The Student Room Group

Special relativity book

Hello,

Are there any good books you can recommend that teach more than the basics, but do not flood the reader with equations?

Is it possible to understand SR without first learning electromagnetism, fluid mechanics, tensors, differential geometry etc?

I'm looking for something with more words than equations basically :h:

Thanks.
A whole book isn't really needed for dealing with this subject.

Try these:

http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/relativity/specialrel.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_relativity

Special relativity is first year physics stuff, so it's only a slight creep up from what you learn at A-level.

General relativity is the tough one with four-vectors and the likes. I'm nearing the end of 3rd year physics and have still barely touched on the subject. It was nestled in at the end of my advanced mechanics course and I hated it, haha. It's an advanced topic in its own right.
Original post by Pessimisterious
A whole book isn't really needed for dealing with this subject.

Try these:

http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/relativity/specialrel.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_relativity

Special relativity is first year physics stuff, so it's only a slight creep up from what you learn at A-level.

General relativity is the tough one with four-vectors and the likes. I'm nearing the end of 3rd year physics and have still barely touched on the subject. It was nestled in at the end of my advanced mechanics course and I hated it, haha. It's an advanced topic in its own right.


Yeah I think I'll steer well clear of GR for a while lol. The reason why I asked for a book without many equations is because I'm not going to study physics so I don't need to know the math behind it, I just want to learn about it as a topic of future interest.

Perhaps you can help me with a previous thread I made? Sorry to trouble you but if you could read the thread and give me some insights I would be really grateful :smile:

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4532724
Original post by AishaGirl
Yeah I think I'll steer well clear of GR for a while lol. The reason why I asked for a book without many equations is because I'm not going to study physics so I don't need to know the math behind it, I just want to learn about it as a topic of future interest.

Perhaps you can help me with a previous thread I made? Sorry to trouble you but if you could read the thread and give me some insights I would be really grateful :smile:

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4532724


Done!
I recommend the Short Introductions book on Relativity. It's splendid!
Original post by Callicious
I recommend the Short Introductions book on Relativity. It's splendid!


https://global.oup.com/academic/product/relativity-a-very-short-introduction-9780199236220?cc=gb&lang=en&#

This one?


That's the one! I read it for my A-Level Relativity course. It brushes over General and quite intrinsic for Special! :smile:
Original post by Callicious
That's the one! I read it for my A-Level Relativity course. It brushes over General and quite intrinsic for Special! :smile:


Thanks I'll give it a try.
http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/


Specifically: http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/I_15.html

Edit: There is a whole book that you can purchase which is basically the same thing as the website.

https://www.bookdepository.com/Feynman-Lectures-on-Physics-Richard-P-Feynman/9780465023820
(It is pretty expensive but it is 3 books in one)
(edited 7 years ago)
Hi, have you considered 'Relativity' by EInstein himself. It's pretty good and requires no maths knowledge above GCSE level :wink:
Original post by YOLOforever
http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/


Specifically: http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/I_15.html

Edit: There is a whole book that you can purchase which is basically the same thing as the website.

https://www.bookdepository.com/Feynman-Lectures-on-Physics-Richard-P-Feynman/9780465023820
(It is pretty expensive but it is 3 books in one)


£145?! I think I'll stick to the free pdf of A Short Introduction to Relativity. Appreciate the links though.



Original post by sophbunny161
Hi, have you considered 'Relativity' by EInstein himself. It's pretty good and requires no maths knowledge above GCSE level :wink:


Learning the math is not the problem, I just don't want to because I'm not going to be studying it. I'll check that book out though thanks.
Original post by AishaGirl
Hello,

Are there any good books you can recommend that teach more than the basics, but do not flood the reader with equations?

Is it possible to understand SR without first learning electromagnetism, fluid mechanics, tensors, differential geometry etc?

Yes, it is possible. What you are describing are more applications of SR, than the concepts themselves (though you really will only need tensors and differential geometry for general relativity, if you're just starting to learn this stuff).

Try to read up on the somewhat-misnamed Bondi k-calculus, which is a more straightforward approach than the usual Lorentz-transform-Minkowski-space stuff that you usually see.

Here is a pretty good overview on Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bondi_k-calculus

Quick Reply