Hartle's Gravity: Read it Before Special Relativity?

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Reading Hartle's book on general relativity is best approached after gaining a solid understanding of special relativity (SR). While Hartle does cover SR, prior exposure is essential for grasping concepts effectively, particularly the manipulation of Lorentz factors and the 4-vector formulation. The discussion highlights the recommendation of starting with "Spacetime Physics," especially the first edition, as a foundational text. Additionally, "A Traveller's Guide to Spacetime" is noted as an excellent resource, alongside "Spacetime Physics" and a book by French, indicating a preference for texts that provide exercises and solutions to reinforce learning.
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Has anybody read the book? Is it just me or it would be better to read before a book on special relativity?
 
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Yes, I'd suggest a book on special relativity before tackling Hartle, though Hartle does cover SR. If you're finding that section of his book difficult, I'd suggest, as usual, the red paperback first edition of Spacetime Physics.
 
You should definitely have had some exposure to SR before going through Hartle's Gravity. Even exposure on the level of simply manipulating lorentz factors and whatnot is very helpful before presented with the 4-vector formulation of everything. The book is, after all, an introduction to general relativity, and just quickly glosses over stuff from SR as a refresher/analogy to GR.
 
Thanks. I'm reading "A Traveller's Guide to Spacetime" and it's excellent. I also have "Spacetime Physics" (first red paperback edition with exercises and solutions" and the book by French.
 

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