I was wondering if you could give me some good books for the introduction to the theory of relativity. Thank you :)

I was wondering if you could give me some good books for the introduction to the theory of relativity. Thank you :)
"Relativity" A. Einstein

"The Special Theory of Raltivity", David Baum (Historical note: also author of textbook Quantum Theory, which is current mainstream bible, or one of them. D. Baum rejected the underlying thesis of his QT book the year after publication).

Geistkiesel

you could always go to your library for an hour and read the explanation of relativity in Elegant Universe. I found it helpful on a basic level. If you want to know anything in-depth you would be better off checking out one of Geistkiesel's recommendations.

thanks im planning on going to the library this weekend.

I have no physics education, am in 9th grade, but am very interested in the subject. What would be good books to start off learning about this with? Thanks a lot.

The book that I use is "General relativity", authored by Wald, but it's very scarce in Special Relativity, centered very much in the subject of the title

I have no physics education, am in 9th grade, but am very interested in the subject. What would be good books to start off learning about this with? Thanks a lot.
Yuri_sakazaki, I reccomended Albert Einsteins "Relativity"
and David Bohm Introduction to special relativity theory"

Ok, you say you are ready for special relativity. Here is a problem for you to work on. learn this drill. very carefully . and you will never have any problem, with Special relativity theory or SRY.


You know that distance = rate x time. rate is velocity in units of meter/sec,
The frame is moving at velocity (rate) , v. The light is moving at velocity c.
You know that distance is in units of velocity (in meters/sec) times time(sec) = meters.

You are on a flat frame moving over a very, very long track. Your speed v is constant and you can barely feel youself moving, There in front of you is a clock and a light source that emits light in two directions simultaneoulsy. One light goes to the front F and the other goes to the rear R.You are moving to the front direction. Your clock is located exactly at the half way mark between two more clocks one located at F, the other at R.,

Before you began moving here you observed a number of simple experiment when your frame was back in the hanger at rest. You tried a number of measurmements where you emitted two light from the midpoit clock. The photons headed for F and R and you discovered to no great surprise that the lights arrived at R and F at the same time as they should. The photons each had the same distance to travel, The light beams moved the same distance in the same amount of time, that is their velocities were the same . Light was moving at speed c. Later the tests included installing mirrors also on R and F, the light reflected back from both mirrors to the midoint at the same time.

Once a photon is emitted it cares nothing about how fast the source was moving or even if the source was moving at all.. The mesurement of the speed of light always produced the same number when measured on your frame in the hangar,

You did some ping pong paddle tests. A small birst of light was emtted to a detector on tyhe face plate of your paddle. If you left your paddle at rest and did nit try to swat the on coming light it would always take the same time to get your paddle.

When you swat at the on coming light it takes less time for the light to reach you paddle if you are movig toward the oncoing light,

When you tried to out run the light beam by swatting away frm the in coming light it took longer for the pulse to get to the detecter on the back of your paddle. Now the speed of light is a constant and all the thousands of students that used the frame before you they all measured the same value c.

So you are on you moving frame, The three clocks are synchronized when you release a short light burst from the midpoint directed at R and F.(we call them the R and F photons also).

Question:
Which photon will hit a detector first?
F
R?
Arrive simultatneoiusly?

When you performed the tests in the hangar which photons arrived first?
F?
R>
Arrive simultaneously?

The distance of each leg of the light is 101 units.
The frame was moving at 1 unit/sec.
Light moving at 100 unit/sec,

In one sec the frame has moved 1 unit in the forward direction.From the point where the lights were emitted the beams each moved 100 units.

Plot out on paper The total length of the frame, 202 units. (scaled down)
locate the midoint and the R and F point.
show the positions of the R and F clocks withih epect to theior staring point after 1 sec.
Show the position of the ltwo lights that each have moved 100 unis in both directionons.

What is the distance between the R light an the R clock after one secod?
What is the disance between the F photon and the F clock after 1 sec?

What is the positon of the midpoint of the frame measured from where the frame has moved since the lights were emitted. All the clocks mvoe together, duh.

Suppose a light pulse had to move a dstance vt + vt where v is a velocity and t seconds. So if the photons was moving it would cross the fisance 2vt in how liong ?

Light moves the distance d = ct is the distance moves in time t' .

2vt is the distance the light is located from F. While the light crosses this distance the frame has moved just a little bit more. So the real dstance the light must travel is 2vt + vt'. the t' here is the time it takes the light to cach up to F. ct' is the distance the light must move 2vt. + vt'. vt; is the rate time time as the light catches up.

ct' = 2vt + vt' solve for t'. If you don;t know ask someone.

Afer 2 seconds the R photon has reflected back in the direction iit started. How far apart is R and the original point from where R statred?

After 2 sec How far is F light from the original point it was emitted.? Remember both lights travel the same distance in equal times. All of the stuff about calculating how far F was from the F clock after 1 sec didn't slow the lights down.

AFter 2 sec how far is the R light from the original physical midpoint of the clocks that has moved to the right?

Any time the lights are moving directly opposite the midpoint between them never changes. Or if the photons move towards each other their midpoint never moves, it never varies.

Hint : it really isn't a hard question unless you ask an expert in SRT.

Geistkiesel.

There's a simple book on Special Relativity called Spacetime physics, which you might want to take a look at, TheHeritic. I think it's by Wheeler and somebody else. I'm sure it's available on Amazon, and in many book stores.