Schutz's "A First Course In General Relativity" 2nd Edition

[qspeechc]

Hi everyone.

Schutz recently released a 2nd edition of his book "A First Course In General Relativity". Has anyone read this edition? Is it worth getting the 2nd edition, or is the 1st fine? The library has the first edition and that's 390 pages. The second edition is 410 pages.

From the editorial reviews on amazon.com :
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0521887054/?tag=pfamazon01-20

it looks like the main changes are in the applications of GR to cosmology etc. I am a mathematics major so I do not intend going into any GR related research, so is this a big deal?

Thanks.

 

[Daverz]

I imagine the new edition adds material on inflation which you could pick up elsewhere.

 

[dx]

I've heard that the newer edition is more up-to-date in its treatment of cosmology.

 

[LithiumHelios]

It does lack hints/answers to the problems (these are in the 1st edition) but the layout and readability is much better. Also as mentioned has a some more up to date applications to Cosmology etc (I imagine the grav. waves sections have been revised).

 

[matonski]

I have both. Summarizing the relevant section in the preface to the second edition:

The first 8 chapters are pretty much identical.
Ch 9 on gravitational radiation includes discussion on detectors such as LIGO and LISA, as well as a discussion about likely gravitational wave sources.
Ch 10 has added material on neutron stars.
Ch 11 includes material about the astrophysical evidence for black holes and has also slightly amended the discussion on Hawking radiation.
Ch 12 on cosmology is completely rewritten due to the fact that the expansion of the universe is accelerating.

As mentioned above, there are no longer hints or answers to any of the exercises. Also as mentioned, the new book is much more nicely laid out and pleasing to the eye.