Reddit reviews Exploring Black Holes: Introduction to General Relativity

[Time and space meet there indeed.](http://www.amazon.com/Exploring-Black-Holes-Introduction-Relativity/dp/020138423X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255590016&sr=8-1#reader
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All I can think of are examples in physics where the algebra can be quite hard, but necessary for solving interesting problems. For example, problems dealing with particle collisions in special relativity are quite algebraically challenging, but the results are usually very simple, and you get to do something useful with the math. Any introductory special relativity book should have such problems.

Similarly, this is a rather nice book, at the sophomore college level, for learning about the physics of motion and orbits around a black hole. The nice thing about it is that it requires only algebra and elementary calculus, and the algebra can be quite hard. If you invest the time to read the chapters and work through the many exercises, you learn some mind bending things while at the same time getting some serious algebra practice.

Hartle is really good but if that is beyond your abilities you can try Taylor and Wheeler. The only math you need to learn from this book is calculus. However, it wont cover the full theory of GR, it will just get you used to working with curved spacetime.

Well a good intro. textbook is Fundamentals of Physics by Halliday, Resnick, and Walker. This is a full freshman physics book, so it has a little bit of everything, but I used it a lot through my entire undergraduate degree.


Had a class that technically required Theory of Relativity by Pauli but the teacher used their own notes so I never read the book.


My favorite book that deals with relativity is Exploring Black Holes by Taylor and Wheeler. Took an undergrad class where this was the main textbook and loved it.

And then the follow up book about GR:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Exploring-Black-Holes-Introduction-Relativity/dp/020138423X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345747403&sr=1-1

These are more at the level you describe than Caroll's book which is intended for advanced undergraduates or graduate students.

Agreed. Griffiths has the best books for undergrad level E&M, Quantum, and particle physics. I cant recommend any of the classical mechanics or thermal books. if you want to try General relativity you can start with Taylor and Wheeler:
http://www.amazon.com/Exploring-Black-Holes-Introduction-Relativity/dp/020138423X

Find it in a library, its a bit small for that price, but I recommend:

https://www.amazon.com/Exploring-Black-Holes-Introduction-Relativity/dp/020138423X