Spacetime Physics 2nd Edition by Edwin F. Taylor (PDF)

Description

Written by two of the field’s true pioneers, Spacetime Physics can extend and enhance coverage of specialty relativity in the classroom. This thoroughly up-to-date, highly accessible overview covers microgravity, collider accelerators, satellite probes, neutron detectors, radioastronomy, and pulsars. The chapter on general relativity with new material on gravity waves, black holes, and cosmology.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This book is for people with at least a mastery of high school algebra, geometry, and trig and best for those with a rudimentary grasp of calculus. As books on relativity go, this one is light on math. It is, however, on my very short list of best books ever for teaching concepts in physics.Relativity is a mysterious subject for the unexposed. Learning about relativity is not like learning how to apply math to designing a bridge or a guided missile. You need to develop insights that mature into intuition.The book calls itself an “Introduction to Special Relativity.” It sells itself way short. If you take your time with it, the book will give you an in-depth understanding of special relativity and some of the fundamental tenets of general relativity. It can’t go in-depth with general relativity because of the math required.I am a 76-year old experimental physicist finishing off a career in mostly aerospace engineering with liberal use of applied physics and math. I went through special relativity as an undergrad (mainly the Lorentz transformations) and general relativity as part of a grad course in classical mechanics. (My general relativity was mostly an exercise in tensor calculus, which I’ve forgotten because I never used it again. I did have the opportunity to use special relativity, but only a few times.)The problem with most physics books and lectures is that they spend most of their space and time (no pun intended) on math. A notable exception is the set of Feynman Lectures on Physics. Another is this book; it should never have gone out of print — are you listening, Dover? One reason for our preponderance of focus on math is that the math is necessary. However, many students come away from those books and courses with only superficial insight into the physics. They are so busy struggling with the math that they can’t step back and see the bigger picture. They are not prepared to attack a problem that differs greatly from problems they’ve studied. What are we producing, applied mathematicians or physicists? If you haven’t fully mastered special relativity, this book can give you that mastery and will make general relativity more meaningful if and when you’re ready to tackle it. There is, however, a price to pay beyond the cost of the book: you have to spend quality time.If you want to get a grasp of relativity, get this book, even if you have to buy it used as I did. It is without peer.The book says that intuition is necessary to solve problems in relativity. Here is a quote from the book: “… intuition– a practiced way of seeing — is best developed without hurry.” I suggest that you pay a lot of attention to the problems/exercises in the book. If you don’t see a solution immediately (you probably will see one immediately on most of the problems), set it aside for a day and come back to it. You may find that on the second or third pass it seems easy. Strange concepts take time to sink in. Your subconscious mind will work for you in solving problems and play a key role in developing insight and intuition.

⭐I just took an excellent course entitled “Understanding Einstein:The Special Theory of Relativity” at Coursera. The course was taught by Dr. Larry Randles Lagerstrom of Stanford University. I would recommend anyone who is interested The Special Theory of Relativity to give this course a look. Dr. Lagerstrom recommended Spacetiime Physics by “Edwin Taylor” as a good text to have. He had high praise for its content and also its style. I purchased the book and found it to be very through and its presentation was good. For me, I found the text to be more difficult to read and understand than the lecture of Dr. Langstrom but I am still glad that I bought the book. I also found another text that I would recommend more strongly ( 5 Stars) than “Spacetime Physics” and it is titled ” Special Relativity for the Enthusiastic Beginner” by David Morin. If you can purchase only introductory text on Special Relativity I would recommend Morin’s text. If you can afford to purchase both texts I would definitely recommend that both would be a great addition to your library. Morin’s text is available as a Kindle book for iPad, but I would not recommend that version rather the paperbound text. The paper bound edition of “Spacetime Physics” is ~ $60 compared to $19.95 for the paperback and $6.95 for the Kindle edition of “Special Relativity: For the Enthusiastic Beginner”. Both books provide an excellent account of Special Relativity.

⭐This is an updated version of the original Spacetime Physics which was used in my sophomore physics class in 1968-69, just a few years after the original was published. The new edition is greatly expanded from the original, from 208 pages to 312 pages, and includes many new problems, paradoxes and puzzles, and better explanations of the concepts. It is readable at a level consistent with an Algebra II background, but also has more advanced material for anyone who can handle higher levels of mathematics.I only have one minor complaint. The authors in the newer version have gotten away from using the Greek letter beta (don’t know how to put the actual greek letter into this field) for the ratio of the velocity of an object to the velocity of light. They still, however, use the Greek letter gamma for the time stretch factor. And a very minor quirk is the decision to use Sun, Moon, and Earth as names for what most of us would refer to as the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth.I guess one other, not exactly minor, complaint would be that I can’t find a solution manual with all of the solutions to the problems. The book does include the answers to the odd-numbered problems, however. I was able to buy the solutions manual to the original book, and it is extremely helpful in understanding the concepts.I’m working my way slowly through the book, doing all of the problems, in hopes of being able to use some of the examples when I am a substitute teacher in high school physics classes. Unfortunately, relativity is no longer taught in AP Physics, only in IB Physics.

⭐Don’t buy this edition of the book.If you are interested in this topic, you should try to get hold of the first edition; this book is the second edition. It is seriously dumbed-down from the original, I assume because the authors wanted to reach a wider public. I purchased a copy after having read a first edition because I was hoping to see the mathematics section extended. It is the reverse; the book is almost like a comic book with its simple-minded sketches and pictures.

⭐This book was recommended to me, and I was not disappointed. It is readable, has minimal maths, but gets the message across in simple terms without talking down to you. If you want to cut through all the misconceptions and understand what SR is really about, then get this book.

⭐L’ho acquistato dopo aver letto “Buchi neri e salti temporali” di Kip Thorne, libro che ha diversi rimandi a questo testo quando suggerisce approfondimenti di “fisica dura”. L’ho affrontato quindi con molta calma e pazienza ed ammetto di essere ancora a metà del guado ma rappresenta un testo fondamentale, scritto da due fisici di prim’ordine ma attenzione che la mia edizione (vale a dire questa) risale al 1966 (mio anno di nascita, sigh!). La matematica comunque non è impossibile e ciò che insegna è comunque interessante ed appassionante.For me, this is by far the best introductory book to Special Relativity and definitely one the the best written (or even the best written) books in physics I have ever read. On the one hand, the writing style is absolutely captivating. It is a pleasure to read. It is of course an introductory book. On the other hand, it is at the same time very pedagogical and rigorous. 10 stars!

⭐Clear explanations but it requires some background in mathematics and physics

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