Spacetime And Geometry: An Introduction To General Relativity Paperback – International Edition, January 1, 2016

This is the best book I've studied on general relativity and one of the best physics texts I know of any kind. Prof. Carroll combines two skills which do not always go together. First, he is a first rank expert in fundamental physics with a deep personal understanding. Second, he has a talent for teaching and communication, and in particular an ability to project himself into the student's mind and anticipate what might be confusing or misunderstood. Finally, this was developed out of a course tested on real students, so it has been educationally validated.Note however that, while sold on Amazon, this is not a popularization but rather a serious textbook for advanced students. It develops all the fundamentals in PAINSTAKING detail for a totally serious pre-professional course, which brings the reader to the threshold of contemporary issues including black holes, cosmology, inflation, Hawking radiation. The nature of GR is that the fundamental laws are rather simple to state but only after an enormous machinery is built up concerning tensors, differential forms in flat space and curved space, Christoffel symbols, Riemann curvature, etc.This book is only for someone prepared to invest substantial time and effort to follow this. If all you want is a lighthearted romp to grasp the basics of GR, there are easier books. The benefit of studying this, besides learning GR in all its fine structure, is training in how theoretical physicists develop mathematical machinery, training which is available in VERY FEW published materials. The level of explanation here is far more detailed than in research papers and can hardly be found anywhere else, except a live graduate course.Finally, knowing the incentives of academic life for scientists whose primary job is research, quite a bit of sacrifice and extra work is required for a professor to develop a course and text like this. In the case of Prof. Carroll however, the result was well worth his effort . We should thank him and hope he will do further courses and books on other subjects - string theory?

Sean Carroll's intro GR book is a very useful resource for learning the landscape of GR. Sean does a great job of fully distinguishing between mathematical definitions, mathematical results, and physical assumptions. My biggest pet peeve in physics textbooks is when authors gloss over the logical structure of the theory they are presenting and withhold the fact that something they claim to "prove" or "derive" is merely a justified assumption or even a definition. Sean really breaks the mold and states assumptions and definitions VERY clearly. This clarity is the highlight of the book and is what makes it stand apart from other GR books (and really, other physics books).Now, a lot of people here are commenting on whether this book can teach you all of GR. Of course not! No single book can do that, and without seriously attempting many real physical problems and checking them, no amount of books can teach you. Learning any branch of physics theory is a years-long endeavor that will span many books. However, Sean's book is, for me, the centerpiece to beginning to learn GR. He steps through the reasoning in a clear way, and that is valuable when you're getting started. Other books will fill in mathematical gaps and provide substantial, detailed calculations, but this book will help you understand the framework of those calculations and why you're doing them in the first place.

It is the international edition, so the binding is a bit weaker than normally expected, but it came brand new which is great!I'm still not sure if I like Hartle more than Schutz, but only proper time will tell.

Hallo, from a passionate of theoretical physics.The book illustrates the fundamental physical concepts and the essential mathematical tools, required by general relativity, in a fully descriptive, comprehensive, rigorous and self-contained way. The arduous equations of general relativity are explained step by step (not so common in scientific books). You are driven in a progressively profound understanding of the physical reality as shaped by matter and energy.The different approaches to the theoretical formulation of general relativity combined with the exposure of quantum field theory equip the reader with extremely high-level, extended and solid conceptual and mathematical skills, which allow for the ultimate step forward: quantum gravity! (to learn in specific books).Michele GrossoTorino, Italy

The amount of material (including the appendices) is daunting for an introductory book as this. In retrospect, this has been great for me because now I can make a little sense of some research papers because of the extensive volume of concepts that were covered in this book. Prof. Carroll's writing is engaging and clear.This book does take a little effort to start off though. Highly recommended!

It's a good book for rusty scientists or ones who didn't have a chance to study the subject. It is organized and very careful to ensure you don't need to go to other sources, obviously depends on your level of math.This is not an attempt at explaining at a "popular" level.

Excellent contents but this international edition has so bad paper quality.

Awesome but not for the faint hearted.Unless you start with a strong math background to the level of tensors, you should expect to spend a lot of time in Wikipedia and Wolfram learning the math. But if you do, it is an incredibly rewarding book that leaves you comfortable reading the current literature and thinking on quantum gravity. No small feat!

Excellent book

This book establishes a beautiful bridge from a newbie of relativity to both it's mathematical and physical interpretations. The books by Hartle or Inverno offer beautiful physical interpretation based introduction to relativity and the one by Wald more so mathematical. The author defines the mathematical objects very precisely, more so with accessible language without alluding to complex mathematical objects which may not be accessible to a beginner. The mathematical tools taken are very well laid out and explained very precisely fora beginner. With a good reading of the first three chapters and the appendix you are both well equipped with a good understanding of the mathematical structure and tools of relativity, and also the physical need for the same. You can also read the author's lecture notes online which this text is derived from. I wholeheartedly recommend it to a serious beginner.

I used this book while attending my first course in General Relativity. It has almost everything I was looking for, as student of Master degree in Physics. For the most part the arguments are well developed and explained.The book was clearly new when It arrived, perfect state.

The paper quality was the worst possible. Every two pages there were wrongly printed lines. Not worth five dollars, let alone its price.

good