Relativity Book Recommendations: Novice-Friendly Special & General Relativity

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Recommendations for books on special and general relativity for novices include both popular science and textbook options. For those seeking a textbook approach, "University Physics with Modern Physics Volume 3" by Young & Freedman is highly recommended, particularly for its comprehensive chapter on special relativity and accompanying problem sets. For a more accessible introduction, "ABC of Relativity" by Russell is suggested, especially for readers with limited mathematical background. Additionally, "A First Course in General Relativity" is noted for its introductory content on special relativity. Other notable mentions include "A Most Incomprehensible Thing" by Collier and "Einstein's Theory: A Rigorous Introduction for the Mathematically Untrained," both of which aim to simplify the mathematical concepts of relativity for beginners.
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Hi, can anyone recommend any good books about special and general relativity for novices?

Thanks
 
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Popsci books? Or actual textbooks?
If you mean actual textbooks, then what is your knowledge of math and physics?
 
For Special Relativity:
Get a copy of University Physics with Modern Physics Volume 3 by Young & Freedman, and read the chapter on Special Relativity. Make sure you do the problems; they are there for a reason.

Volume 3 of Young & Freedman is simply fantastic for introductory modern physics.
 
I'll assume you have the proper mathematical pre-requisites. A first book to get a feel for what relativity is all about would be Russell's ABC of Relativity. I liked it in high school when I didn't have a very strong mathematical background past multivariable calculus.
I then learned special relativity through the first chapter of 'A first course in general relativity'. I don't really know any other exposition of SR except 'Physics through symmetry', which in my opinion isn't exactly enough. As for general relativity, I haven't learned it yet, so I won't comment on it.
 

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