A Short Course in General Relativity [Paperback]

James Foster (Author), J. D. Nightingale (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0387942955 | ISBN-13: 978-0387942957 | Publication Date: August 9, 2001 | Edition: 2nd

Suitable for a one-semester course in general relativity for senior undergraduate or beginning graduate students, this text clarifies the mathematical aspects of Einstein's general theory of relativity without sacrificing physical understanding. The text begins with an exposition of those aspects of tensor calculus and differential geometry needed for a proper exposition of the subject. The discussion then turns to the spacetime of general relativity and to geodesic motion, comparisons and contrasts with Newton's theory being drawn where appropriate. A brief consideration of the field equations is followed by a discussion of physics in the vicinity of massive objects, including an elementary treatment of black holes. Particular attention is paid to those aspects of the theory that have observational consequences. The book concludes with brief introductory chapters on gravitational radiation and cosmology, and includes an appendix that reviews the special theory of relativity. In preparing this new edition, the authors have made extensive revisions to the original text. In particular, the first three chapters -- covering coordinate systems, tensors and the geometry of curved spaces -- have been completely rewritten to make the material readily accessible to physics students. Many examples, exercises and problems help guide the student through the theory.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the reviews of the third edition: "This is the third edition of a book that is already familiar to those who teach an introductory course in general relativity. … Important concepts are introduced slowly and carefully, so that the resulting text is a comprehensible first introduction that is suitable for both physics and mathematics students. … its strength is that it is a short introduction to the subject that still covers all the essential material for a first course and provides a sound basis for further study." (J. B. Griffiths, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2006 h) "This book is a well-developed introduction to General Relativity. … the present third edition is really re-worked in many places in comparison with the previous ones. … Three appendices are quite helpful … . Solutions to the exercises, References and Index close this very readable book. … Every chapter ends with a list of problems … ." (Hans-Jürgen Schmidt, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1089 (15), 2006) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

Suitable for a one-semester course in general relativity for senior undergraduates or beginning graduate students, this text clarifies the mathematical aspects of Einstein's theory of relativity without sacrificing physical understanding. The text begins with an exposition of those aspects of tensor calculus and differential geometry needed for a proper treatment of the subject. The discussion then turns to the spacetime of general relativity and to geodesic motion. A brief consideration of the field equations is followed by a discussion of physics in the vicinity of massive objects, including an elementary treatment of black holes and rotating objects. The main text concludes with introductory chapters on gravitational radiation and cosmology. This new third edition has been updated to take account of fresh observational evidence and experiments. It includes new sections on the Kerr solution (in Chapter 4) and cosmological speeds of recession (in Chapter 6). A more mathematical treatment of tensors and manifolds, included in the 1st edition, but omitted in the 2nd edition, has been restored in an appendix. Also included are two additional appendixes – "Special Relativity Review" and "The Chinese Connection" - and outline solutions to all exercises and problems, making it especially suitable for private study. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 230 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 2nd edition (August 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0387942955
• ISBN-13: 978-0387942957
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #736,660 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic short introduction to General Relativity, April 28, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (davis, california) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Short Course in General Relativity (Paperback)

This is one gem of a book! It's paced extremely well--the authors managed to write a book which is neither cryptic from lack of detail nor cumbersome with too much detail. It strikes me as the perfect self study book for a physics or mathematics student.

You won't find the ramblings of 'The Phone Book', nor will you find the obfuscated discussions in Wald. If you like David Griffiths' friendly and breezy writing style, you'll love this book.

Don't let its size fool you. While the book is short in pages, it manages to cover most of what Schutz's book covers (another great book) and in many cases, does it better.

I'd say it's suitable for a motivated junior undergraduate and is certainly suitable for a graduate student at any level.

It has my full recommendation.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A well-balanced, readable introduction to GR., September 17, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: A Short Course in General Relativity (Paperback)

This book picks up with a brief refresher in vector calculus and then proceeds to develop the differential geometry needed to treat the subject with fidelity. Interesting topics are supplemented with useful excercises, all with a minimum of wandering by the authors. This book is probably appropriate for a 4th year undergraduate or a 1st year graduate student in mathematics or physics -- excellent text for individual study.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for independant study, April 28, 2003

By 

Will (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Short Course in General Relativity (Paperback)

As a person who did postgrad physics and maths over 5 years ago and has been out of the field for way too long, I found that this was a great introduction to GR, a subject I never got to do at university. It introduces the maths (tensors, manifolds and geodesics) in the earlier chapters and relies heavily on them in the introduction to GR.

The book has great solutions, or at least very helpful hints, to the problems that are given throughout the book. Though at times I was stuck with some, it generally it required me to only look at the first step of the solution to be able to solve the problem.

This book is a quantitative approach, while "A First Course in General Relativity" (Schutz) is a more qualitative approach. I personally perfer the quantitative approach, and found this book better than Schutz. If you're looking for a more verbose and wordy book, go for Schutz, while if you're going for a mathematical approach (includes the derivation of the Schwarzchild's solution and the rise of black holes coming from Schwarzchild's solution) then this book is more for you.