Einstein Gravity in a Nutshell by A. Zee (PDF)

Description

An ideal introduction to Einstein’s general theory of relativityThis unique textbook provides an accessible introduction to Einstein’s general theory of relativity, a subject of breathtaking beauty and supreme importance in physics. With his trademark blend of wit and incisiveness, A. Zee guides readers from the fundamentals of Newtonian mechanics to the most exciting frontiers of research today, including de Sitter and anti-de Sitter spacetimes, Kaluza-Klein theory, and brane worlds. Unlike other books on Einstein gravity, this book emphasizes the action principle and group theory as guides in constructing physical theories. Zee treats various topics in a spiral style that is easy on beginners, and includes anecdotes from the history of physics that will appeal to students and experts alike. He takes a friendly approach to the required mathematics, yet does not shy away from more advanced mathematical topics such as differential forms. The extensive discussion of black holes includes rotating and extremal black holes and Hawking radiation. The ideal textbook for undergraduate and graduate students, Einstein Gravity in a Nutshell also provides an essential resource for professional physicists and is accessible to anyone familiar with classical mechanics and electromagnetism. It features numerous exercises as well as detailed appendices covering a multitude of topics not readily found elsewhere.Provides an accessible introduction to Einstein’s general theory of relativityGuides readers from Newtonian mechanics to the frontiers of modern researchEmphasizes symmetry and the Einstein-Hilbert actionCovers topics not found in standard textbooks on Einstein gravityIncludes interesting historical asidesFeatures numerous exercises and detailed appendicesIdeal for students, physicists, and scientifically minded lay readersSolutions manual (available only to teachers)

User’s Reviews

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

⭐I am rewriting this review. I have my PhD. so take that into account. The Perimeter Institute has lectures on-line. They are good lectures on OFT, String Theory, General Rel. and other subjects like Quantum Gravity. The students being taught in the videos, already have their undergraduate degrees so take that into account if you watch those lectures. Neil Turok, teaches Gen. Rel. in those lectures. He referrers to this book several times. This is a special book, one written not only from the point of math but from a point of incite. You think you understand Special Rel., well Mr. Zee will confuse you again and then straighten you out. Professors who teach Quantum Field Theory wonder why students have so much trouble with it. Special Rel. it part of the reason. Variational methods are another. Zee teaches both. If you go through this whole book you can take OFT and not have any problem with it. It prepares you for OFT, General Rel(Like Walds book) and string theory.This is a thick book and you will need a buddy to help you carry it around. I used to think thick books were bad, but not anymore. Zee takes the time to explain things so you can understand the subject and that takes time or a thicker book. For example the Paradox of special rel. Since in Spec. Rel. there is no absolute reference frame both observers can look at the other and say the other one is moving. Therefore both observers will say the others clocks are moving slow. Zee shows how to reason out what is really happening.He uses Cartan’s equations and introduces differential forms. This book is the bridge between undergrad. physics and Grad. level physics. He shows how to properly do rotations. Shows where some equations you will need for OFT come from like the variance of a determinate and so forth. I learned form this book, you never know a subject as well as you think, without constant exposure to that subject. I think even Neil Turok used it in some of his lectures and got something out of it. Neil must have read parts of it.This is not your fathers textbook. This one explains the physics and does not hesitate to use and explain the math needed. This is not the General textbook where you are given an equation and just magically expected to know the twenty steps it took to get there. Zee makes you think but he does tries to lead you as much as possible.About the Perimeter Institute site, look it up. Barton Zwieback who wrote “A first course in String Theory”, gives a set of lectures on string theory, on that site. This textbook will not be special in about ten years, because I think all Physics books will be written in this style, so they can be understood. No more guessing how the Author got from point a to point b. The only way you really learn the subject is when you have to apply it. But before that you need the exposure to the subject and a lot of exposure. That is what getting a degree is all about anyway. Then when you need it you can look it up and figure it out. This book really serves that purpose.It seems the older textbooks objective was to make you feel stupid, but you would not be reading the book if you understood the subject. I think this kind of Textbook will force other writers to write a physics text that the reader can understand and not make him/her feel stupid. Someone needs to come up with a word that means him/her or her/him.Enjoy the book, it is a fun journey and even has some jokes in it. Physics now seems to me like I always knew it, but I did not. Sometimes after you know something well you forget that there are people out there who do not understand it. Authors of the future must remember what it was like when they were taking a course for the first time. I had loads of troubles when I was learning the subject and sometimes I forget that. It is like forgetting what it was like to be a child. We all do it but the Authors of technical books must force themselves to remember what it was like when they took the course for the first time. I think Zee understands this.And remember after you finish all this physics you will become a veg. None of your family or friends will have any idea what you are talking about. And do not bring up thermodynamics when talking about the weather, or optics when looking at a rainbow. I beg you to stop now, become a normal member of society. People will think you are a freak because you do all that math and know how a magnet works but cannot explain it because they do not have the training to understand it. Get a business degree and make money. Please stop now or you will become a freak.Nothing has given me more joy than physics well maybe on other thing. Those moments when you get it are the biggest high one can get, no other degree really offers that high. Even if you learn on your own when it all finally starts to come together is the best feeling in the world. And there is more to come, as Bob Dylan would say, “Things they are a changing.” This is one of those books that can cause many ah-ha moments. This book alone will not do it. Go on and read Carroll and Wald.Good Luck

⭐After a long string of thoughts I have decided to be audacious enough to write a single opinion on all the three “nutshell” books, i. e. “ Quantum field theory in a nutshell”, “ Einstein gravity in a nutshell” and “Group theory in a nutshell for physicists”:In my humble opinion, while the books written by Dr. Zee are quite fun to read and gain (sometimes) a different perspective on the subject, these books in no way are the books from which to learn the corresponding stuff (QFT, general relativity or group theory) if you had no previous exposure to them, even if you know all the needed maths. In other words, they are *no textbooks* from which to begin your journey into these beautiful but quite difficult theories. For one, these books have so many stuff in them that, in order to get the “meat” out of them, you will have to “hack” through a lot of material and, for sure, will have to use quite a number of other books and/or lecture notes for the reference. But, after you have gained the basic understanding from other sources and can easily comprehend the matter being discussed, these books are very valuable source of many unorthodox observations about the subjects and are also good reference books on many intricacies which are not usually discussed in textbooks and lectures.

⭐I have read most of the gravity books available, from Weinberg to MTW to d’Inverno to Stephani to the new books by Dray and Ryder. Anthony Zee’s book is unique and in some respects is better than all of those books for somebody new to GR, and for experienced relativists.My first GR book was Weinberg (Guth told me to read it) when I was an undergraduate. However, if Zee’s book was around then, I would learned a lot more and my life would have much, much more enjoyable. Nowadays, I teach GR in a university to students who have a fragmented physics background. Many come from computer science and engineering, but have significant quality (former math olympiad students). This is the perfect book for them. Zee’s book can be understood by a talented high school student. Because it is entertaining, good students will also read a rather large portion of it. Try to get talented students to read MTW or Weinberg from beginning to end!Because this book includes a vast amount of advanced material it is also very good for experienced students who want to learn about AdS spaces, Killing vectors and so on. It also includes a tremendous number of topics and anecdotes in the end of chapter endnotes ranging from Kaluza Klein gravity to the lack of observables in quantum gravity. You will not find that material in any other GR book. You will have to dig through original papers or much more advanced books to learn that stuff. I cannot stress how useful the endnotes are to a very experienced student. Zee gives you in a nutshell, how gravity is really thought about by researchers in an extremely digestible way. For example, if you are a young string theorist or a young astrophysicist these endnotes will be invaluable to you.One cannot learn everything from one GR book. The field is too vast and it has very strong mathematical underpinnings. However, it is one of those books that you just have to have. If you are a mathematician, you will be reading others books such de Felice or Choquet-Bruhat. But you will also benefit greatly from Zee’s book. If you are a student taking a standard GR course, you may be using a very standard book like Carroll, but you will still benefit enormously from Zee’s alternative explanations. And if you are like the millions of people who watch too much science fiction and want to understand GR in an entertaining way, then this is the ideal book. In particular, if you are a very talented student in high school or an older person with a technical background this is really the best book.I used to recommend Hughston & Tod to everybody because it was so concise and complete. But that book is a bit tough for new students. I now recommend Zee’s book and to learn differential forms in GR and supergravity/strings I recommend Dray’s book.

⭐It might take a while to get used to Zee’s somewhat idiosyncratic style but the effort is well worth it. The crucial thing about this book is that it is accessible, I am using this book for self studying in retirement, it is the first text I have found that explains what is going on, with a focus on the physics rather than the mathematical formalism. Don’t think of this as a substitute for MTW or Wald, but as the book that will let you profitably approach more advanced texts.This book has to be the best introduction to General Relativity that is out there. Zee cleverly emphasises the idea of invariance and how this constrains the physics. If you are interested in GR do yourself a favour and get hold of a copy of this excellent textbook.

⭐The style and quality of the book is similar to QFT In a Nutshell, maybe even better. You can check my review of that book. https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R7RQUUPX7MQZG/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8The books starts with the very basic stuff, deriving some results about Newton laws. Don’t be deceived – this book is not for first year students, some of the material in the latest parts may not even be familiar to professionals. But whether Zee explains Newton orbits, or twistors and possible connections between Einstein’s gravity and Yang-Mills, the style of the explanations is absolutely stunning. Even if you have already studied some of the material before, just read this material in Zee’s version anyway. For instance, I particularly enjoyed “the alternative physics history” detours, where Zee explains how some of the basic physical theories could be invented in the alternative universe. Some of this chapters introduce possible ways to derive certain theories in an unconventional but much more obvious way. Isn’t this good – to understand the subject on such a level, where it starts to seem obvious?

⭐Fantastic textbook with a wonderful, informal style that has kept me sane through my Gravitation course. Definitely reccomend

⭐Well…if you are interested with General Relativity this book is a must-have!

⭐I’ve self-studied 70 pages so far and the book is indeed exciting and amazingly well written … BUT as always: the manual of solutions is only for teachers. Sincerely: I do not understand why someone who studies the book (me) and therefore is supposed to have problems to solve the exercises can’t get a solutions book, and, on the contrary, the professors, supposed connoisseurs of this subject, can.Someday somebody will explain this paradox to me: solutions for teachers and NOT for students who try to self-studie this diffcult subject. Strange world indeed.Llevo 70 páginas y el libro en efecto es apasionante…. peeeeero como siempre: el manual de soluciones es solo para profesores. Sinceramente: yo no entiendo por qué alguien que estudia el libro (yo) y por tanto se supone que necesita conocer si hace bien o no los ejercicios no tiene libro. Y los profesores, supuestos conocedores de esta materia, sí lo tienen.A mí que alguien me lo explique…

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