Rindler is the classic intro to special relativity. The book is particularly readable and anyone keen on being introduced to the concepts that have been influenced by special relativity will find this valuable. While lorentz failed to discover this relativity due to his belief in newtons. Although the final form of the theory came to use minkowski spaces and metric tensors, it is possible to discuss sr using nothing more than high school algebra. Which is the best special relativity book with proper. As one of the great physicist, lorentz deducted the lorentz factor by which time, length and relativistic mass change for an object while the object is moving. I would a good book to study the special relativity. Find the top 100 most popular items in amazon books best sellers.
Which is the best special relativity book with proper mathematical. Please continue to improve it and thanks for the great work so far. Later chapters cover the lorentz transformations, the laws of. Experience and the special theory of relativity 17. Isbn 97818996304 the book walks the reader through the development of the special and general theories of relativity and the supporting theories they were built upon. That book gives better insight into the geometric nature of relativity than this book and thus helps the reader build up to gr.
However, despite also being a good book, the wheeler book teaches you how to do sr but really fails at logically developing the subject and explaining where the initially very counterintuitive ideas come from. So i was wondering what are the best books you know of regarding special relativity for undergraduates. Special relativity and classical field theory not even wrong. This book offers an essential bridge between collegelevel introductions and advanced graduatelevel books on special relativity. The following edition is a good translation with the diagrams included. A selfcontained introduction to special relativity for students who have completed an introduction to classical mechanics.
In albert einsteins original treatment, it is based on two postulates. Great book to dive into the special relativity theory from the beginnermathematician perspective. There is an old book by max born, called einsteins theory of relativity which explains the special relativity in great detail without any advanced mathematics and a little bit of general relativity it is suitable for those who has not yet started to physics degree or will not, but would like to understand the theory in a deeper and mathematical manner. Free relativity books download ebooks online textbooks. So a week before the exam i quickly wrote up 8 pages of notes summarizing what was discussed in class concerning tensors. The main characters of this science, non fiction story are.
It starts out with special relativity, and becomes even more extreme with general relativity. But you will need to do all the of exercises to grasp everything. General and special relativity book by albert einstein. The book walks the reader through the development of the special and general theories of relativity and the supporting theories they were built upon. Relativity the special and general theory by albert. Its entitled special relativity and classical field theory, and is in much the same successful style as the first two books.
An introduction to the mathematics of the special theory of relativity by naber, gregory l. Galileo and newton developed the first correct version of classical relativity. A popular exposition, which established his reputation as one of the greatest thinkers of our and perhaps any age. The special and general theory dover books on physics. This work was written with as little mathematics as possible and was designed to appeal to an even broader readership, albeit one still somewhat educated in mathematics or physics. Woodhouses comparatively short special relativity is a pleasure to read and therefore qualifies right off as a good source to use for learning about special relativity on your own. The theory of special relativity was developed by albert einstein in 1905, and it forms part of the basis of modern physics. The first edition of the novel was published in 1916, and was written by albert einstein.
What are good books for special relativity physics stack exchange. You will get the indian edition at less than 15 the price of this book. A fine, physicallybased introduction to many of the details of special relativity. This is reflected in the book in the large number of examples and exercises, ranging from the rather simple through to the more involved and challenging. I am sure that they exist, but i could not immediately think of any. Special relativity is a featured book on wikibooks because it contains substantial content, it is wellformatted, and the wikibooks community has decided to feature it on the main page or in other places. In physics, special relativity also known as the special theory of relativity is the generally accepted and experimentally confirmed physical theory regarding the relationship between space and time. The first thing to notice is that our usual division of time into past, present, and futurewhich i tacitly accepted when discussing the metaphysical problems of the atheory a. In 1905, albert einstein published the theory of special relativity, which explains how to interpret motion between different inertial frames of reference that is, places that are moving at constant speeds relative to each other.
The equality of inertial and gravitational mass as an argument for the general postulate of relativity 21. Scitech book news judging from his book, helliwell must be a fine teacher. Also included are the four lectures he gave to explain his findings in more detail. Starting with the special theory and its limited applicability and the later development of the more universal general theory. The laws of physics are the same in all inertial frames, and the speed of light is the same for all observers. This will help you make the connection between sr and gr tensor notations, etc since deeper then. This book presents special relativity sr from first principles and logically arrives at the conclusions. There will be simple diagrams and some thought experiments. But sadly im not too big a fan of the book we are using for the course. In my course the professor has treated the following topics. Therefore, einstein proposed the theory of special relativity, which boils down to this.
This is the most important finding not just one of the most in the history of human beings. Hello everyone, im studying physics as an undergraduate and im currently taking the course special relativity. It is designed for people who have had intro physics only. In fact indian students have cheaper alternatives especially the one that is quite good is the book by a. For instance, the derivation of the standard kinematic results starting from einstein s postulates is outstandingly clear. Einstein developed the modern theory of relativity.
Then, at the end of 1916, he published a small book entitled on the special and the general theory of relativity, generally comprehensible. Special relativity is loosely based on the tried and tested course at oxford, where extensive tutorials and problem classes support the lecture course. Special relativity is limited to objects that are moving with respect to inertial frames of referencei. In this book he brings a simplified form of his profound understanding of the subject to the layperson.
May show signs of minor shelf wear and contain limited notes and highlighting. Special and general relativity explain the structure of space time and provide a theory of gravitation, respectively. A listing of technical books for general relativity. Presentist idea that only the present really existsseems to be. By the year 1900, most of physics seemed to be encompassed in the two great theories of newtonian mechanics and maxwells theory of electromagnetism.
Taylor and wheeler is good, but not all that mathematical. The book represents one of the best conspects in special relativity and is useful for professors of special relativity. Einsteins theories shocked the world with their counterintuitive results, including the dissolution of absolute time. Introduction to special relativity, by wolfgang rindler, oxford u. Used items may not include supplementary materials such as cds or access codes.
It pays particular attention to the lorentz group and the causal structure of the theory, but also treats the electromagnetic field tensor, spinors, and the topology of minkowski spacetime. After finishing his work in special relativity, einstein spent a decade. The aim of this book is to introduce people without a strong physics or even scientific background to the special and general theories of relativity and now i want to read other similar scientific books. Most modern books include it as a subset of general relativity. Special relativity is a featured book on wikibooks because it contains substantial content. Special relativity notes preface in the fall of 2006 i had been asked by several students if i knew a good book to read about tensors. Special relativity wikibooks, open books for an open world. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of pages and is available in paperback format. A lot of very nice material is touched on in its pages, presented in natural sequence consonant with history, and is not improperly belabored. Einstein explained that when two objects are moving at a constant speed as the relative motion between the two. As far as the book is concerned it covers special relativity. Beginning with the behaviour of light and all other electromagnetic radiation, the theory of special relativity draws conclusions that are. This is the talk page of an article that has been merged and now redirects to the page. Prelude to special relativity it is important to note that although classical mechanics, in general, and classical relativity, in particular, are limited, they are extremely good approximations for large, slowmoving objects.
Einsteins special theory of relativity is a superb place to begin a serious study of physics. Relativity is the study of how different observers measure the same event. Introduction to special relativity dover books on physics. Whether youre in a brokendown school bus, a speeding train or some manner of futuristic rocket ship, light moves at the same speed, and the laws. Otherwise, we could not use classical physics to launch satellites or build bridges.
This book is ambitious in its scope to introduce concepts from differential geometry to a wide audience including second year undergraduates. Special relativity merged page is maintained in order to preserve attributions. Please continue to improve it and thanks for the great work. This book is devoted to a rigorous mathematical treatment of the flat minkowski spacetime of special relativity.
The book covers the transition from newtonian to einsteinian behaviour for electrons, the relativistic expressions for mass, momentum and energy of particles. On the 100 th anniversary of albert einsteins general theory of relativity, bennetts book seeks to explain both special and general relativity in a form that a nonexpert could understand. This is a book with great quantities of words, and figures, trying to explain. This is a superb introduction to special relativity, which this writer, who is certainly no genius, was able to work through at age 18 not without effort. The material on general relativity gr is no harder, but much less detailed, so that one cannot hope to get a realistic idea of what gr is really about from this book alone. Special relativityintroduction wikibooks, open books. As for an advanced math student, this book has a lot of words i wanted sometimes more math and formulas a more formal way, you know. Special relativity because this page is not frequently watched, present and future discussions and edit requests should take place at. A very useful table of constants is added at the end of the book. The 17 best special relativity books recommended by phil plait, such as geometry, why does emc2 and special relativity.
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