Great text mixing both the math and physics

books:

	• Gravity: An Introduction to Einstein's General Relativity James B. Hartle Benjamin Cummings, 2003 - 656 pages average customer review:based on 18 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

More math than text

It was probably my error, I suppose I did not read enough reviews about this text book, but I bought this book believing it would contain more text and less math. I was wrong! I read into about a third of the book and started losing interest. It is not that it is a bad book, nor am I saying it is not interesting, but the caveat here is ... interesting to who?

I believe this book is aimed more at those with an interest in math and or the explanation of all theory at the mathematical level. I understand mathematics is the underlying point behind Einstein's theory of gravity, but I am not well educated in complicated mathematical formulas (they tend to put me to sleep) and when I purchased the book I was more interested in someone's explanation(s) of the underlying theories by way of the English language and not by way of mathematics. I prefer formulas be translated to English, similar to how computers translate lower-level assembly languages to higher-level languages for user-friendly interaction with a computer.

Bottom line: Buy the book if you have at least a rudimentary background in mathematical formulas or if you are willing to read between the pages and pages of formulas to pick up the useful and informative information in the book. Otherwise, I suggest looking elsewhere.

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Des Canyons aux Etoiles

The SOED describes the word "miracle" as "a marvelous event not ascribable to human or natural agency, and therefore attributed to the intervention of a supernatural agent [...]" and "an act demonstrating control over nature, serving as evidence that the agent is either divine or divinely favoured". Although this review is not intended to promote the sales of this venerable dictionary, just these two definitions warrant the purchase price.

Since "Gravity" is aimed at a science-oriented readership, the second definition might appear the most appealing. However, the verifiable predictions that emerged from a system that started with the counting that ten fingers allowed, made quantum leaps during the days of Leibniz & Newton, entered early adulthood during Riemann's life time to find its so far most spectacular application in Einstein's general theory of relativity (GTR), suggest to many that mankind's invention of mathematics actually represents the greatest example of (divine) intervention covered by the first of SOED's two definitions. For all those who would like to receive the guidance during the first stages of climbing GTR's Everest to witness the "miracle" first hand Hartle's "Gravity" is a book that should be on the short list. Yet, be aware prospective reader! This book opens the wormhole to that part of our universe where they serve math for breakfast, lunch and dinner, 365 and ¼ days every year.

When it comes to science's special effects quantum theory's "strangeness" and GTR's "curved space-time" are among the top attractions. While like for many my early years resulted in enough exposure to quantum mechanics (QM) to last a lifetime, an attempt at gaining familiarity with GTR would likely have required drop-out-inducing levels of mathematical indigestion. Yet, many years later the dissatisfaction that ensued after the zillionth attempt at explaining space curvature by dropping a solid sphere on a rubber sheet proved enough to give "Gravity" a try. It looked highly appealing, since Tensors that are introduced in chapter 2 or 3 of many GTR books only enter here in chapter 20 of 24. Many clear graphics further added to the appeal.

This book is divided in three main sections: I. Space and time in Newtonian physics and special relativity; II. The curved spacetimes of general relativity; III. The Einstein equation. In addition the text does not just color between the lines but offers many interesting subjects in dedicated boxes throughout the text. The author explains his strategy as follows: "the simplest physically relevant solutions of Einstein's equations are presented first, without derivation, as spacetimes whose observational consequences are to be explored by the motion of test particles and light rays in them. This brings the student to the physical phenomena as quickly as possible. It is the part of the subject most directly connected to classical mechanics, and requires the minimum of new mathematical ideas. The Einstein equation is introduced later and solved to show how these geometries originate". For this reviewer this strategy worked very well: no spheres, no rubber sheets, nothing in the pockets, nothing up the sleeves.

The reader starts in Euclidian geometry, enters into spacetime aided by many excellent examples and supporting graphics, to receive a gentle introduction to four-vectors. Next the fundaments of gravity as geometry are laid and the mathematical description of curved spacetime is presented, to serve as building blocks for the geodesics chapter. Only a third of the way into the book the Schwarzschild geometry is already there for the taking in awe and gratitude. The next two chapters then address the experimental verification of this concept in our solar system and the phenomenon of gravitational lensing. What would GTR be without black holes and there they are in chapters 12&13. Next, the previously introduced Scharzschild geometry becomes a stepping stone towards non-spherically symmetric geometries for a journey to event horizons and the ergosphere. The following three chapters introduce gravitational waves, address the Universe and its expansion and describe cosmological models and the Big Bang, leading to chapter 19 entitled "which Universe and why?". Chapter 20 carries the tongue in cheek title "a little more math" but should be accessible for all familiar with multivariable calculus. And (...drumroll playing in the background...) there are the Tensors. These tools then allow access to the Einstein equation, curvature and more than a little surprising after having heard so much about the disconnect between QM and GTR "the power of the Pauli principle" in the final chapter of relativistic stars.

Throughout the text the author goes out of his way to explain things from different angles in a highly accessible style. While much of the subject matter often serves as food for philosophers and science fiction enthusiast, the author remains -no pun intended- down to earth. Example: "asking what happens before the big bang in quantum gravity is unlikely to make sense because classical notion of time breaks down at a singularity". Others have already commented on the omission of the answers. This is an all too common deficiency in textbooks. Fortunately Schaum's Outlines of Modern Physics" and "Tensor Calculus" are there to lend a helping hand.

While I vividly remember a TA who mastered hard core graduate level GTR in two months, this "lite introduction" took me the better part of a year. Yet, once life has afforded the basic necessities for survival, few endeavors may be more rewarding. At $60 this book is more of an investment than Gould's 2nd Goldbergs, but certainly cheaper than Vermeer's "View of Delft". Beauty and truth come in many guises and at different prices.

I am sorry Colin (Blunstone), you got it half wrong when you sang about miracles, they may not be a matter of believing, but of doing the math.

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Perfect Conditions

The book was shipped from New Zeland. It arrived to me in Italy 20-15 days before the standard international shipping's time, in perfect conditions, as bought from the bookshop. I saved about 20 euros.

Great text mixing both the math and physics

I'm really enjoying this book. It is by far the most comprehensible delivery of general relativity I've read. Other books have the math, but lack in explaining how the math relates to physical reality. This gets both, without going light on the math. I understand general relativity much better than I did before.

great book

It's a great book. I like it. No too much mathematics, but it is enough to explain the physics.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

The aim of this groundbreaking new text is to bring general relativity into the undergraduate curriculum and make this fundamental theory accessible to all physics majors. Using a "physics first" approach to the subject, renowned relativist James B. Hartle provides a fluent and accessible introduction that uses a minimum of new mathematics and is illustrated with a wealth of exciting applications. The emphasis is on the exciting phenomena of gravitational physics and the growing connection between theory and observation. The Global Positioning System, black holes, X-ray sources, pulsars, quasars, gravitational waves, the Big Bang, and the large scale structure of the universe are used to illustrate the widespread role of how general relativity describes a wealth of everyday and exotic phenomena. For anyone interested in physics or general relativity.

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