Spacetime Physics and other books on spec. relativity. Which is the best?

[Angelos]

Hi...

This is my first post on this forum, so I'm sorry if topic like this is already here.

I'm looking for a book on special relativity, from which I will be able to learn it on myself. My knowledge of mathematics ends in Calculus, so I probably wouldn't appreciate tensors etc. I found a book Spactime Phisics, which should use only basics math, but it also should be very extensive. What do you think about this book? Or can you advise me which book(s) I should buy? Thanks...

 

[quantum123]

It is good.

 

[yogi]

I would agree - also you might consider "Introduction to Special Relativity" by Resnick and "Special Relativity" by A.P. French. Wheeler and Taylor is about $50 - you can somethimes get copies of some of the others used - I paid $1.00 for Resnick's book and $9.00 for French's book - look on the internet for used stuff at Amazon and Barns and Noble. Rindler's book "Special Relativity" can also be found used - usually under $10

 

[quantum123]

That's cheap.
Or free - wikipedia.

 

[Daverz]

Several of us feel that the https://www.amazon.com/dp/071670336X/?tag=pfamazon01-20 is to be preferred.

There's a new book by https://www.amazon.com/dp/0521812607/?tag=pfamazon01-20 that looks really interesting, but I haven't been able to eyeball a copy.

 

[yogi]

Yep - the 1966 edition - here is a link to a used one for $15.36
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/used/product.asp?z=y&EAN=2696324960380&Itm=1

 

[neutrino]

There's a new book by https://www.amazon.com/dp/0521812607/?tag=pfamazon01-20 that looks really interesting, but I haven't been able to eyeball a copy.

What I can tell from flipping through it, it's not quite at the same level as an intro book.

 

[Angelos]

Yep - the 1966 edition - here is a link to a used one for $15.36
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/used/product.asp?z=y&EAN=2696324960380&Itm=1

Thanks for the link. I immediately bought this book. It's great, however it contains "only" like 200 pages and the newest edition contains 300. Does somebody know what the new edition contains and the old doesn't?

 

[robphy]

Old edition has a discussion of rapidity (the Minkowskian analogue of "angle" between two future timelike vectors) and [in some editions] worked solutions to the problems.

New edition has some nice revised discussions of some topics. Unfortunately, the discussion of rapidity was dropped.

I would regard the old 1966 maroon edition with the solutions to be a must-have. The new edition is worth having (as a supplement to the older version) for some of the updated topics.