Hard to believe it’s been 15 years since the publication of Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity, my graduate-level textbook on everyone’s favorite theory of gravititation. The book has become quite popular, being used as a text in courses around the world. There are a lot of great GR books out there, but I felt another one was needed that focused solely on the idea of “teach students general relativity.” That might seem like an obvious goal, but many books also try to serve as reference books, or to put forward a particular idiosyncratic take on the subject. All I want to do is to teach you GR.
And now I’m pleased to announce that the book is changing publishers, from Pearson to Cambridge University Press. Even with a new cover, shown above.
I must rush to note that it’s exactly the same book, just with a different publisher. Pearson was always good to me, I have no complaints there, but they are moving away from graduate physics texts, so it made sense to try to find S&G a safe permanent home.
Well, there is one change: it’s cheaper! You can order the book either from CUP directly, or from other outlets such as Amazon. Copies had been going for roughly $100, but the new version lists for only $65 — and if the Amazon page is to be believed, it’s currently on sale for an amazing $46. That’s a lot of knowledge for a minuscule price. I’d rush to snap up copies for you and your friends, if I were you.
My understanding is that copies of the new version are not quite in stores yet, but they’re being printed and should be there momentarily. Plenty of time for courses being taught this Fall. (Apologies to anyone who has been looking for the book over the past couple of months, when it’s been stuck between publishers while we did the handover.)
Again: it’s precisely the same book. I have thought about doing revisions to produce an actually new edition, but I think about many things, and that’s not a super-high priority right now. Maybe some day.
Thanks to everyone who has purchased Spacetime and Geometry over the years, and said such nice things about it. Here’s to the next generation!
Will there be an e-book?
If so, preferably a DRM-free PDF.
Nope.Actually I take that back. Apparently there is a Kindle version? At least that’s what Amazon says, but it could be a mistake.Is this a book that a nonphysicist (M.S. in radiation biology) with no heavy background in calculus and higher forms of math would be comfortable with? Enjoyed many of your other works including books and Teaching Company courses by the way.
Not really, it’s meant for graduate students in physics. Calculus, differential equations, and some basic linear algebra are prerequisites for anyone wanting to study GR.
Sean, how do you feel about the new crop of simulators, e.g., [1] and [2]? Thank you for making responsible publishing choices.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZWe_Kh1l50
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvxOap8tXZ8
My thesis advisor gifted me a Pearson copy last year. It’s now quite worn and torn through a lot of use (I carry it around everywhere for some quick study in free moments). The exercises are probably the best part! That said, I inevitably find myself wanting a good Japanese translation. Spacetime and Geometry seems pretty well known in the cosmology community here in Japan, but the going is pretty tough for students. Do you have any plans for a translation? I’d love to pick up several copies and “pay it forward” to a few of my friends!
I don’t know of any translation plans, sorry.
But does it have a plot? I suspect it just goes on and on, then curls back on itself, shrinking as the curls get tighter, ultimately to disappear, leaving only its immense mass behind.
And maybe some charge and spin.
I may have to wait for the Hawking version to be released.
A well written text book on General Relativity which also includes discussions on Quantum Gravity!
15 years? Really, Sean, you ought to get off your duff and update it with some GW stuff. Give us old timers an excuse to buy another copy.
Hello Sean,
I recently took a course on GR and cosmology and was following your book.
The book gives handwaving introduction to Topology, Manifolds, Tensor analysis etc. I understand that it would be very difficult to adjust everything in detail in the book but the way it is done in the book made me confused and I had to look for other sources to understand the basic things. The things are not derived systematically and mostly relies on arguments.
Yes, an update with some GW stuff would be fine. As I understand it GW imply that gravitation also has push charactheristics, just like the strong, weak and electromagnetic interactions, a sine qua non for compatibility I think .
I was an editor at Pearson Japan. I thought this book was a very interesting book. However, I thought that students who can read this book do not need a Japanese translation;-)
Please provide a PDF version of this book so that economically weaker students can access this as well.
As a curious amateur, I’m surprised that you use that kind of diagram on your cover. A few years ago I wrote a WordPress article called “Curvature Diagrams [Gripe]” It complains that those nets need explanation. Many of us non-physicists misinterpret those nets as planes in space showing the gravitational effects of mass. Explanations I’ve heard (and read) seem to say that a real plane in space showing gravitational effects of a mass would go through the center of gravity of the mass and curvature would be due to contraction rather than expansion. My confusion is based on what seems to be a contradiction between what physicists say and what the diagrams seem to show.
Anyway, I’m glad your book is so successful. I wish I had the math background needed to study from your book. Your Great Courses and several of your published books are extremely helpful for a non-physicist. Thank You.
So we wait six months and get a textbook blurb? No news on dark matter or energy, black holes, or the big picture meaning of life? Not sure if this curious non-scientist can wait another light year to be enlightened!
Ed Shafer. No need to wait, Sean is active in his podcast, Mindscape, these days.