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Relativity, Gravitation and Cosmology: A Basic Introduction (Oxford Master Series in Physics) 2nd Edition

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Ta-Pei Cheng (Author)
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4.8 out of 5 stars 25 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0199573646
ISBN-10: 0199573646
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Product Details

  • Series: Oxford Master Series in Physics (Book 11)
  • Paperback: 456 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press; 2 edition (January 11, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0199573646
  • ISBN-13: 978-0199573646
  • Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 0.9 x 7.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #365,372 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent Material to begin with and test yourself.
By Darran on February 25, 2005
Format: Hardcover
I'm a second year astrophysics student from Ireland.

Recently I've tried to learn the Mathematics of General Relativity in detail, outside of my course and have bought numerous books in the process.

In my opinion this book and "A First Course in General Relativity by Bernard F. Schutz" are perfect complementary texts to learn the main basis of General Relativity on your own.

The author has provided an unbelievable amount of questions and not a single one of them is pointless exercise.

The book is Divided into three sections:

Part 1: Metric description of Space-Time

Very well written intro to General Relativity which delves into Black Holes and Mercury's Orbit, without the full on Field Equation and Tensors.

Part 2: Cosmology

Still keeping to the metric description of space-time, cosmology is introduced. The mathematics of concepts like the closed and open universes are explained really well.

Part 3: Full Tensor Formulism

I was able to learn Tensors from this, using Chapter 3 from Schutz's book as a companion.

The questions at the end of each chapter really test your knowledge and after reading this you will be able to manipulate the field equation for simple cases and move onto more advanced books if you wish.
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5.0 out of 5 starsBest intro to GR for those with undergrad math/phys background
By Anthony T. Lam on February 14, 2012
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Let me preface this review by saying I majored in physics and finished college 14 years ago. I've always wanted to study GR but went to dental school right after college and so never got the chance. With the latest developments in cosmology, ie, dark flow, dark energy, dark matter, I finally couldn't suppress my curiosity any longer. The framework for understanding cosmology is GR.

I own the other GR books by Hartle, Schutz and Carroll. Each of them is more a textbook to accompany a lecture course than one for the self-taught.

This book reads more like a novel. The author begins with why Einstein tackled the problem of generalizing special relativity and why that generalization would also be a theory of gravity (Equivalence Principle). The book includes a good intro to special relativiy (SR) at the intermediate college level. This is followed by Minkowski's spacetime which is a deeper mathematical description of SR. From there, the next few chapters elucidate on the Metric tensor and the curvature of spacetime.

After you've learned the Metric, there is a chapter on black holes and 3 chapters on cosmology (expanding universe, inflation, cosmic microwave background, the cosmological constant and how it can be used to take into account dark matter and dark energy, and much more). I particularly enjoyed the cosmology part of the book. It gives you a taste of how modern physicists are using GR to tackle the biggest questions in cosmology. And it gives you a break to absorb the theory before going deeper mathematically.

The final part of the book gives a complete treatment of GR using tensors and ends with a chapter on gravity waves.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsBest introduction to GR available!
By Chris J. on August 15, 2011
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
The best introduction to General and Special Relativity I have ever read! I got frustrated trying to self study from Schutz, Hartle and Carroll simply because there was no way to check if I was doing the exercises correctly. They are all well written books, but if you want to learn GR on your own this is the book to start with (Although, it doesn't hurt to have them as a supplement). Most answers are included to the exercises and there are plenty of worked examples.

The layout of the book is very close to that of Hartle. There are boxes that stray a bit from the main text to go into more detail or to work out an example.

He also walks you through the process of showing that Maxwell's equations are invariant under the Lorentz transformation, which I found particularly interesting because all of the other introductory books that I have read (If I remember correctly) neglect this, or take it as a given that you have seen this before.

At half the price of other books on GR in the same category, there really is no reason why you shouldn't add this one to your collection. Especially if you are learning the subject on your own.
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5.0 out of 5 starsTa-Pei's book is MUCH better than Sean Carroll's textbook
By OTP on November 26, 2013
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
I am a physics graduate student without pre-knowledge about GR, and I must say:

This Ta-Pei's book is MUCH better than Sean Carroll's textbook <<An Introduction to General Relativity: Space and Geometry>>, simply because the Ta-Pei's book provides much more detailed and rigorous explanation with more illustrative diagrams than what the Sean's book does.

For example, Ta-Pei book provides two different ways to derive the Geodesic equations on the page 88, 106 and 320, whereas Sean is only able to provide one way to derive it on the page 105. I always want to know how the Geodesic equation is related to the Lagrange. and Ta-Pei's book explains this very well, whereas Sean does not explain anything about it.

Many description on Sean is unclear, he tries to teach me how to do GR by using Differential Geometry without teaching me how to do Differential Geometry. This causes me to waste lots of time to figure out what Sean's book actually means. For example, Sean is awful to explain what "One-form" means. Rather than introducing such complicated concept from Differential Geometry, Ta-Pei teaches me how to do GR by introducing highly self-contained mathematical concept. In Ta-Pei's way, I do not have to look for more advanced math textbooks in order to understand what he really means. This saves me enormous amount of time. Some description on Ta-Pei is marvellous. For example, on the top of the page 147, "the roles of time and space are interchanged when crossing over the r=r*." This concise description captures the whole feature of the event horizon! That is awesome!

I also like the diagrams on Ta-Pei's book, for example on the page 106 the fig 6.3, which is simple but means a lot to me. Another example, fig 7.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsthis is an excellent text. However if you are looking for a ...

A very well written text. Ideas and concepts are presented clearly. If you are just starting GR, this is an excellent text. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Tom Foster
5.0 out of 5 starsA must read for Cosmology Students

By far, the best introduction to how general relativity is used in cosmology. Of course, many important topics are missing, but I especially enjoyed its brevity. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Ryan
5.0 out of 5 starsSimply an awesome book. The mathematics are walked through in a ...

Simply an awesome book. The mathematics are walked through in a easy to read manner. The text is very insightful and clearly written. The problems are very good and interesting.

Published 6 months ago by Steven M. Anderson
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

satisfied, A+

Published 6 months ago by K. Smith
5.0 out of 5 starsA good buy.

5 star grading. A good buy.

Published 8 months ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsGR even non-Einstein's can understand

This book is a great book to learn General Relativity from. Ta-Pei has a pedagogical approach that really is appealing to me. Read more

Published 11 months ago by JC Maxwell
5.0 out of 5 starsHighly Recommended for Beginners

By far the best book about General Relativity and its connection to Cosmology. I used it to learn for a GR oral exam and a Cosmology oral exam and got an A in both. Read more

Published 12 months ago by Han
5.0 out of 5 starsRelativity, Gravitation and Cosmology:A Basic Introduction

This is one of the most outstanding physics books in the field I have ever read. Combines phenomenology and theoretical/Mathematical structure with great tact, insight and... Read more

Published 15 months ago by Temesgen Kebede
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

Good

Published 17 months ago by DJR
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat introduction to general relativity

The book presents the best known intriguing and beautiful aspects of general relativity such as black holes, the big bang and the expansion of space. Read more

Published 18 months ago by Michael Peleg

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