1: Preface
2: Terminology and notation
3: The elements of general relativity
4: An introductory example: the uniform static field
5: Life in a rotating world
6: Linearized general relativity
7: Slow stationary sources
8: Gravitational waves
9: Manifolds
10: Vectors on manifolds
11: The affine connection
12: Further useful ideas
13: Tensors
14: Parallel transport and geodesics
15: Physics in curved spacetime
16: Curvature
17: The Einstein field equation
18: Schwarzschild-Droste solution
19: Further spherically symmetric solutions
20: Rotating bodies; the Kerr metric
21: Black holes
22: Black hole thermodynamics
23: Cosmology
24: Cosmological dynamics
25: The growth of structure
26: Observational cosmology
27: The very early universe
28: First steps in classical field theory
29: Lagrangian mechanics for fields
30: Conclusion
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Andrew Steane is a Professor of Physics at the University of
Oxford. He has conducted experimental and theoretical research into
the foundations of physics and has performed pioneering quantum
experiments with ultra-cold atomic clouds, as well as establishing
the ion trap quantum computing program at Oxford. Professor Steane
discovered quantum error correction and the CSS (Calderbank Shor
Steane) codes and he is a recipient of the Maxwell Medal and Prize
of the
Institute of Physics, and the Trotter Prize of Texas A&M
University. He regularly lectures on relativity and other areas of
physics and has published two undergraduate physics textbooks and
two books on
science and religion with Oxford University Press.
Review from previous edition As Albert Einstein once emphasized,
one should make things as simple as possible, but not simpler.
Andrew Steane follows the master's recommendation and presents a
relatively easy tour through the wonderful worlds of Special and
General Relativity. He guides the reader patiently and
pedagogically through the fundamental concepts as well as their
main applications. This book is of great value for both students
and lecturers.
*Claus Kiefer, Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of
Cologne*
Steane's book provides a physically oriented introduction to
Special Relativity and its consequences, which does not compromise
rigour in its exposition. I do not know of any other textbook on
the topic covering such a breadth of topics at a detailed, but at
the same time accessible and insightful level. In particular, the
discussion of electromagnetism in the context of Special Relativity
- where Relativity really comes into life - is excellent. The book
contains an interesting and original selection of exercises which
will help the dedicated reader to gain mastery in the details of
the theory.
*Juan A. Valiente Kroon, School of Mathematical Sciences, Queen
Mary, University of London*
Offering a uniquely broad and thorough coverage of one of the
standard tools of modern physics, Andrew Steane's Relativity Made
Relatively Easy is an approachable and comprehensive coverage of
Einstein's most famous contribution to science. It is sure to
become a favorite resource for students and researchers alike.
*Warren Anderson, Center for Gravitation and Cosmology, University
of Wisconsin-Milwaukee*
The book truly has the potential to become a pivotal part of
scholarship in physics. This lucid and thoughtful approach to
taking the reader pedagogically through how Einsteinian relativity
works, and how it supersedes the Newtonian construction with
respect to explaining the basic principles of physical law, is
comprehensive, thorough, innovative, challenging, and in many cases
original. Steane's approach fills a gap in what in many university
undergraduate courses has become a topic considered rather too
briefly and in a rather too stereotyped manner, and which thereby
has always denied physics graduates of the deeper insight into how
Lorentz invariance is at the root of almost everything.
*John Dainton, Sir James Chadwick Professor of Physics, University
of Liverpool*
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