Need a book to prepare for my Special Relativity class

AI Thread Summary
A user preparing for a Special Relativity course at UIUC seeks book recommendations that focus on quantitative aspects rather than conceptual overviews. Suggestions include "Spacetime Physics" by Taylor & Wheeler, which is noted for its popularity and problem sets, and "Relativity" by Rindler, which is also well-regarded. "A Traveller's Guide to Spacetime" by Moore is highlighted as an excellent resource. Additionally, users recommend exploring online lecture notes from various professors to supplement learning, emphasizing the importance of working through problems in the recommended texts to build a solid foundation in the subject.
evacek3
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Hello,
Next semester I will be taking a class in Special Relativity through UIUC. Its only a 200 level course titled Relativity and math applications but I would really like to go in with a base. If anyone could give me some book suggestions which would contain practice problems and the like but not be too techinical (like a "...for dummies" book) that would be great. Or a website along the lines of Paul's Online Notes but for relativity would be great too.

NOTE: I am not looking for a book which covers Special Relativity on a conceptual level. I need one that is quantitative.

Thanks!
 
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I would recommend Taylor & Wheeler's Spacetime Physics.
 
Check Rindler's Relativity. It's pretty good.
 
Moore's A Traveller's Guide to Spacetime is excellent.
 
Taylor and Wheeler is popular. I like to look for lecture notes to get a feel for something new before I start buying books. There are thousands of professors who post their notes, some are good, some are awful. Google "SR lecture notes" or something similar and you will find a lot of notes at a variety of levels.
 

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