Relativity Introduction to GR. ¿Gron or Collier?

[smodak]

Just curious, what was your roadmap to learn general relativity?

Nothing in particular. I read some books here. Some books there. Watched some videos until I got the general idea. Then I just read different stuff from different books. That's how I always read. Take a bunch of books and read different stuff from them. I cannot follow a roadmap especially since this is for fun.

 

[vanhees71]

Yesterday I stumbled over another great book on GR:

Peter Hoyng, Relativistic Astrophysics and Cosmology, Springer (2006)

The title is a bit misleading, because it is really a very nice introduction into GR, treating the math (differential geometry of pseudo-Riemannian manifolds) boiling it down to the essentials but very well motivated and thoroughly derived. E.g., it gives the best introduction to the Fermi-Walker transport of tetrades and the associated physics like the Thomas precession in SR and the geodetic precession I've ever seen. Without sacrificing understandability and derivations of the mathematical foundations it comes quickly to the physics (Einstein's field equations), the Schwarzschild solution, Oppenheimer-Volkoff (stars), black holes, gravitational waves, and finally FLRW. It's a great introduction enabling one to read more detailed books like Weinberg's on the subject.

 

[smodak]

Yesterday I stumbled over another great book on GR:

Peter Hoyng, Relativistic Astrophysics and Cosmology, Springer (2006)

The title is a bit misleading, because it is really a very nice introduction into GR, treating the math (differential geometry of pseudo-Riemannian manifolds) boiling it down to the essentials but very well motivated and thoroughly derived. E.g., it gives the best introduction to the Fermi-Walker transport of tetrades and the associated physics like the Thomas precession in SR and the geodetic precession I've ever seen. Without sacrificing understandability and derivations of the mathematical foundations it comes quickly to the physics (Einstein's field equations), the Schwarzschild solution, Oppenheimer-Volkoff (stars), black holes, gravitational waves, and finally FLRW. It's a great introduction enabling one to read more detailed books like Weinberg's on the subject.

The book looks really good. UGH! Now I will have to get this book :(

 

[smodak]

Not to confuse the OP more but here is a very good synopsis of some books.

http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Administrivia/rel_booklist.html

 

[almarpa]

No confusion. I have finally decided to go with Gron.

 

[George Jones]

Not to confuse the OP more but here is a very good synopsis of some books.

http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Administrivia/rel_booklist.html

This list is good, but it is very out-of-date. Examples too recent to be on the list include GR books (in roughly ascending order of level) by

Collier
Gron and Naess
Moore
Hartle
Zee
Hobson, Efstathiou, and Lasenby (who bought me a beer in Banff)
Ryder
Plebanski and Krasinski
Straumann
Gron and Hervik
Carroll
Padmanabhan

some of which have been mentioned in this thread.

 

[almarpa]

Great contribution, George!

This is just what I needed to make up my mind.

I am surprised to see Zee up in the list. I thought it was at the same level than Carroll.