Professor Rindler explains the concepts with clarity and rigour while minimising the complexities of the notation and formulae. His ability to put ideas into words is outstanding. If you have heard the tales of trains that whoosh past in the ether, and are still none the wiser; or have wondered how the background radiation that set out on its way at the speed of light when the world was a smaller simpler place is only now reaching us, this book will enlighten you. Even for those whose maths cannot keep up it should be worthwhile, stimulating even, to read the sections at the beginning of each chapter, and those elsewhere light in formulae. For those willing to tackle the exercises he is perhaps a little too generous with the hints.

8 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars One of the worst text on GR, June 19, 2005

By 

Mohsin (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Relativity: Special, General, and Cosmological (Paperback)

This is one of the worst text I came across. Author keep discussing a topic but never points to the result. A book where you keep flipping back and forth to make sense. Often notations are used but there is no explanation what they represents. I have gone through chapter 15 and 18 ,on Linearized GR and FRW metric, following every step and found out that there are few errors and a lot of key steps are omitted. For example, gauge transformations are done and results are obtained but if you won't consult other similar texts then you won't know what are the results and which are the transformations, unless you already are a professor. Almost same topic is discussed in Inverno's book and you can clearly see what are the various transformations and what are the results.

A book may contain every topic what you are looking for but the key Qs is how well are they conveyed. In order to write an excellent text the author should be first clear about it in his own mind and organize it before publishing it. Save yourself and get a nicer book like Inverno or Stephani. I would not recommend this text for GR unless absolutely necessary.