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An introduction to tensor calculus and relativity
An Introduction to Tensor Calculus and
- GenresPhysics
193 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
2 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 22, 2013
This book was definitely a happy read; Written in a succinct and much enjoyable way, it has the style of what I like to call the 'proper' old-generation science textbooks. There are several reasons for which I much prefer the older textbooks to the new ones, and Lawden's Introduction, dating itself from 1960s, meets all of those criteria to be categorized as a really good text. Hence I found this review also a good place to write a general rant against the newer generation of textbooks :)
First, I rather much prefer to read long sentences that would make me at times stop and ponder for a while, than to try and make my way through annoyingly short sentences designed, it seems, to instruct me to memorize certain material rather than to understand it.
Second, I like the fact that in the 'old-style' textbooks there is nothing to be repeated, and also nothing redundant, excessive, over the top. In a very few proper compound sentences the writer of an old-style textbook is able to convey all the meaning of a complicated theory without getting into unnecessary and frankly annoying detail. Compare this with today's hundreds-pages long, showy, shiny, created-to-be-swallowed one-lesson-at-a-time textbooks. As if their only purpose is to make the students pass their exams instead of making them think, with their ridiculously instructive manner of trying to teach, not only do the modern textbooks way too often fail to provide one with a deep understanding of a topic, but make one inevitably feel that the author of the book is actually 'hiding' the most interesting bits of a theory and hence the reader doesn't get a tinge of inspiration to pursue any further study, or even simple thought, on the subject.
Quite on the contrary, the 'proper' books like Lawden's "An Introduction to Tensor Calculus and Relativity" definitely make one think and understand the topic, and most importantly leave one with a sense of satisfaction, caused by the immediate feeling that the writer was trying to tell a story which is interesting on its own grounds, rather than to teach a lesson because it happens to appear in the school's curriculum.
In conclusion, this thin and small-sized book, with its clever sentences, albeit an 'introduction' covers a good deal more than half of our 3rd year undegraduate courses in Special and General Relativity, and also provides one with a much deeper understanding on most of the topics than do the books recommended on our reading-list. I strongly advise anyone to read it, should they become interested in Tensor calculus or Relativity.
First, I rather much prefer to read long sentences that would make me at times stop and ponder for a while, than to try and make my way through annoyingly short sentences designed, it seems, to instruct me to memorize certain material rather than to understand it.
Second, I like the fact that in the 'old-style' textbooks there is nothing to be repeated, and also nothing redundant, excessive, over the top. In a very few proper compound sentences the writer of an old-style textbook is able to convey all the meaning of a complicated theory without getting into unnecessary and frankly annoying detail. Compare this with today's hundreds-pages long, showy, shiny, created-to-be-swallowed one-lesson-at-a-time textbooks. As if their only purpose is to make the students pass their exams instead of making them think, with their ridiculously instructive manner of trying to teach, not only do the modern textbooks way too often fail to provide one with a deep understanding of a topic, but make one inevitably feel that the author of the book is actually 'hiding' the most interesting bits of a theory and hence the reader doesn't get a tinge of inspiration to pursue any further study, or even simple thought, on the subject.
Quite on the contrary, the 'proper' books like Lawden's "An Introduction to Tensor Calculus and Relativity" definitely make one think and understand the topic, and most importantly leave one with a sense of satisfaction, caused by the immediate feeling that the writer was trying to tell a story which is interesting on its own grounds, rather than to teach a lesson because it happens to appear in the school's curriculum.
In conclusion, this thin and small-sized book, with its clever sentences, albeit an 'introduction' covers a good deal more than half of our 3rd year undegraduate courses in Special and General Relativity, and also provides one with a much deeper understanding on most of the topics than do the books recommended on our reading-list. I strongly advise anyone to read it, should they become interested in Tensor calculus or Relativity.
Displaying 1 of 1 review