Re: General Relativity

In article <1124212305.741870.24540@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Zack <klw1026@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>I was wondering if anybody could help me. I am currently a student of
>Mathematics and Physics at a university. However, my university does
>not offer a class on GR and I am having trouble finding a book to use
>to teach myself. Does, anybody know a good book? I have had training
>in Mathematics up to the advanced calculus stage and in physics up to a
>working knowledge of quantum mechanics. Thanks for your time.
>


"Exploring Black Holes" by Thorne and Wheeler. They do an amazing amount
of general relativity with little more than high school algebra. But the
conceptual understanding they provide cannot be beat. Mainly, what is the
metric, and what do you do with it when you have one?

When differential geometry is motivated, I would recommend going to a more
standard text to learn the details. Schutz's "A First Course in General
Relativity" is supposed to be the one you read before MTW's "Gravitation",
but I thought it was a bit confusing, partly because several different
notations were used interchangeably for the same operations. I thought
the more old-fashioned Bergmann's "Introduction to the Theory of
Relativity" was easier to follow, and it's available as a cheap Dover
book.

MTW is not a good introductory text. I would recommend "Exploring Black
Holes" and then Bergmann, and get MTW if you love the subject and have to
get into the advanced material.

--
"Not that there's anything wrong with just lying around on your back. In
its way, rotting is interesing too... It's just that there are other ways
to spend your time as a cadaver." -- Mary Roach, "Stiff", 2003.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: "The Einstein Hoax"
    ... >> which used Dr. Einstein's Special Relativity (which is easily seen to>> be ... >> the showing that mathematics could used to make advances in the>> physical ... >> "The Einstein Hoax",http://einsteinhoax.com/hoax.htm, was written>> to ... There is no skewed physics. ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)
  • Re: "The Einstein Hoax"
    ... The Einstein Hoax was written to counter an intellectual "fast shuffle" ... by mortal men and could only be dealt with using sophisticated mathematics. ... Dr. Einstein's principle contribution was not Special Relativity but rather ... There is no skewed physics. ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)
  • Re: What is the history of relativity theory? (continuation of Poincare thread)
    ... In physics, there are many places where heuristics reasoning is used. ... Granted, they are shortcuts for a rigorous formalism, but Einstein could ... Never in mathematics are the axiom challenged, ... mathematical structure of the theory of relativity, ...
    (sci.physics.research)
  • Re: Is physics a science?
    ... The discussion is quite specifically regarding relativity. ... There is nothing illogical about physics. ... is naturally constant w.r.t the observer observing it is illogical as it ... As Dingle put it Mathematics should be a tool of physics and has become ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)
  • Re: "The Einstein Hoax"
    ... which used Dr. Einstein's Special Relativity (which is easily seen to be ... the showing that mathematics could used to make advances in the physical ... There is no skewed physics. ... exactly as though photons do not represent zero mass. ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)