Essential Physics & Mechanics Textbooks

Chabay & Sherwood, Matter nd Interactions, 4th Ed.
John R. Taylor, Classical Mechanics

Ohanian & Markert, Physics for Engineers and Scientists 3rd Ed.
Alonso & Finn, Physics
*Jackson, Classical Electrodynamics
Sakurai, Quantum Mechanics; Modern Quantum Mechanics
Feynman & Hibbs, Path integrals in quantum mechanics
Peskin & Shroeder, Quantum Field Theory
Misner, Gravitation
Tristan Needham, Visual Complex Analysis
Weinberg, Quantum theory of fields
Sean Carroll, Lectures on General Relativity
Kleppner & Kolenkow, An Introduction to Mechanics
Sussman & Wisdom, The Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics
Horowitz and Hill, The Art of Electronics
R. Shankar, Principles of Quantum Mechanics
Taylor and Wheeler, Spacetime Phyiscs
Kogut, Introduction to Relativity
Gottried & Yan, Quantum Mechanics: Fundamentals
Nielsen and Chuang, Introduction to Quantum Computation
Roger Penrose, The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe
Thorne, Wheeler & Misner, Gravitation
Dan Maoz, Astrophysics in a Nutshell
Anupam Garg, Classical Electromagnetism in a Nutshell
Gerald D. Mahan, Quantum Mechanics in a Nutshell
Luca Peliti, Statistical Mechanics in a Nutshell
Elias Kiritsis, String Theory in a Nutshell
Christopher G. Tully, Elementary Particle Physics in a Nutshell
Gerald D. Mahan, Condensed Matter in a Nutshell
Carlos A. Bertulani, Nuclear Physics in a Nutshell
M.S. Longair: Theoretical concepts in physics, 1986.
Arnold Sommerfeld: Lectures on Theoretical Physics
Keith Symon: Mechanics, 3rd ed., 1971 undergrad. level
H. Corbin and P. Stehle: Classical Mechanics, 2nd ed., 1960
V.I. Arnold: Mathematical methods of classical mechanics, translated by K. Vogtm
ann and A. Weinstein, 2nd ed., 1989.
Marion & Thornton: Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems, 2nd ed., 1970.A.
Fetter and J. Walecka: Theoretical mechanics of particles and continua
Kiran Gupta: Classical Mechanics of Particles and Rigid Bodies (1988)
Reitz, Milford and Christy: Foundations of Electromagnetic Theory 4th ed., 1992
Lorrain & Corson: Electromagnetism, Principles and Applications, 1979
William Smythe: Static and Dynamic Electricity, 3rd ed., 1968
David Chandler: Introduction to Modern Statistical Mechanics, 1987
R. Tolman: Prinicples of Statistical Mechanics. Dover
Kittel & Kroemer: Statistical Thermodynamics
Felix Bloch: Fundamentals of Statistical Mechanics.
Radu Balescu: Statistical Physics
Reif: Principles of statistical and thermal physics.
Stone and Goldbart: Mathematics for Physic
Morse & Feshbach: Methods of Theoretical Physics
Peter Szekeres: Modern Mathematical Physics
Methods-Mathematical-Physics-Harold-Jeffreys
Stewart: Advanced General Relativity
Steven Strogatz: Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos
Wyld: Mathematical Methods for Physics
Bender: Advanced MAthematical Metjods for Scientists and Engineers
Dettman: Mathematical Methods in Physics and ENgineering
____________________________________________________________
Griffiths (quantum mechanics and particle physics)

Binney & Tremaine for astrophysics.
Carl Sagan
Sakurai quantum mechanics
Peskin/Schroeder qft
Feynman and Hibbs'
Anthony Zee's
weinberg - cosmology and general relativity
Statistical mechanics - pathria
Dirac's principles of QM
Optics-Pedrotti
Berkeley Physics Course
-mechanics
-Electrodynamics
-Waves
-Quantum Mechanics
-Statistical Physics
1. Quantum Mechanics - Bransden and Joachain
2. Quantum Mechanics - Zettili
3. Quantum Mechanics - Liboff
4. EM - Griffiths
5. EM - Nayfeh and Brussels
6. EM - ( Dover ) Electromagnetic Fields and Interactions - Becker
7. Math Methods - (Dover) Mathematics of Classical and Quantum Physics -Byron
and Fuller
8. Feynman Lectures
9. Optics - Hecht
10. Particle Physics - Duncan Carlsmith
----------------------------------------------------------------I particularly recommend the first of the following books.
Edwin F. Taylor and John Archibald Wheeler,
Spacetime Physics: Introduction to Special Relativity, 2nd ed.
W. H. Freeman & Company, 1992.
In print, ISBN 0-7167-2326-3, list price $26.00 (hardcover)
This classic undergraduate textbook is simply the best introduction I know. It
might look a bit hokey, but it's full of fabulous insights.
Wolfgang Rindler,
Introduction to Special Relativity, 2nd ed.
Oxford University Press, 1991.
In print, ISBN 0-19-853952-5; list price $32.95 (paperback)
Another reputable textbook, which I am not familiar with but which other posters
have recommended in the past.
Anadijiban Das,
The Special Theory of Relativity: A Mathematical Approach.
Springer-Verlag, 1996.
In print, ISBN 0-387-94042-1; list price $39.95 (hardcover)

I am not familiar with this book, but it seems to be a concise but reasonably co
mprehensive and modern introduction, covering among other things the connection
between Moebius transformations and the Lorentz group.
George F. Ellis and Ruth M. Williams,
Flat and Curved Space-Times
Oxford University Press, 1988
In print, ISBN 0-19-851169-8; list price $45.00 (paperback)
This book is notable for making a serious attempt to provide an introduction to
both SR and GR, using only basic algebra and calculus (no tensors). It does tre
at some aspects of some exact solutions in GR but does not adequately cover the
field equations and thus cannot be considered a suitable GR text. However, it m
ay be helpful to the timorous reader attempting to make the transition from SR t
o GR.
Gregory L. Naber,
The Geometry of Minkowski Spacetime: An Introduction to the Mathematics of t
he Special Theory of Relativity.
In print, ISBN 0-387-97848-8; list price $65.95 (hardcover)
This book is devoted to a rigorous mathematical treatment of the flat Minkowski
spacetime of special relativity. It pays particular attention to the Lorentz gr
oup and the causal structure of the theory, but also treats the electromagnetic
field tensor, spinors, and the topology of Minkowski spacetime. This book won't
teach you much physics, but is useful if you want to see special relativity put
on a firm mathematical basis, or examine some of the more intricate technical i
mplications of Lorentz transformations or SR causality.
I would not recommend the Dover reprint by Aharoni (outdated, poorly written, cl
umsy notation). I am not familiar with the Dover reprint by Shadowitz.
Introductory Textbooks on GTR

Now we are starting to get to the really good stuff! I label each of the follow
ing six textbooks with short codes and follow a brief review of each with a tabl
e comparing the topics they cover.
(DINV)
Ray A. d'Inverno,
Introducing Einstein's Relativity
Oxford University Press, 1992
In print, ISBN 0-19-859686-3; list price $42.95 (paperback).
A beautifully illustrated, clearly and concisely written introduction to GR (the
first few chapters, on SR, are too sketchy to be valuable except as a review).
On balance, I think this is probably the best introduction for the average unde
rgraduate student at present. It features a particularly well balanced selectio
n of topics.
(SCH)
Bernard F. Schutz,
A First Course in General Relativity
Cambridge University Press, 1985.
This book covers fewer topics than d'Inverno but in greater depth, and at a comp
arable level. In places I find it a bit more turgid than some other texts, but
Schutz's discussion of the geometric nature of tensors in general and the matter
tensor in particular is outstanding.
(STEP)
Hans Stephani,
General Relativity: An Introduction to the Theory of the Gravitational Field
, 2nd ed.
In print, ISBN 0-521-37941-5, $39.95 (paperback).
Probably a bit more demanding than d'Inverno, this is probably the best organize
d GR textbook yet to appear. Clearly written (and well translated from the orig
inal German), featuring a well balanced selection of topics, and full of useful
insight.
(HT)
L. Hughston and K. P. Tod,
Introduction to General Relativity
Cambridge University Press, 1991
In print, ISBN 0-521-33943-X; list price $23.95 (paperback).
One of the most concise introductions available. Covers much less than Stephani
or d'Inverno, but clear and well written. Advanced undergraduate to beginning
gradate level.
(WALD)
Robert M. Wald,
General Relativity,
University of Chicago Press, 1984.
The textbook of choice for the discerning graduate student. Well written, with
a good selection of topics, including careful discussions of tensor formalism, t
he basic singularity, stability, and uniqueness theorems, as well as black hole
thermodynamics.
(MTW)
Charles W. Misner, Kip S. Thorne, and John A. Wheeler,
Gravitation,
This huge (44 chapter), sprawling book is IMHO one of the great scientific books
of all time, but may not the best ``first book'' on GR for most students, in pa
rt because by offering so much it is liable to overwhelm a newcomer. However, I
think every serious student must own this at least as a supplementary text and
dip into it on a regular basis. MTW was the first "modern" GR textbook, and has
inspired two generations of students. While in many respects it is now rather
out of date, and in a few places is pretty darn confusing, this beautifully illu
strated book features fascinating insights found nowhere else on almost every on
e of its 1200-odd pages.
All of these books have exercises; DINV is particular well suited for self study
since it also has solutions in the back. DINV and STEP give particularly good
brief surveys of GR.
Overall, for timid readers, I'd recommend DINV, for bolder ones, STEP, for penur
ious students I'd recommend HT, for mathematically minded students I'd recommend
WALD. And I'd recommend MTW to anyone, anywhere, any time. For really serious
students, both WALD and MTW are probably essential references.
For the convenience of the rank beginner who wants to purchase one or more of th
ese textbooks, here is a very rough guide to the coverage: all of these books in
troduce tensors, including the matter and Riemann and Ricci tensors. All discus
s geodesics, connections and covariant derivatives. All discuss the Equivalence
Principle, weak field theory, and at least one interpretation of the field equa
tions. All discuss the classic predictions such as light bending, perihelion ad
vance, gravitational redshift. Among the exact solutions, all discuss in some d
etail the "usual suspects" (Schwarzschild vacuum and Friedmann dust). All discu
ss the linearized theory of gravitational waves and Cartan's method of curvature
forms.
Five of the six textbooks also discuss at length various of the following import
ant topics: spinors, algebraic symmetries of tensors, the variational principle
formulation of GR, the initial value formulation of GR, the Petrov classificatio
n of curvature types, EXACT gravitational wave solutions, the singularity theore
ms, Penrose diagrams (conformal compactification), Hawking radiation, and thermo
dynamics of black holes.
Sprs Sym VPF IVF Petrov GWves Sing PD Hawk Therm
DINV
STEP
HT
WALD
MTW
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
x
x
X
X
X
X
X
X
Among exact solutions beyond "the usual suspects", DINV features detailed discus
sions of the Kerr-Newman vacuum, Reissner-Nordstrom electrovac, Tolman fluid, de
Sitter and anti-de Sitter cosmological solutions. The Kasner dust is treated v
ery nicely in HT, and STEP mentions the Bertotti-Robinson electrovac. HT also f
eatures a particularly clear and concise treatment of the Bianchi classification
of homogeneous spacelike hyperslices.
While I think the six books listed above are among the best currently available
textbooks, there are several others worthy of special mention.
Alan P. Lightman, William H. Press, Saul A. Teukolsky,
Problem Book in Relativity and Gravitation
Princeton University Press, 1975.
In print, ISBN 0-691-08162-X; list price $40.00 (paperback)
Since the only way to learn a mathematical theory is by doing problems, the more
the merrier, this book is an invaluable resource for serious students.
J. Martin,
General Relativity: A First Course For Physicists
Prentice Hall, 1995.
Presents the bare essentials (geodesics, curvature, the field equation, "the usu
al suspects") in a concise and accessible manner. However, it uses coordinate n
otation exclusively, and thus cannot be considered a "modern" introduction (desp
ite the date of publication), but it can be good place to learn the (essential!)
coordinate methods of computation.
Paul A. Dirac,
General Theory of Relativity

Princeton University Press, 1996.
In print, ISBN 0-691-01146-X, list price $10.95 (paperback).
Yes, that Dirac. In his inimitable, incredibly concise style, Dirac offers a si
xty page sketch of GR, with all the math but not a single picture. First publis
hed in 1975, this book doesn't cover any of the modern developments in the subje
ct. If you are very impatient and have a very strong background in advanced cal
culus and some differential geometry, this just might be the right book for you.
Otherwise it will sail right over your head. No exercises.
Hans C. Ohanian, Reno Rufkin and Remo Ruffini,
Gravitation and Spacetime, 2nd ed.
W. W. Norton, 1994.
In print, ISBN 0-393-96501-5; list price $43.50 (hardcover).
Most GR books follow more or less in Einstein's footsteps in motivating the fiel
d equation. These authors take a different approach which has become increasing
ly important in recent years; they motivate the linearized field equation by a c
areful formal analogy with Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism, and then argue
their way to the full field equation. Strong on the important formal analogies
with EM, but weak on geometry. It also has one of the best treatments to be fou
nd among introductory GR texts of the experimental and observational consequence
s of the theory, along with a nice discussion of newtonian gravity.
Gregory L. Naber,
Spacetime and Singularities: An Introduction.
In the same excellent London Mathematical Society Student Series as HT. I don't
know this book but I've seen it somewhere; as I recall it looked somewhat forbi
dding.
C. Clarke,
Elementary General Relativity
Halsted Press, 1980.
Out of print.
A concise and readable introduction, emphasizing modern coordinate free notation
. Has some good exercises.
Theodore T. Frankel,
Gravitational Curvature: An Introduction to Einstein's Theory.
Out of print.
Features a particularly comprehensive introduction to the geometric meaning of t
he field equation, and a detailed introduction to relativistic optics. No exerc
ises.
L. D. Landau,
The Classical Theory of Fields.
Course of Theoretical Physics, Vol. 2. Classical Theory
Butterworth-Heinemann, 1980.
ISBN 0-7506-2768-9; list price $47.95 (hardcover).
The first half is a concise introduction to SR and EM; the second half, an even
more concise introduction to GR. Features a discussion of LeMaitre coordinates
for the Schwarzschild solution and some other things not found in many other boo
ks. Some good exercises.

Dover has also reprinted books on relativity by the youthful Wolfgang Pauli, the
mature Max Born, Peter Bergman, and Richard Tolman, which I feel are of margina
l utility today, since they are very out of date and the topics they do discuss
are IMO better explained in more modern language elsewhere. I would strongly re
commend that students spend their money on more expensive but up-to-date textboo
ks.
The books by Schroedinger and Feynman are also entirely unsuitable for an introd
uction to GR.
Background Reading
In this section, I discuss some books that
(a) discuss the mathematical background for GR (differential geometry),
(b) place relativity theory in the context of physics at large,
(c) contain important milestones in the history of relativity theory.
I'll begin with several books in the Schaum's outline series, which, if read wit
h discipline, can actually be a very effective way, I think, to learn some probl
em-solving skills. If you really are starting with linear algebra, however, you
should expect to spend many months in hard labor working through these books be
fore you are ready to being your study of GR. I am not familiar with all of the
following books, but consider the one I own (the last) to be a good book.
Seymour Lipschutz,
Schaum's Outline of Linear Algebra, 2nd ed.
McGraw-Hill, 1991.
Frank Ayres and Elliot Mendelson,
Schaum's Outline of Calculus, 3rd ed.
McGraw-Hill, 1990.
Richard Bronson,
Schaum's Outline of Differential Equations, 2nd ed.
McGraw-Hill, 1994.
Paul C. DuChateau, and D. W. Zachmann,
Schaum's Outline of Partial Differential Equations
McGraw-Hill, 1986.
Murray R. Spiegel,
Advanced Mathematics for Engineers and Scientists.
McGraw-Hill, 1971.
Martin Lipschutz,
Differential Geometry.
McGraw-Hill, 1969.
A good introduction to classical differential geometry. Note well; for GR you n
eed more advanced notions, including modern notions of manifolds, covariant, Lie
, and exterior derivatives, connections, and curvature tensors.
David C. Kay,
Schaum's Outline of Tensor Calculus
McGraw-Hill, 1988.
An introduction to coordinate basis tensor computations, including the metric te
nsor, geodesics, the Riemann tensor, with applications to classical mechanics an
d SR (but not GR). This won't entirely get you up to speed for GR, but like the
previous book it may be useful as a supplementary text.
John H. Hubbard,
Vector Calculus, Linear Algebra and Differential Forms: A Unified Approach.
Prentice Hall, 1998.
This book can probably serve as a substitute for all of the Schaum's books menti
oned above (save the last two), with the additional bonus of introducing exterio
r forms early on and properly emphasizing the fact that these objects are natura
l, easy to understand, and easy to compute with.
Theodore Frankel,
The Geometry of Physics: An Introduction.
In print, ISBN 0-521-38334-X; $95.00 (hardcover).
This book is simply gorgeous. It offers a thorough and beautifully illustrated
introduction to everything from riemannian geometry, Cartan geometry, symplectic
geometry, differential topology and Morse Theory to vector bundles and Pontryag
in and Chern classes. Applications to hamiltonian mechanics, GR, Yang-Mills the
ories, the Standard Model of particle physics, etc., are also sketched.
Speaking of manifolds and differential geometry, I think that one of the best al
l around introductions is:
William M. Boothby,
An Introduction to Differentiable Manifolds and Riemannian Geometry, 2nd ed.
Academic Press, 1986.
One book which is particularly well suited for background reading in GR is the o
utrageously expensive
Barrett O'Neill,
Semi-Riemannian Geometry with Applications to Relativity.
In print, ISBN 0-12-526740-1; list price $99.00 (hardover).
This book covers not only manifolds, tensors, metrics, connections, curvature, c
alculus of variations, homogeneous spaces, and covering spaces, but also Minkows
ki spacetime, the Friedmann and Schwarzschild solutions, and the singularity the
orems.
Another classic, easy to read introduction is "the great American differential g
eometry book":
Michael Spivak,
A Comprehensive Introduction to Differential Geometry, 5 volumes.
Publish
Vol. 1:
Vol. 2:
Vol. 3:
Vol. 4:
Vol. 5:
or Perish, 1979.
ISBN 0-914098-84-5;
ISBN 0-914098-85-3;
ISBN 0-914098-86-1;
ISBN 0-914098-87-X;
ISBN 0-914098-88-8;
$30.00
$25.00
$30.00
$35.00
$40.00 (all in hardcover only).
This book has a somewhat fussy notation, and tends toward the verbose, but it is
engaging and full of insight. Boothby is shorter but covers more, although the
last volume of Spivak is a gentle introduction to Chern classes.
A gentle introduction by popular author is:
Frank Morgan,
Riemannian Geometry: A Beginner's Guide, 2nd ed.
A K Peters, 1997.
Another well known textbook (the author is a relativist) is:
Barrett O'Neill,
Elementary Differential Geometry, 2nd ed.
Another well known textbook (aimed more at hamiltonian mechanics) is:
R. Abraham, Jerrold E. Marsden, and T. Ratiu,
Manifolds, Tensor Analysis, and Applications.
A cheaper alternative is:
Richard Bishop and Samuel Goldberg,
Tensor Analysis on Manifolds.
Dover, 1980.
At a higher level, try:
Y. Choquet-Bruhat, C. DeWitt-Morette, and M. Dillard-Bleick,
Analysis, Manifolds and Physics, Pt. I: Basics. Revised ed.
Elsevier Science, 1991.
Note that the first author has made important contributions to GR.
The most influential geometry book of all time is:
Shoshichi Kobayashi and Katsumi Nobizu,
Foundations of Differential Geometry. Two volumes.
John Wiley & Sons, 1996.
Not for the faint of heart.
A textbook by the greatest geometer of all time is:
Shiing-Shen Chern,
Differential Geometry.
World Scientific, 1998.
For the Russian perspective (one author is a legendary relativist), try:
B. A. Dubrovin, A. T. Fomenko, and S. P. Novikov,
Modern Geometry - Methods and Applications. 2 volumes, 2nd ed.
In print, ISBN 0-387-97663-9; list price $65.9a (hardcover).
I am not familiar with the following book, but I like an elementary GR text by t
he second author:
F. De Felice, C. J. Clarke,
Relativity on Curved Manifolds.
ISBN 0-521-42908-0; list price $42.95 (paperback).
Here are two pricey and extremely concise outlines of the basics of differential
geometry and topology as they are used in modern physics:
M. Nakahara,
Geometry, Topology and Physics.
I O P Publishing, 1990.
Charles Nash and Siddartha Sen.
Topology and Geometry for Physicists.
Academic Press, 1988 (reprint).
These are so dense I wouldn't recommend them for anyone without a strong backgro
und in modern physics.
Dover has reprinted books by Levi-Civita, Schouten, and Synge on tensor calculus
. These were all essential references in their day but they are now hopelessly
out of date and I recommend that students spend their money on more expensive bu
t more modern texts.
Here are some books that may help the student place relativity theory into the g
rand scheme of things, physically speaking:
I.D. Lawrie,
A Unified Grand Tour of Theoretical Physics.
I O P Publishing, 1990.
I like this book very much. Lawrie quite properly emphasizes the formal analogi
es between hamiltonian mechanics and quantum theory; the variational principle f
ormulations of GR ties this relativity theory to both these subjects. Lawrie al
so emphasizes the fact that newtonian theory is not simply "wrong"; by a mere ch
ange of interpretation (and a factor of i here and a factor of h bar there) the
equations of newtonian theory (as rewritten by Hamilton) go over to their quantu
m analogs. Needless to say these formal analogies are a great help to the worki
ng physicist.
Richard P. Feynman,
The Feynman Lectures on Physics
Addison Wesley Longman, 1970. 3 Volumes.
In print, available as boxed set or individual paperbacks.

One of the great scientific expositions of all time. Full of enthusiasm and ove
rflowing with fabulous ideas. Feynman's geometric explanation of the physical m
eaning of Maxwell's equation is a joy; so is his discussion of action at a dista
nce (his revolutionary work with Wheeler). The first two volumes are particular
ly recommended. Note well: in volume 2, the section on SR is one of the few wea
k points in the book; I advise that you skip it altogether. If you must read it
, not, RPF is not saying that spacetime has a Euclidean metric!
L. D. Landau, E. M. Lifshitz and others,
Course of Theoretical Physics, 8 volumes.
Butterworth-Heinemann, various years.
Vol. 1 (Mechanics) and Vol. 2 (Classical Field Theory) are particularly relevant
. Well translated and quite readable for the most part. Initiated by the great
Russian physicist Lev Landau and continued after his untimely death by his disc
iple Lifshitz. The Russian approach to physics and math is significantly differ
ent from American ideas in many respects and it is worthwhile gaining some famil
iarity with Landau's vision. Unlike say Feynman's great books, this series offe
rs many excellent exercises.
Walter Greiner and others.
A Curriculum in Theoretical Physics.
Springer-Verlag, various years.
Another heroic attempt to survey all of modern theoretical physics at the advanc
ed undergraduate to second year graduate level, this time with a European perspe
ctive. Well translated from the German, very readable, with an excellent balanc
e of theory, descriptions of "great experiments", and practical experience in co
mputing things using the theory. Many exercises are solved in full.
Here are some books that relate relativity theory to important subjects in mathe
matics:
E. J. Flaherty,
Hermitian and Kahlerian Geometry in Relativity.
Springer-Verlag New York, 1976.
Out of print.
In Kahler geometry, instead of bundling tangent planes with a euclidean inner pr
oduct, we bundle tangent planes with a hermitian inner product, which gives a mu
ch more "rigid" structure. However, symplectic geometry may be even more import
ant in the future; see
M. Kauderer,
Symplectic Matrices, First Order Systems and Special Relativity.
Victor W. Guillemin and Shlomo Sternberg,
Symplectic Techniques in Physics.
In print, ISBN 0-521-38990-9; list price $37.95 (paper).
Helmut Hofer and Eduard Zehnder,
Symplectic Invariants and Hamiltonian Dynamics.
Birkhauser, 1994.
J. M. Souriau,
Structure of Dynamical Systems: A Symplectic View of Physics.
Birkhauser, 1997.
Out of print.
Dusa McDuff and Dietmar Salamon,
Introduction to Symplectic Topology.
Oxford University Press, 1995.
A. T. Fomenko,
Symplectic Geometry, 2nd ed.
Gordon & Breach Publishing Group, 1995.
Finally, for a glimpse of what quantum gravity may look like, try:
J. Baez and J. Muniain,
Gauge Fields, Knots and Gravity.
This book also features an excellent and concise introduction to exterior forms
and a good discussion of the rather vexed terms "contravariant" and "covariant"
(they way they are used in older GR books is exactly opposite to their modern me
aning in mathematics!) [From the editor (DK): But I think their use in older boo
ks makes much more sense!]
Here are some books of enduring historical interest:
Albert Einstein and others,
The Principle of Relativity
Dover, 1952 reprint.
A collection of historic papers by Lorentz, Einstein, and others, including Eins
tein's 1905 paper on STR, his 1907 paper on the equivalence of mass and energy,
Minkowski's 1908 paper introducing the physical interpretation of his geometry,
Einstein's 1916 paper on the foundations of GTR, and early attempts to unify EM
and gravitation. In particular, the paper by Weyl laid the foundation for YangMills theories, and the paper by Kaluza and Klein contains the idea of "compacti
fied dimensions" which is a key element of modern string theories.
Hermann Weyl,
Space, Time, Matter
Dover, 1922.
Weyl was one of the great mathematicians of the early twentieth century, and one
of the first to appreciate the importance of Einstein's ideas about gravitation
and unified field theories. In this quirky but clearly written book, he descri
bes the five year old theory of GR, assuming virtually no mathematical prerequis
ites, and attempts to go beyond it with ideas on non-riemannian connections whic
h were several generations ahead of their time (in terms of physical application
).
Richard C. Tolman,
Relativity, Thermodynamics and Cosmology
An important resource in the thirties and forties but by now hopelessly out of d
ate.
Arthur S. Eddington,
Space, Time and Gravitation: An Outline of the General Theory.
A classic semipopular book, by now hopelessly outdated, but written with the eng
aging, stylish verve that made Eddington one of the most popular science writers
of his day.
Wolfgang Pauli,
Theory of Relativity.
This was the first book on relativity theory, written in a burst of youthful ent
husiasm by the twenty year old Pauli. Needless to say, it is of purely historic
al interest today.
Here is a book which is quirky but which will be valuable to some readers:
Richard P. Feynman,
Lectures on Gravitation.
Addison Wesley Longman, 1995.
Feynman's attempt to motivate the field equation "in the spirit of QFT"; this ap
proach is somewhat similar to that adopted in Ohanian et al, but this book is of
interest mainly for watching Feynman at play.

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Chabay & Sherwood, Matter nd Interactions, 4th Ed.

John R. Taylor, Classical Mechanics

Griffiths (quantum mechanics and particle physics)

In print, ISBN 0-387-94042-1; list price $39.95 (hardcover)

Introductory Textbooks on GTR

General Theory of Relativity

ks. Some good exercises.

In print, available as boxed set or individual paperbacks.

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