General Relativity: The Theoretical Minimum

This is incredibly well written and explained book for GR. You may still need some background in tensor theory, but it is quite amazing explanation to Einstein field equation. This is the best GR book for me. I strongly recommend this book to all who want to build solid knowledge in physics.

What a great book. Very nicely written. Explains mathematics concepts in a physically intuitive way. I especially like how the Riemann tensor is presented as a “diagnostic quantity” or diagnostic tool to use - very hands on, working-man conception, structural and knowable. Goes over subject matter that many GR books take for granted. It’s definitely more than just an excellent introductory book. It provides a fresh view of a fundamental topic that seeks to inspire new thoughts on GR as well as its relation to quantum theory. Also excellent idea to focus on black holes and black hole physics - one of the roads into quantum gravity.

Professor Susskind is the best. Get the whole series of Minimum Requirements books (5).

This overall series remains one of my more preferred "popular" but technical physics literature. General Relativity is a harder subject to teach than special relativity or quantum mechanics, both of which have their Theoretical Minimum editions out already. The book covers a lot of material starting with the math and ending with the Einstein's field equations. One learns basic differential geometry and tensor calculus in order to approach curvature and its spacetime manifestation. The first few chapters largely set the stage by re-introducing tensors (objects used in the previous book on special relativity) as well as the equivalence principle and the need for curved geometry to deal with gravity on the basis of the equivalence principle. The author then spends time on tensors and differential geometry and the complexity in measuring curvature from a local perspective. The authors move on to the Schwarzschild metric and how one can transform the coordinates and then they move on to black holes and their peculiarities. Much time is spent on understanding the event horizon and its coordinate infinities vs geometric smoothness. This natural fluency on coordinate transformations is highlighted a a critical skill to be able to have intuition for the subject and so working through these chapters is particularly valuable. They spend a lot of time on the transition from outside the event horizon to within and from this one appreciates the nature of coordinate time is very strange for distant observers vs the time of a person on a geodesic with regards to black hole physics. Eventually the author moves on to Penrose diagrams (which is difficult to follow) as the final piece of physics they are trying to imprint on the reader. Here I think it gets harder to follow and a textbook will be more illuminating. Overall as usual the contents of the book are well communicated and the author manages to take a very difficult subject and at least make it approachable. Overall I would say that I prefer Hartle's book to try to learn GR without getting too overwhelmed but this is a good attempt as well and more casual. Another fine addition to the series, but not quite as digestible as the previous two books.

I was fortunate enough to take this class live from Susskind himself. This, and the other books in the "Theoretical Minimum" series are a must for the mathematically competent, lay physicists. You know who you are.

Very clear and readable description of how general relativity works. It includes all the math, but unlike most text books, really focuses on building up an intuitive understanding.

As mathematician I appreciated the insights into how physicists frame the basic ideas of GR.

It doesn’t get better at picking up where an undergrad diverged into other arenas but looking back on what he might have studied in order to best understand the universe we were born into!

Excellent livre pour bien comprendre la relativité générale. Sans sacrifier à la rigueur de la théorie, mais avec beaucoup de pédagogie pour expliquer les objets mathématiques avec leur signification d'un point de vue physique. Beaucoup de textes courts explicatifs, et moins de grands développement analytiques ou géométriques que dans de nombreux ouvrages.Donne vraiment envie de lire les autres livres de Leonard Susskind, traduit par André Cabanes.

It's like a precise and deep summary of my notes from Relativity course at Bologna University.

A must read but it is not for complete beginners

I bought this book having already read the previous three in the series. It does the same as the previous ones, explaining clearly the mathematics needed to understand the topic. Often texts do not define all the mathematical terms used. These books fill in a lot of the gaps.

E' stupendo!!!