Einstein's general theory of relativity is introduced in this advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate level textbook. Topics include special relativity in the formalism of Minkowski's four-dimensional space-time, the principle of equivalence, Riemannian geometry and tensor analysis, Einstein's field equation and cosmology. The author presents the subject from the very beginning with an emphasis on physical examples and simple applications without the full tensor apparatus. One first learns how to describe curved spacetime. At this mathematically more accessible level, the reader can already study the many interesting phenomena such as gravitational lensing, precession of Mercury's perihelion, black holes, as well as cosmology. The full tensor formulation is presented later, when the Einstein equation is solved for a few symmetric cases. Many modern topics in cosmology are discussed in this book: from inflation and cosmic microwave anisotropy to the "dark energy" that propels an accelerating universe. Mathematical accessibility, together with the various pedagogical devices (e.g., worked-out solutions of chapter-end problems), make it practical for interested readers to use the book to study general relativity, gravitation and cosmology on their own.

Relativity - metric description of spacetime 1. Introduction and overview 2. Special relativity and the flat spacetime 3. The principle of equivalence 4. Metric description of a curved space 5. General relativity (GR) as a geometric theory of gravity - I 6. Spacetime outside a spherical star Cosmology 7. The homogenous and isotropic universe 8. The expanding universe and thermal relics 9. Inflation and the accelerating universe Relativity - full tensor formulation 10. Tensors in special relativity 11. Tensors in general relativity 12. GR as a geometric theory of gravity - II 13. Linearized theory and gravitational waves

Ta-Pei Cheng , Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri - St. Louis, USA

`... an authoritative account of Relativity covering the important material in a generally comprehensible way. [...] The author is to be applauded in going to some trouble in providing a very large number of problems. This is excellent.' A. Heavens, University of Edinburgh