A quick post. I have delved into the first book of The Relativistic Universe (S383), from the Open University; and, well, I just can't put it down!
It is one of the most interesting, easy to understand and yet detailed enough presentations of Special Relativity, that I have seen so far (and I've thumbed a few books on the subject, in the last two months).
The book is typical O.U fare, with less dense text, examples with clearly defined answers, leaving very few jumps in Algebraic manipulation to cope with; and a clean look that is sometimes missing from traditional textbooks.
I like the way that the coordinate system for Lorentz transformations is also presented; for example, using
ct (the speed of light in a vacuum multiplied by time), to allow the first coordinate of the Lorentz equation to be stated as a distance (since distance is velocity multiplied by time). It certainly makes things easier to handle when lugging about all of those values.
Also, the use of S and S' as the two inertial time frames in standard configuration, rather than the sometimes confusing use of A and B, in some texts, is a breath of fresh air and certainly allows one to better visualize a Lorentz transformation problem.
So far, so good.
Good I knew once you had started the actual material you might feel better about things unlike your recent posts.
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