Amazon.com
As a scientist, Albert Einstein is undoubtedly the most epic among 20th-century thinkers. Albert Einstein as a man, however, has been a much harder portrait to paint, and what we know of him as a husband, father, and friend is fragmentary at best. With Einstein: His Life and Universe, Walter Isaacson (author of the bestselling biographies Benjamin Franklin and Kissinger) brings Einstein's experience of life, love, and intellectual discovery into brilliant focus. The book is the first biography to tackle Einstein's enormous volume of personal correspondence that heretofore had been sealed from the public, and it's hard to imagine another book that could do such a richly textured and complicated life as Einstein's the same thoughtful justice. Isaacson is a master of the form and this latest opus is at once arresting and wonderfully revelatory. --Anne Bartholomew
Read "The Light-Beam Rider," the first chapter of Walter Isaacson's Einstein: His Life and Universe.
Five Questions for Walter Isaacson
Amazon.com: What kind of scientific education did you have to give yourself to be able to understand and explain Einstein's ideas?
Isaacson: I've always loved science, and I had a group of great physicists--such as Brian Greene, Lawrence Krauss, and Murray Gell-Mann--who tutored me, helped me learn the physics, and checked various versions of my book. I also learned the tensor calculus underlying general relativity, but tried to avoid spending too much time on it in the book. I wanted to capture the imaginative beauty of Einstein's scientific leaps, but I hope folks who want to delve more deeply into the science will read Einstein books by such scientists as Abraham Pais, Jeremy Bernstein, Brian Greene, and others.
Amazon.com: That Einstein was a clerk in the Swiss Patent Office when he revolutionized our understanding of the physical world has often been treated as ironic or even absurd. But you argue that in many ways his time there fostered his discoveries. Could you explain?
Isaacson: I think he was lucky to be at the patent office rather than serving as an acolyte in the academy trying to please senior professors and teach the conventional wisdom. As a patent examiner, he got to visualize the physical realities underlying scientific concepts. He had a boss who told him to question every premise and assumption. And as Peter Galison shows in Einstein's Clocks, Poincare's Maps, many of the patent applications involved synchronizing clocks using signals that traveled at the speed of light. So with his office-mate Michele Besso as a sounding board, he was primed to make the leap to special relativity.
Amazon.com: That time in the patent office makes him sound far more like a practical scientist and tinkerer than the usual image of the wild-haired professor, and more like your previous biographical subject, the multitalented but eminently earthly Benjamin Franklin. Did you see connections between them?
Isaacson: I like writing about creativity, and that's what Franklin and Einstein shared. They also had great curiosity and imagination. But Franklin was a more practical man who was not very theoretical, and Einstein was the opposite in that regard.
Amazon.com: Of the many legends that have accumulated around Einstein, what did you find to be least true? Most true?
Isaacson: The least true legend is that he failed math as a schoolboy. He was actually great in math, because he could visualize equations. He knew they were nature's brushstrokes for painting her wonders. For example, he could look at Maxwell's equations and marvel at what it would be like to ride alongside a light wave, and he could look at Max Planck's equations about radiation and realize that Planck's constant meant that light was a particle as well as a wave. The most true legend is how rebellious and defiant of authority he was. You see it in his politics, his personal life, and his science.
Amazon.com: At Time and CNN and the Aspen Institute, you've worked with many of the leading thinkers and leaders of the day. Now that you've had the chance to get to know Einstein so well, did he remind you of anyone from our day who shares at least some of his remarkable qualities?
Isaacson: There are many creative scientists, most notably Stephen Hawking, who wrote the essay on Einstein as "Person of the Century" when I was editor of Time. In the world of technology, Steve Jobs has the same creative imagination and ability to think differently that distinguished Einstein, and Bill Gates has the same intellectual intensity. I wish I knew politicians who had the creativity and human instincts of Einstein, or for that matter the wise feel for our common values of Benjamin Franklin.
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Book Description
By the author of the acclaimed bestseller Benjamin Franklin, this is the first full biography of Albert Einstein since all of his papers have become available.
How did his mind work? What made him a genius? Isaacson's biography shows how his scientific imagination sprang from the rebellious nature of his personality. His fascinating story is a testament to the connection between creativity and freedom.
Based on newly released personal letters of Einstein, this book explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk -- a struggling father in a difficult marriage who couldn't get a teaching job or a doctorate -- became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos, the locksmith of the mysteries of the atom and the universe. His success came from questioning conventional wisdom and marveling at mysteries that struck others as mundane. This led him to embrace a morality and politics based on respect for free minds, free spirits, and free individuals.
These traits are just as vital for this new century of globalization, in which our success will depend on our creativity, as they were for the beginning of the last century, when Einstein helped usher in the modern age.
Customer Reviews:
A well orchestrated mix of personal history and revolutionary scientific discovery.......2007-10-09
A story of amazing power of reason in Einstein's early years but in the later years a sad story of his reason being foiled by of all things, scientific observations ("spooky" ones to be sure). When he died Einstein was still struggling with the idea that..."The reasonable thing just doesn't work.".
Excellent!.......2007-10-09
Excellently written and researched book. Very fascinating and engaging.
Even the scientific discussions were easy to understand.
I highly recommend this book.
A Must Read.......2007-10-07
A wonderful book which gives full and equal weight to both the man and the ideas which made him great, as well as the lasting place of those ideas in the history of scientific thought, if not of human thought itself. And on that latter point, the reader's debt to Isaacson is undoubtedly primarily for his continuing emphasis on Einstein's modus operandi: thought experiments, by which through the exercise merely of pure thought and a perspective unhampered by received wisdoms, a man was able to change millennia-old views of how we viewed the universe, and by extension, changed the universe itself. Whose thinking could remain uninfluenced by such a display of the power of thought?
Absolutely Fantastic.......2007-10-03
This biography reads like a story, creating suspense and other emotions that you experince while reading fiction. Einstein provides great insight into Einstein's mind and life. Highly recommended.
Greatest Book Ever on Einstein.......2007-10-03
I am 75 years old and have read over a dozen books on Einstein and his work, including his own. This is the best book ever on the personal life and tribulations of a great scientist as he trys to get his work done. With all the flaws and worts of a human the scientist struggles on.
Average customer rating:
- Ancient and Obsolete
- Unique,Idiosyncratic Approach
- A great book by a great physicist
- Superlative
- Old book that is hostile to the spirt of G.R.
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Gravitation and Cosmology: Principles and Applications of the General Theory of Relativity
Steven Weinberg
Manufacturer: Wiley
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ASIN: 0471925675 |
Customer Reviews:
Ancient and Obsolete.......2007-04-23
The beauty of general relativity (GR) lies in the connection it provides between geometry and physics. Weinberg's algebraic approach completely obscures this connection. Instead Weinberg teaches how to crank through complex calculations without any insight or geometric intuition. It is a fairly good book when compared to Misner-Thorne-Wheeler (another ancient text). However, by modern standards, Weinberg's book leaves much to be desired. Having been published in 1972, the book lacks modern examples in cosmology and quantum gravity. It also lacks a proper introduction to differential geometry and makes no mention of topology or other mathematical ideas prevalent in current GR research. In the 35 years since its publication, it has been surpassed by many much better books. For an excellent introduction to GR, read Carroll's book. For a more rigorous study of GR read Wald's book. For an easy introduction to GR, read Schutz's book.
Unique,Idiosyncratic Approach.......2006-09-15
Flashback to 1979.I Purchased Weinberg's Gravitation book and
Misner,Thorne, Wheeler's Gravitation book, simultaneously. Back then it took four weeks to get hold of a book by mail. The waiting made it all the more special when the books finally arrived. I still have those same two worn copies. Still re-read each. Sure, they are different viewpoints of General Relativity.
But, how greatly they both enrich the world. Together, those two
books started a pedagogic revolution. Weinberg has no
equal,cherish this book. Cherish MTW, also.
A great book by a great physicist.......2006-04-09
This is the best book written on general relativity, and I have read or at least looked at nearly every one of them. It is better than Wald's book because Steven Weinberg is a better physicist than Robert Wald. The only people who will not be pleased with it are those mathematicians who are looking to physics for elegant mathematics and not for physical insight.
A virtue of this book is that so far as I can see Weinberg has thought through general relativity for himself, and he has worked through all of the derivations himself - certainly the ones that I have checked - rather than quoting others.
This is not always the case for books in physics. Weinberg is careful, and I have yet to find an error in the book.
Superlative.......2004-12-14
Weinberg's writing is fantastic--direct, precise, and inspiring. His minimalist yet comprehensive approach, basing GR on nothing but the absolute necessities is beautiful. Virtually every word in the book is necessary and sufficient.
For GR, Weinberg's book is first among equals. Other reviews have critiqued his mathematics as old (Einstein's methods)--so what? It's easier and centerpieces the physics. Weinberg does well at making the complex as simple as can be reasonably made, a mark of a great expositor.
Old book that is hostile to the spirt of G.R........2004-12-08
There was a time when this book was probably very authoritative and useful (though I can't see myself preferring it over Hawking and Ellis, even then). Put it out of your mind: that time is gone. There are a slew of much better, much more modern books out there. Furthermore, this book is written from a perspective that attempts to filter a huge chunk of the geometry out of G.R., sullying a lot of the beauty of Einstein's central idea. If you are interested in cosmology, you can do a lot better looking at Hawking and Ellis, or one of the more recent books that will, due to their newness, emphasize the numerous advances in cosmology since the 70s. If you are interested in Relativity, PLEASE look at Schutze (beginner) or at Wald (graduate). Don't waste time and energy on this book.
That being said, there are some interesting advanced topics here, and a few things that I haven't seen elsewhere. This can be a useful reference for a researching relativist.
Book Description
Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity provides a lucid and thoroughly modern introduction to general relativity. With an accessible and lively writing style, it introduces modern techniques to what can often be a formal and intimidating subject. Readers are led from the physics of flat spacetime (special relativity), through the intricacies of differential geometry and Einstein's equations, and on to exciting applications such as black holes, gravitational radiation, and cosmology. For advanced undergraduates and graduate students, or anyone interested in astronomy, cosmology, physics, or general relativity.
Customer Reviews:
Wordy and Wonderful.......2006-12-12
This is an advanced text, but all the same it is not particularly rigorous or dense, so it is in principle accessible to the beginner. With an easy authority, Carroll leads us on a wandering journey through the mystical lands of general relativity. This is very different from, and compliments nicely, the clarity and directness of Wald. As a student of GR, I use Wald for the bottom line on any subject, and Carroll for the random physical or computational insights that I invariably find in any section of the book. Carroll's prose is like music to the ear and I always enjoy myself when I decide to open up this book.
Be warned that there are lots of mistakes in this first edition--you might want to wait for the second one.
Also, his chapter on cosmology is better than any I've seen.
BY FAR the best book on GR.......2006-10-21
I am currently on the 4th chapter of Carroll's "Spacetime and Geometry" and thus far I am amazed at how clear it is. Sure there is a lot of math in it however that also is very clearly explained. In fact, I think that Carroll explains the differential geometry material better than any mathematician has in any book on the subject. If you want to learn general relativity, there is no getting around the math; sooner or later you'll have to learn it. I'd suggest, especially if you are self-studying the subject, to rather pick up this book and go through it than pick up a more "elementary" text and a book on Riemannian geometry to look at later.
(Although I do also highly recommend Kay's (Schaum outline) "Tensor Calculus" for self study. The prima donnas don't like Kay's book because it "doesn't have enough theory." I suppose if a freshman calculus book does not have the Lebesgue integral defined in ti they'll complain about that too.)
Because, you can always skip through certain sections if the math is too heavy and go back through it later. And like I wrote earlier, you won't find a better introduction to the mathematical material than here.
Carroll should be given the Nobel prize for this book. If not in Physics, then in literature. I'd give this textbook 10 stars if I could.
A nice blend of the ideas of physics with mathematics.......2006-04-11
Kudos to Carroll.
This book is an excellent INTRODUCTION to SR and GR for the graduate physics student as well as the graduate mathematics students.
Pure mathematics often loses sight of the ideas which motivated it and physics often loses the mathematical foundations from which it is built.
This book offers some level of mathematical formalism to the physics student while exposing the ideas motivating the mathematical concepts.
I particularly like how he builds up the mathematical machinery of GR by introducing sets then topology on this set giving a topological space. Now he adds in the ideas of a manifold which make this topological space look like Rn locally with the patches sewn together smoothly. The manifold comes equipped with tangent space, cotangent spaces and their product spaces giving tensor spaces. These are defined nicely with reference to component formalism as well as the multilinear algebra approach as maps from products spaces to the reals, etc. He delves into forms and tantalized the reader with deRham cohomology although doesnt go into it. He shows how these can be differentiated ( exterior derivative ) and integrated.
Now the metric is introduced giving a geometry. To this is added a connection which is independent of the metric and leads to notions of parallel transport and differentiation of tensors ( covariant derivative ). One sees that in a special case one can derive a unique connection from the metric ( Levi-Cevita ) which is used in GR.
Fibre bundles, Lie derivatives, pullbacks etc are introduced as needed.
He then presents some introductory GR material by applying the mathematics.
Great Book But Won't Get You To The Promised Land.......2005-12-14
My comments come with a few caveats.
1. This is my fourth GR book.
2. I'm not hardcore into physics. I'm not a physic grad and I'm reading GR for fun. I have a decent graduate math background but I've been corrupted with 10+ years in working in various roles software engineering, electronics engineering and marketing.
3. I assume that since you're considering buying this book, you're goal is to get at the "real" GR, not the watered down discover channel version.
With these caveats in mind, here are my comments.
First, on a scale of 1-5, I rank Carroll at level 3 in terms of math/physics maturity and thoroughness. Here is my full ranking of authors from my limited reading: 1. schutz 2. hartle 3. penrose 3. carroll 4. wald 5. physics journal articles
Second, using the rankings above, I recommend Carroll as the second port of entry. If you're comfortable with multivariable calculus, start with schutz (#1). You'll get warm fuzzies doing the toy exercises. But Schutz is tensor/math-lite. If you've had advanced calculus and geometry already, jump in with carroll (#3). But you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone else as polite to the reader. He won't prepare you for 80 percent of what's published. If you're ready to throw off the training wheels and jump dive into mainstream GR go with Wald (#4).
Note that Hartle (#2) is a good "tweener" book with feel-good exercises and some of the full-on GR equations at the end. I bet most instructors teaching a first year grad course would go with Hartle along with a dose of supplementary material.
Third, don't expect Carroll to be your last GR book purchase if you want to reach the promised land (see caveat #4). Living and breathing GR is found in physics journals and for that you'll need Wald or another advanced GR book.
good math chapters, not at beginner's level after that.......2005-03-07
I had a course based on that book and I've read chapters 1-6 (out of 9 chapters total) plus all the appendices. Also, I've solved some of the problems.
Please keep in mind my review is from a beginner point of veiw. Readers more experienced in GR may feel different but that book is supposedly written for beginners right?
The math chapters 2 and 3 are worth reading because they will teach you tensor analysis on manifolds in much clearer way than other books. The book makes a clear distinction between assumptions, choices (like working with a metric compatible connection), or derived facts. It is nice that the book makes a difference between a Christoffel connection and a generic connection. The appendices are worth reading too cause they will give you a feeling for some new to you math necessary for GR like pullbacks, Lie Derivatives, hypersurfaces etc.
Chapter 4 is worth reading too cause it makes clear that Einstein's equations are just the simplest guess out of many other possibilities. Also it shows how we generalize physical laws from special relativity to GR making it clear our choices are the simplest ones but not the only ones possible.
The chapters after that discuss applications of GR like black holes, gravitational radiation, cosmology etc. Of these, I've read only the black holes chapters 5 and 6 and I wasn't able to understand 100% what was goin on. The problem was that the book uses concepts that you still don't quite understand if you are a beginner like 'spacelike singularity' or 'conformal diagrams'. That is informative but the book doesn't provide the necessary level of detail and examples for beginners so you could really master such concepts and use them in your practise.
There are problems after each chapter but not the necessary beginners problems that increase your conceptual understanding of the theory. Instead, some of the problems are just tedious algebra of type 'find the curvature for some general form of the metric' for which specialists in the field use symbolic programs like Mathematica. Solving these by hand proves that you can take derivatives and you are a mazochist but not that you understand GR. Other problems are really relevant to your education but are not dirrectly connected to the discussion in the text. Because of that you have to solve them from scratch and it will take you ages ...
If you are a beginner like me, you should read the math chapters and all appendices of Carroll's book plus chapter 4. Then you should read a real book for beginners with a lot of examples how to apply GR in real calculations and how to understand it. For that I recommend James Hartle's "Gravity: An Introduction to Einstein's General Relativity" and Bernard Schutz's "A first course in General Relativity". After that hopefully you will understand the rest of Carroll's book better. My experience was that often I had to read Hartle's book in order to understand and solve a problem in Carroll's book.
Average customer rating:
- Free SF Reader
- Wonderful experience
- A Valuable Idea for Science and Math Teachers
- My favorite book to teach
- A Good Book for Looking at the World Differently
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Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (Dover Thrift Editions)
Edwin A. Abbott
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
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Flatterland: Like Flatland, Only More So
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ASIN: 048627263X |
Amazon.com
Unless you're a mathematician, the chances of you reading any novels about geometry are probably slender. But if you read only two in your life, these are the ones. Taken together, they form a couple of accessible and charming explanations of geometry and physics for the curious non-mathematician. Flatland, which is also available under separate cover, was published in 1880 and imagines a two-dimensional world inhabited by sentient geometric shapes who think their planar world is all there is. But one Flatlander, a Square, discovers the existence of a third dimension and the limits of his world's assumptions about reality and comes to understand the confusing problem of higher dimensions. The book is also quite a funny satire on society and class distinctions of Victorian England. The further mathematical fantasy, Sphereland, published 60 years later, revisits the world of Flatland in time to explore the mind-bending theories created by Albert Einstein, whose work so completely altered the scientific understanding of space, time, and matter. Among Einstein's many challenges to common sense were the ideas of curved space, an expanding universe and the fact that light does not travel in a straight line. Without use of the mathematical formulae that bar most non-scientists from an understanding of Einstein's theories, Sphereland gives lay readers ways to start comprehending these confusing but fundamental questions of our reality.
Book Description
Classic of science (and mathematical) fiction — charmingly illustrated by author — describes the journeys of A. Square and his adventures in Spaceland (three dimensions), Lineland (one dimension) and Pointland (no dimensions). A. Square also entertains thoughts of visiting a land of four dimensions — a revolutionary idea for which he is banished from Spaceland.
Download Description
Flatland is about a two-dimensional world in which geometric shpates are the main charaters. The Square is the narrator of the book and he tells of his world and his fantastic contact with the three dimensional world. Mildly amusing and though provoking, a wonderful read for everyone! This book is easy to read in true text, not scanned images that can sometimes be difficult to decipher. This eBook has bookmarks at chapter headings and is printable.
Customer Reviews:
Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03
Flat is an exercise in science fiction geometry, if you like. It shows a denizen of a 2 dimensional world seeing what it would be like to exist in higher dimensions. An interesting mathematical and philosophical exercise. Some will definitely find this very odd, and rather quirky. If you don't know what a dimension means in this sense, give it a miss.
Wonderful experience.......2007-08-09
Smooth transaction, careful and fast shipping, very nice product, couldn't ask for a more wonderful buying experience. Thank you very much! A+++
A Valuable Idea for Science and Math Teachers.......2007-08-02
Abbott, the author, has the reader imagine three-dimensional structures from a distant horizontal perspective. The third dimension becomes unimportant, and can be dispensed with completely. Taking this further, we are left with a "society" of circles, triangles, and other 2-D geometric figures, all living in Flatland.
As a science and math teacher, I found this book an inspiration for thought-provoking questions, such as: How would you describe the sphere to someone living in Lineland or Flatland? How, for that matter, would you communicate the very concept of thickness to someone living in Flatland? Or volume?
Visualize a sphere crossing Flatland. It starts as a point, then a circle of expanding diameter, then a circle of decreasing diameter, then a point, and then finally nothing. Other 3-D figures can be visualized in comparable manner. The possibilities are endless!
My favorite book to teach.......2007-07-16
This book is such a great tool. I've used it for 10 years and it still gets my students excited about dimensions. They can't believe it was written over one hundred years ago and still, as they say, "blows their minds!"
A Good Book for Looking at the World Differently.......2007-07-05
This book at first is very dense. But once you get used to the writing style it becomes a great tool for thinking about perception. I especially like the section on shading and how that can determine what it is you are looking at. It is a short book but it does take a little a time to get through. Overall, it is a very good book.
Book Description
This book describes how understanding the structure of reality leads to the Theory of Everything Equation. The equation unifies the forces of nature and enables the merging of relativity with quantum theory. The book explains the big bang theory and everything else.
Customer Reviews:
The Real Deal.......2006-09-25
Although Mr. Wheatley is a little verbose in sections, his documentation of Zen Buddhistic Principles found throughout the disciplines of Mathematics, Physics, Theology, etc. forms a nice reference guide for anyone tuned into that wavelength. In particular, his explanation of how Godel's Theorem and Cantor's "Confusion" shed great light on the difference between GOD's Logic and Man's Logic should be a revelation to any undergraduate level math students who encounter these ideas for the first time. Curiously, Mr. Wheatley makes many misstatements about both Zen Buddhism Principles and the Bible, however. For example, by accepting the false biblical teaching of Original Sin, he misses the point that eating the proverbial apple gave Adam and Eve the ability to make Moral Discernments in fulfillment of GOD'S PERFECT PLAN. As proof, read Genesis 1 which states that Man and Woman were made in GOD's Image. Genesis 4 shows that Adam and Eve weren't the first humans on Earth at all, there were plenty of others by then. The allegorical meaning of the story of Eden, then, isn't that Adam and Eve were the first humans on Earth, but they were the first humans with the ability to make Moral Discernments (in GOD's Image). In fact, Moral Discernment is God's Unique Gift to Man, which is the basis of consciousness, not some Math Formula. But because the wages of the resulting, unavoidable sin are Death, many people foolishly try to return to Eden by: (1) living a sinless Life (2) by removing choice altogether by passing and enforcing strict Laws (3) by attempting to do away with Moral Discernment and the resulting consequences for our actions altogether by trying to remove Shame from Shameful actions. GOD is not some ethereal Man-In-Space, but is simply the Totality of all Real Things, The Set of All Real Sets. GOD's Love manifests itself from the amazing sub-atomic relationships that underly this magic Life all the way to the grandest of Macroscopic Scales, the Interconnected Totality itself. The Zen Buddhism connection can be found by simply superimposing the 0 symbol and the symbol for infinity (8 on its side) in Mr. Wheatley's supposedly "new" formulation that 1 = 0 x infinity. Superimposing them gives you the yin-yang symbol. A potential disadvantage of artificially separating the infinity from the zero, however, is that Mr. Wheatley is able to equate the entire expression to be equal to 1. This potentially might obscure the fact that the deepest meaning of the yin-yang symbol is that it is both 2 and 1 AT THE SAME TIME. His overall equation does preserve that important meaning by utilizing a single element on one side of the equation and two elements on the other side of his final TOE equation. This may be hard to see for some at first, however, which could potentially obscure the richest meaning of this beautiful symbol/equation. A much more GODLY TOE, in my opinion, comes from Euler, who discovered that e ^ (i * pi) - 1 = 0. When someone can explain that relationship, then they can say they know GOD.
A life changing experience??.......2005-06-13
This book is an easy read and does succeed in being somewhat thought-provoking. However, I am a little surprised at the awesome, "life changing" experience it apparently was for many of the readers. Wheatley's conclusions were interesting but nothing really new. All of his material should have passed through the mind of any thinking person without the aid of this book.
The reason I gave this book three stars is because he uses unneccessarily wordy ways of describing simple things. Also, the author and many other reviewers insist that Wheatley makes only one assumption. Wrong-his whole theory is one big assumption.
Overall though it was a very interesting and worthy book.
Should be Required Reading for everyone.......2004-06-26
This book will change your life. You will never think the same way you did before reading it.
I have a degree in chemistry and I think this book should be read by everyone in the sciences. Without a doubt, the best book I've ever read. Why and what are two of our best friends
A Very Important Book.......2004-01-26
I must preface my review by stating that I have never been so excited and moved by a book that I have wanted to contact the author. That is what I found myself doing upon reading this book. This book is just what its title says. The author does not "miss a beat" describing in great detail using practically every aspect of scientific knowledge from atomic structure through logic to quantum theory---we are even given a valuable explanation of Love. This text may be challenging to read for those unfamiliar with scientific terminology. And it can also be difficult for those with a science background, such as myself. However, for me it is well worth the work necessary to strive to understand the unfamiliar terminology. (I am continually learning from this book. I am presently on my third reread).
One of the author's main messages is "not" to believe anything without first verifying it with reality, as we know it. He calls it the "Personal Explanation Principle". He indicates that religions are just such belief systems that we as people "fall" victims of; because we do not verify the beliefs with the facts, as we know them, of reality. He gives a very detailed explanation of how the New Testament can be explored using his methodology.
The author methodically and meticulously walks us through his thought processes, which took 30 years to assimilate, of delineating the structure of reality and the nature of consciousness. Included in the "walk" are many of reality's phenomena made revelatory. An example of that, for me, would be the dual nature of light. It's particle/wave duality, which is explained as "functions". Also, when the author took me on the mental journey of "Setness" an exhilaration of the magnificence of life swelled up in me.
To me this is a very important book that should be read by all that are seekers of truth. It is for all those wanting to gain an understanding of the purpose for their existence, wanting to know where life is headed towards, and wanting to know who God is.
This book will enlighten and develop one's mind substantially. You will discover that this is our objective.
And yes, I contacted the author and he responded openly.
Illuminating!!!.......2002-12-30
This is a really great book. It combines philosophy and science in order to tackle a multitude of existential problems. The author's style of writing is fresh and alive, I recommend ths book to anyone interested in expanding the fronteirs of their understanding. Books I also liked are a Universe in an Nutshell by Steven Hawkings and Descent into Illusions by Paul Omeziri.
Book Description
The aim of this groundbreaking new text is to bring general relativity into the undergraduate curriculum and make this fundamental theory accessible to all physics majors. Using a "physics first" approach to the subject, renowned relativist James B. Hartle provides a fluent and accessible introduction that uses a minimum of new mathematics and is illustrated with a wealth of exciting applications.
The emphasis is on the exciting phenomena of gravitational physics and the growing connection between theory and observation. The Global Positioning System, black holes, X-ray sources, pulsars, quasars, gravitational waves, the Big Bang, and the large scale structure of the universe are used to illustrate the widespread role of how general relativity describes a wealth of everyday and exotic phenomena.
For anyone interested in physics or general relativity.
Customer Reviews:
Gravity - Great condition.......2007-09-20
This product was exactly as described, in great condition and shipped in a timely manner.
Outstanding.......2007-07-10
Simply the best and clearest introduction to this fascinating topic. There's none better, or even remotely close, for clarity and comprehensiveness. I wish I could write as well as Hartle!
The Road to Relativity.......2007-06-27
When an author can write a book on a complicated subject so that anyone without prior knowledge can understand the content, he is truly a gifted writer. Gravity: An Intoduction to Einstein's General Relativity by James Hartle delivers. I studied calculus and had one course in non-calculus physics 35 years ago and was amazed at how much I could understand from this book. I am also reading "Relativity DeMystified" for a different perspective but Hartle is a true winner.
One note: If relativity is your primary goal you can read chapters 1-9 and skip to 20 and then 21 (Curvature and the Einstein Equation) for a short cut, according to Appendix D (Pedagogical Strategy). Its all great stuff though, so take your time and enjoy.
Very motivating, but lacking the math needed for real GR.......2007-03-15
Let me just say, for an introductory textbook, nobody does it better than Hartle!
Very motivating...keeps physics the central topic of discussion instead of wandering off topic.
My only complaint is that Einstein's equation is introduced towards end of the book, giving it a false idea that it is "incomprehensible" which is not true.
But really, great job Hartle!
Amazingly interesting book.......2006-11-26
This is the best book for understanding gravity mathematically at the level of an advanced undergraduate. Though intended for the classroom (and based on a class at UCSB) there are many aspects of this book which make it nearly ideal for self-study:
* interesting side-bars, with some math
* thorough details in mathematical explanations
* never too much repetition of covered material
* moves from special cases (with applications) to more general cases, allowing the student to learn a little at a time (which is rare in books on general relativity)
The only downside is that it doesn't go quite as far into recent theories as you might like. This is fine for me as I, as a complete layman, would rather understand a bit of relativity well--something I missed in my undergraduate physics training.
Book Description
In order to equip hopeful graduate students with the knowledge necessary to pass the qualifying examination, the authors have assembled and solved standard and original problems from major American universities – Boston University, University of Chicago, University of Colorado at Boulder, Columbia, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan Tech, MIT, Princeton, Rutgers, Stanford, Stony Brook, University of Wisconsin at Madison – and Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. A wide range of material is covered and comparisons are made between similar problems of different schools to provide the student with enough information to feel comfortable and confident at the exam.
Guide to Physics Problems is published in two volumes: this book,
Part 1, covers Mechanics, Relativity and Electrodynamics;
Part 2 covers Thermodynamics, Statistical Mechanics and Quantum Mechanics.
Praise for
A Guide to Physics Problems: Part 1: Mechanics, Relativity, and Electrodynamics:
"Sidney Cahn and Boris Nadgorny have energetically collected and presented solutions to about 140 problems from the exams at many universities in the United States and one university in Russia, the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Some of the problems are quite easy, others are quite tough; some are routine, others ingenious." (From the Foreword by C. N. Yang, Nobelist in Physics, 1957)
"Generations of graduate students will be grateful for its existence as they prepare for this major hurdle in their careers." (R. Shankar, Yale University)
"The publication of the volume should be of great help to future candidates who must pass this type of exam." (J. Robert Schrieffer, Nobelist in Physics, 1972)
"I was positively impressed … The book will be useful to students who are studying for their examinations and to faculty who are searching for appropriate problems." (M. L. Cohen, University of California at Berkeley)
"If a student understands how to solve these problems, they have gone a long way toward mastering the subject matter." (Martin Olsson, University of Wisconsin at Madison)
"This book will become a necessary study guide for graduate students while they prepare for their Ph.D. examination. It will become equally useful for the faculty who write the questions." (G. D. Mahan, University of Tennessee at Knoxville)
Customer Reviews:
classical physics quals.......2004-10-22
I used this book to pass my classical physics quals at caltech. See my review of Cahn's quantum problem book for details, and why I think this is better than Yung-kuo.
The difference with the classical one is that there were a few concepts I had to study that were not really in the book. Overall though, I still thought that this was a great collection of problems. If I had just done the problems in this book and nothing else, I probably still would have passed.
Great book for all budding physicists.......2001-09-25
This book is rather elementary for the graduate level, but does a great job at explaining concepts clearly, concisely, and eloquently, using laymen terms where appropriate. I also deeply appreciate the occasional comedy implemented by the author. I would personally recommend "The Essential Collection of Elegant Solutions for Doctoral Physics Qualifying Exams," by Shijun Liu (2000).
A excellent collection of intriguing physics problems.......1999-10-08
This book contains physics problems from many great universities and is a must for all students in Physics. The problems are all very original and the solutions given are very elegant. I will recommend this book to all people who enjoy solving Physics problems.
good.......1999-03-10
Relativity Par
Book Description
The fourth edition contains seven new sections with chapters on General Relativity, Gravitational Waves and Relativistic Cosmology. The text has been thoroughly revised and additional problems inserted.
The Complete course of Theoretical Physics by Landau and Lifshitz, recognized as two of the world's outstanding physicists, is published in full by Butterworth-Heinemann. It comprises nine volumes, covering all branches of the subject; translations from the Russian are by leading scientists.
Customer Reviews:
Physics/math study.......2007-02-22
This is an absolute necessity for a graduate student! Studying math/physics. One of the very best available. I was very pleased in the condition of the book, and the price made it affordable for me.
The work of a master.......2006-12-26
Landau's approach to Classical Field Theory demonstrates his ability to be clear, concise, and elegant without drowning out the physics with math. I will say, however, that Landau requires a certain maturity to appreciate his style (same goes for Rudin's books of analysis). I would recommend this title to those with a working knowledge of classical E & M, vector/tensor analysis, and of special relativity. It is also wise to work through the author's Theoretical Mechanics to get a taste of their style. I believe, contrary to many, that this book is appropriate for self study if one is willing to do the work (not only the exercises but following along pencil in hand). I suggest reading a passage and then covering it up and then trying to do the derivations by hand. I also suggest the study of Hermann Weyl's Space-Time-Matter for more on GR. My only complaint is the quality of print, which has is not the fault of the authors. It is especially annoying at first.
Overrated for Learning.......2006-12-02
L&L, while elegant, is umotivated in the justifications that start their derivations. If the subject matter is grasped, then L&L is excellent for its directness. In brief, the volume is far from a learning tool.
My comment is not about the content, but about the edition........2006-08-15
First, I love this book, it is superb. If the comment is only on the contents, I'll give 5 stars without any hesitation.
However, one star is taken because I seriously despise the way the publisher treating this book, or, the entire classic Landau series. Some of the letters are vague. All letters are not dark enough, even a xerox copy is darker than this book! Some straight lines are broken.
Why can't the publisher make the classic of Landau be their own classic?
Russian School of Physics.......2006-03-27
I bought this book for a graduate E & M physics class and found it utterly useless. Maybe it would be good for a math class, but even then I doubt it.
Book Description
It is a widely known but insufficiently appreciated fact that Albert Einstein and Kurt Goedel were best friends for the last decade and a half of Einstein's life. They walked home together from Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study every day; they shared ideas about physics, philosophy, politics, and the lost world of German-Austrian science in which they had grown up. What is not widely known is that in 1949 Goedel made a remarkable discovery: there exist possible worlds described by the theory of relativity in which time, as we ordinarily understand it, does not exist. He added a philosophical argument that demonstrates, by Goedel's lights, that as a consequence, time does not exist in our world either. If Goedel is right, Einstein has not just explained time; he has explained it away.
Without committing himself to Goedel's philosophical interpretation of his discovery, Einstein acknowledged that his friend had made an important contribution to the theory of relativity, a contribution that he admitted raised new and disturbing questions about what remains of time in his own theory. Physicists since Einstein have tried without success to find an error in Goedel's physics or a missing element in relativity itself that would rule out the applicability of Goedel's results. Philosophers, for the most part, have been silent.
_A World Without Time_, addressed to experts and non experts alike, brings to life the sheer intellectual drama of the companionship of Goedel and Einstein, and places their discoveries -- which can only be measured on a millennial scale -- in the context of the great and disturbing intellectual movements of the twentieth century -- in physics, mathematics, logic, philosophy, and the arts. It contains, as well, a poignant and intimate account of the friendship between these two thinkers, each put on the shelf by the scientific fashions of their day -- and ours -- and attempts to rescue from undeserved obscurity the work Goedel did, inspired by Einstein, which made clear for the first time the truly revolutionary nature of the theory of relativity, which to this day is hardly recognized.
Customer Reviews:
more about philosophy than about physics or math.......2007-02-27
A World Without Time is a book about the friendship between Einstein and Godel that occurred toward the end of their lives. The friendship was fruitful in that Godel used Einstein's General Theory of Relativity to prove the existence of what are now called Godel Universes. Godel Universes are universes where time loops back on itself so, if you go sufficiently fast, you would end up back where you started in time. This is interesting but perhaps the most interesting aspect of the book for me was it's philosophical aspect. The author mentions the Vienna Circle and some concepts of philosophy such as positivism and ontology and epistemology which I found very interesting. I found the explanations of Godel's theories hard to follow but got the basic idea. I recommend this book for it's philosophical content. If you want to learn about Godel's Incompleteness theorem I recommend reading Godel, Escher Bach, An Eternal Golden Braid.
Should we dispense with clocks ?.......2007-02-12
The title of the book suggests time does not exist. The justification is a certain solution to Einstein cosmological equation, where the universe is rotating and time travel is possible. A path could reach into the past going around the universe.It is the Godel solution.
Modern cosmology is based on the Robertson Walker metric , or model,where there is a universal time. It fits the obseved universal expansion.The universe was born in a big bang fifteen billions years ago.
Goodel gave too much importance to his solution. After all any equation can allow many mathematical solutions which bear no relation to physical reality or fact.
The book is good reading with old and rare photos.It compelled me to reread "The Godel Solution" in Adler ,Bazin and Schiffer General Relativity.
Early in the century,Kurt Godel had laid a golden egg with his incompleteness theorem, pertaining to pure mathematics, causing some stir among Hilbert and Russell.But his attempt to abolish time, much later in 1949, felt in deaf ears among physicists and cosmologists.This is not about to change any time soon.
Yourgrau does an elegant work in rescuing an old story.It takes us through Europe and the beginnings of the Princeton Advanced Study Institute.
A World Without Time.......2007-01-23
Great book about Godel & Einstein. It tells much about their human side & their friendship. Does good job explaining some of their work.
Very bad book: a waste of your money.......2007-01-17
It is a heap op philosophy, not science. No formula, math, explanation, working examples whatsoever. Just small-talk to fill up the pages. This is NOT a physics book. I was lured into buying it thinking to get a complete textbook on Gödel's explanation of time. Forget it, this book is not worth your money. Go check the internet for PDF's or webpages containing the original publications of Gödel, they are there allright.
A World Without Time.......2007-01-04
I bought this book because I loved the cover. Everyone knows Einstein but it is amazing how few know the equally revolutionary Godel and still fewer know of their freindship. This is an invaluable book for those that (somehow) don't know about Godel's work. I didn't expect much from this book because I know of Godel's revolving universe time paradox. However, I found this book to be extremely interesting. The author's minimalist definition of Godel's theorm (syntax does not equal semantics) was worth the price alone. Unfortunatley the last chapter of the book is muddled in philosophic musings, since I am a Physicist I am less appreciative of pure philosophy.
Book Description
Relativist and constructivist conceptions of truth and knowledge have become orthodoxy in vast stretches of the academic world in recent times. In his long-awaited first book, Paul Boghossian critically examines such views and exposes their fundamental flaws. Boghossian focuses on three different ways of reading the claim that knowledge is socially constructed - one as a thesis about truth and two about justification. And he rejects all three. The intuitive, common-sense view is that there is a way the world is that is independent of human opinion; and that we are capable of arriving at beliefs about how it is that are objectively reasonable, binding on anyone capable of appreciating the relevant evidence regardless of their social or cultural perspective. Difficult as these notions may be, it is a mistake to think that philosophy has uncovered powerful reasons for rejecting them. This short, lucid, witty book shows that philosophy provides rock-solid support for common sense against the relativists. It will prove provocative reading throughout the discipline and beyond.
Customer Reviews:
Lucid book.......2007-08-13
Clear, concise and accessible arguments for a difficult topic. A great effort for the autor to remain dispassionate while offering a plausible and definite case against relativism and contructivism. Just awaiting for the next book of Boghossian, perhaps a longer one!
real knowledge!.......2007-05-21
The debate about truth has gone on for millenia, but Boghossian has done a superb job of summarizing the current debates about relativism. Considering that he is a former student of Richard Rorty, a book presenting a diametrically opposite point of view shows the kind of intellectual mastery that can only be generated from deep immersion in the point of view being criticized. For a 130 page book, there is tough sledding; but the advantage of a short book, is that you can read it a second time, and maybe even a third, without taking too much time away from your other pursuits of "the truth."
Effective Epistemic Polemic.......2007-04-23
This concise and well done book is devoted to rebutting relativistic anti-realist arguments that are apparently popular in some areas of the modern academy. I think Boghossian has a specific audience in mind. This book is not aimed primarily at his fellow philosophers nor the general reading public but rather at academics in humanities and social sciences where the relativist ideas have become popular. Boghossion points out that there is a widespread impression that modern analytic philosophy has undermined realist views and this impression provides legitimacy for the relativist points of view. As Boghossian also points out, these relativist views have actually been relatively unsuccessful in Philosophy Depts. and there are considerable doubts about their validity. Boghossian aims at presenting a fair characterization of relativist views and then providing an up to date critical attack. The philosopher Richard Rorty is a particular target, partly because of his prominence and partly because Boghossian regards him as expounding some of the most powerful relativist arguments. Boghossian examines relativist claims in three domains. These are relativism regarding the existence of 'facts," that is, a mind independent world, relativism concerning justification of knowledge (probably the strongest relativist argument and one articulated by Rorty), and relativism concerning rational explanation. The attack on relativism concerning rational explanation is the shortest and least satisfactory section, though still effective. I think he is generally fair to all these arguments and resists constructing straw man positions for his opponents. This criticisms of these positions are strong and he argues well for the general incoherence and incompleteness of relativist positions. If anything, I would say that he bends over backwards to be fair to relativist positions, omitting some strong arguments against Rorty and Thomas Kuhn.
What's your point, Dr. Boghossian?.......2007-03-28
For the educated layman, this book is too dense, despite its brevity. While I had little trouble following the train of thought, many points are belabored to the point of generating disinterest. Great difficulty in seeing the argument to its' conclusion without stifling a yawn and reaching for the No-Doz. An important topic, yes; but tracts like this will do little to generate discussion beyond the halls of academia. It reminds me of Harold Bloom's "How to Read and Why", which was so ill written for the layman that the title smacks of irony. Like that book, a major disappointent, an opportunity missed.
Well written, short and to the point.......2007-01-10
Post Modernism has got to be the most narcissicistic, self-centered philosophy ever dreamed up. An artist friend of mine once commented that, "There are many 'artists' I've met who claim to be surrealists, when in fact they just can't draw." This is the case for the Post Modernists as well. They like the think of themselves as Philosophers, when in fact they are just lazy. They hear "I think therefore I am," which is a statement of the limits of what we can know, and in their mind it becomes, "My thinking makes the Universe what it is today." Thanks for a short book to give to those lazy people -- because they would never get around to finishing a long one.
Books:
- Einstein: His Life and Universe
- Electrodynamics and Classical Theory of Fields and Particles
- Electronic Transport in Mesoscopic Systems (Cambridge Studies in Semiconductor Physics and Microelectronic Engineering)
- Factory Physics Second Edition
- Foundations of Image Science
- From SU(3) to Gravity: Festschrift in Honor of Yuval Ne'eman (3 to Gravity : Papers in Honor of Yuval Ne'eman)
- Fundamentals of Space Systems (The Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory Series in Science and Engineering)
- Gravitational Radiation, Luminous Black Holes and Gamma-Ray Burst Supernovae
- Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
- Handbook of Heat Transfer
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