Learning materials for relativity

[Ibrahim Arafa]

Hello scientists,

I'm interested in relativity, I have read a lot about Einstein's experiments and studies in simple language.

But after watching interstellar movie I want to study relativity carefully from A to Z.

So I want you to recommend me books to study and understand relativity, and tell me what to start with, special or general ? And what's the requirements to start studying relativity ?

Thanks and sorry for long words

 

[axmls]

Special relativity will only really involve a little calculus, but if you haven't learned calculus, I recommend you start with that. I recommend MIT's OCW to learn calculus. There's no need to buy a book. You'll also need at least Newtonian physics, but also it wouldn't hurt to know some basic E&M. I used Halliday and Resnick's Fundamentals of Physics for my courses. As far as special relativity goes, any textbook on Modern physics would be good enough for a basic introduction (though that wouldn't cover relativistic electrodynamics). You may also want to look into the World Science U website for lessons in special relativity.

As for general relativity, you will need to be very comfortable with special relativity, and you'll also need to have a very good grasp on calculus and probably linear algebra. You'll need to learn differential geometry. I'm not qualified to comment on that.

 

[Ibrahim Arafa]

Thanks a lot axmls