Gravity from the Ground Up: An Introductory Guide to Gravity and General Relativity 1st Edition

Overall this book is a true gem. As someone with no background in physics or calculus, this book was both challenging and accessible and has truly given me a much deeper understanding of relativity than one could get from a math-free book. Ultimately, this book has made me excited about physics, which is something I never thought I'd say.

I would give this book 5 stars except there are some serious copy editing issues. Comparing problems with the solution set (found on the book's website) some of the exercises are just plain wrong. At one point he has a 4pi thrown into a problem that shouldn't be there. Unfortunately the exercise solutions run into the same problem; one solution assumes a water molecule has two oxygens as well as two hydrogens.

I have no idea if the author plans to put out a new edition of this book, but if he does I hope it has a better editor.

This textbook on gravity is astounding! While limiting the mathematics to algebra and trigonometry (no calculus) it covers the physics of both Newtonian and Einsteinian gravity with depth and sophistication.

I have a PhD in atmospheric physics and work in the field, so I am no stranger to either advanced math or physics. I have been trying to teach myself general relativity both for the pleasure of it and because when I retire (soon) I plan to incorporate it into a sci-fi novel I have planned. I have bought, read, and fought my way through relativity texts using the tensor calculus and developed a limited understanding of the math but little of the physics. I bought this book based on a review in Physics Today or Science News (can't remember which). When I first browsed it I thought it was going to be too elementary because of the lack of calculus. I was dead wrong.

From the opening chapter the book introduces the fundamental physical concepts: Invariance, coordinate transformations, conservation laws (invarients as contrasted with invarience) with serious quantitative exercises, physical examples and cross-references to other parts of the book where the results or concepts will be revisited. It covers major topics in orbital mechanics, stellar dynamics and structure (including neutron stars and black holes) and cosmology. The level of the math may be freshman, but the level of the physics is graduate school.

In terms of readability, the writing is not only intensly informative, but also entertaining. It is simultaneously witty and deep. This book is brilliant!

The software is (as of this writing) still available. Software details below for those that want them (hopefully saves you searching like I did); it is not at all obvious that the software is a major requirement to enjoy the book, though.

Be aware that the website for the book also has a PDF of solutions to the problems, which is great for someone doing self-study.

Also, I have not read that much of the book yet, but it is a quality item and a good read so far - well typeset, pictures, 400+ pages of fairly small print (but not too massive to read in bed), good binding, unlike many expensive physics texts these days. I am giving this 5 stars just to balance out the other review that dinged it due to the software link being broken - the book is 8 years old, the SW is free & not put out by the publisher, Schutz has moved institutions; it's not reasonable to hate on the guy for not having the links all straight.

FYI, while the math may be accessible to a high-schooler, the writing style is more in the style of a standard undergrad physics text. It would need to be a pretty advanced, self-motivated high school student (at least by US standards) to get through much of this for that reasons, despite the math being only algebra.

As to the software, it's called `triana', and is some sort of java front end. In fact, the idea seems to be that one might use this as an opportunity to teach oneself (or ones' students) java by messing with the code if you want... which actually seems like a very nice idea. Anyway, Most of what you need can be found at the book's website, but all the links to the main software package itself are broken - don't get you even close to a place you could find it. Amazon usually seems to delete all typed links, so I will try to enter them below in a way that won't get trashed by a `bot: w^3 should be obvious, dd means "dot", ss means forward slash. They are:

Book: w^3 dd gravityfromthegroundup dd org
This link has color images, the PDF of the problem solutions, etc.

Software:
w^3 dd gravityfromthegroundup dd org ss programs ss index dd html
this is java code, help files, descriptions of everything (actually, code is nicely documented). Probably worth downloading it all in case it goes away. WORTH BOOKMARKING for later use.

w^3 dd trianacode dd org ss gettingstarted dd html
the actual triana software place; this page has directions. Note: I got the SW (see below), extracted it, put it in a folder as specified on c drive, used set TRIANA=C:\triana at the command prompt, and then ran the `triana app snapshot' executable jar file without doing any of the other things I was supposed to do, and it works fine. So consider just extracting the files, putting them where you want, & running that file - ignore everything else. Seems like the SW no longer requires a full build on your own. *** the version I used already had the toolboxes installed - no need to download those separately either. Ironically, except for the broken links, things have gotten EASIER re: SW install.

w^3 dd trianacode dd org ss triana4 ss download ss
parent dir for the code. I used the triana-4.0.0 zip, since it didn't require a lot of mucking about with tar files or gzips. Easy as pie on Win 7. Nb: this version didn't seem to have the source for the java, but that is in the help pages listed in the 1st link above under "Software". NB#2: You MUST have java installed before doing all this. Most people do, but if not search for `java', download, & install it first.

Last notes: when you run triana, you get a program window with an "Untitled1" subwindow with nothing in it. To get started:
- open the `gftgu' folder on the left side (gftgu = title of the book...)
- drag `cannontrajectory' over to the grey `Untitled1' window & drop it there
- open the `output' folder on the left side
- drag `SGTGrapher' over to the `Untitled1' window
- if it doesn't happen automatically, left-click on the little black tab on the `cannontrajectory' box, and drag a connector to the tab on the `SGTGrapher' box.
- right click each box, and click on the `properties' tab to open the control and graph windows
- when changing parameters here, click `apply', not `OK' - the latter closes the windows.
- click `run' (or the "play" button on the toolbar for the main window). A plot will appear in the graph window.
- Nb: this plot never seems to change when you change parameters... unless you uncheck the `x-autoscale' and `y-autoscale' in the graph window :)

From there you'll have the idea. The help files available at the 1st link under `Software' above seem sort of necessary to understand some of the modules, and `F1' does not bring up help on my triana install, so that page is worth bookmarking.

All in all, pretty easy to deal with, though - the instructions above make it sound a lot harder than it actually is.

Update: I am tired of the layout. This book makes you flip back and forth a lot. For example, a paragraph on page 63 will refer to a diagram on page 68. Why can't they put the diagram on the same page as the paragraph? Or some question will refer to the some specific page of another chapter? A simple reminder printed on the side of the page will save a lot of time. I have never flipped back and forth so often like this and I have been in college for more than 10 years. Maybe the British like to save paper and Americans prefer convenience.

I major in biology and pharmacy. I am reading this book plainly as a hobby. The author has painstakingly made this book as easy as possible. There is a few places I have to do some algebra but that's about it. Hopefully I will finish this book soon. Then I will get into calculus and advanced calculus, vector, tensor and review my linear algebra. I want to be able to appreciate relativity in its original glory.

Absolutely wonderful book, that keeps giving and giving the more you read it. The apple falls from my hand because time runs faster at my head than at my feet, and conservation of energy.