Vitamin C: Its Functions and Biochemistry in Animals and Plants

Book Description

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is a key vitamin to animals and plants. This book looks at all aspects of vitamin C; its chemical and biochemical properties, its role in various plants and animals and its effect on our health. Written by an international team of experts, together they represent much of the expertise on vitamin C throughout the world.

Book Description

Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity provides a lucid and thoroughly modern introduction to general relativity. With an accessible and lively writing style, it introduces modern techniques to what can often be a formal and intimidating subject. Readers are led from the physics of flat spacetime (special relativity), through the intricacies of differential geometry and Einstein's equations, and on to exciting applications such as black holes, gravitational radiation, and cosmology. For advanced undergraduates and graduate students, or anyone interested in astronomy, cosmology, physics, or general relativity.

Customer Reviews:

Wordy and Wonderful.......2006-12-12

This is an advanced text, but all the same it is not particularly rigorous or dense, so it is in principle accessible to the beginner. With an easy authority, Carroll leads us on a wandering journey through the mystical lands of general relativity. This is very different from, and compliments nicely, the clarity and directness of Wald. As a student of GR, I use Wald for the bottom line on any subject, and Carroll for the random physical or computational insights that I invariably find in any section of the book. Carroll's prose is like music to the ear and I always enjoy myself when I decide to open up this book.

Be warned that there are lots of mistakes in this first edition--you might want to wait for the second one.

Also, his chapter on cosmology is better than any I've seen.

BY FAR the best book on GR.......2006-10-21

I am currently on the 4th chapter of Carroll's "Spacetime and Geometry" and thus far I am amazed at how clear it is. Sure there is a lot of math in it however that also is very clearly explained. In fact, I think that Carroll explains the differential geometry material better than any mathematician has in any book on the subject. If you want to learn general relativity, there is no getting around the math; sooner or later you'll have to learn it. I'd suggest, especially if you are self-studying the subject, to rather pick up this book and go through it than pick up a more "elementary" text and a book on Riemannian geometry to look at later.

(Although I do also highly recommend Kay's (Schaum outline) "Tensor Calculus" for self study. The prima donnas don't like Kay's book because it "doesn't have enough theory." I suppose if a freshman calculus book does not have the Lebesgue integral defined in ti they'll complain about that too.)

Because, you can always skip through certain sections if the math is too heavy and go back through it later. And like I wrote earlier, you won't find a better introduction to the mathematical material than here.

Carroll should be given the Nobel prize for this book. If not in Physics, then in literature. I'd give this textbook 10 stars if I could.

A nice blend of the ideas of physics with mathematics.......2006-04-11

Kudos to Carroll.

This book is an excellent INTRODUCTION to SR and GR for the graduate physics student as well as the graduate mathematics students.

Pure mathematics often loses sight of the ideas which motivated it and physics often loses the mathematical foundations from which it is built.

This book offers some level of mathematical formalism to the physics student while exposing the ideas motivating the mathematical concepts.

I particularly like how he builds up the mathematical machinery of GR by introducing sets then topology on this set giving a topological space. Now he adds in the ideas of a manifold which make this topological space look like Rn locally with the patches sewn together smoothly. The manifold comes equipped with tangent space, cotangent spaces and their product spaces giving tensor spaces. These are defined nicely with reference to component formalism as well as the multilinear algebra approach as maps from products spaces to the reals, etc. He delves into forms and tantalized the reader with deRham cohomology although doesnt go into it. He shows how these can be differentiated ( exterior derivative ) and integrated.

Now the metric is introduced giving a geometry. To this is added a connection which is independent of the metric and leads to notions of parallel transport and differentiation of tensors ( covariant derivative ). One sees that in a special case one can derive a unique connection from the metric ( Levi-Cevita ) which is used in GR.

Fibre bundles, Lie derivatives, pullbacks etc are introduced as needed.

He then presents some introductory GR material by applying the mathematics.

Great Book But Won't Get You To The Promised Land.......2005-12-14

My comments come with a few caveats.

1. This is my fourth GR book.
2. I'm not hardcore into physics. I'm not a physic grad and I'm reading GR for fun. I have a decent graduate math background but I've been corrupted with 10+ years in working in various roles software engineering, electronics engineering and marketing.
3. I assume that since you're considering buying this book, you're goal is to get at the "real" GR, not the watered down discover channel version.

With these caveats in mind, here are my comments.

First, on a scale of 1-5, I rank Carroll at level 3 in terms of math/physics maturity and thoroughness. Here is my full ranking of authors from my limited reading: 1. schutz 2. hartle 3. penrose 3. carroll 4. wald 5. physics journal articles

Second, using the rankings above, I recommend Carroll as the second port of entry. If you're comfortable with multivariable calculus, start with schutz (#1). You'll get warm fuzzies doing the toy exercises. But Schutz is tensor/math-lite. If you've had advanced calculus and geometry already, jump in with carroll (#3). But you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone else as polite to the reader. He won't prepare you for 80 percent of what's published. If you're ready to throw off the training wheels and jump dive into mainstream GR go with Wald (#4).

Note that Hartle (#2) is a good "tweener" book with feel-good exercises and some of the full-on GR equations at the end. I bet most instructors teaching a first year grad course would go with Hartle along with a dose of supplementary material.

Third, don't expect Carroll to be your last GR book purchase if you want to reach the promised land (see caveat #4). Living and breathing GR is found in physics journals and for that you'll need Wald or another advanced GR book.

good math chapters, not at beginner's level after that.......2005-03-07

I had a course based on that book and I've read chapters 1-6 (out of 9 chapters total) plus all the appendices. Also, I've solved some of the problems.

Please keep in mind my review is from a beginner point of veiw. Readers more experienced in GR may feel different but that book is supposedly written for beginners right?

The math chapters 2 and 3 are worth reading because they will teach you tensor analysis on manifolds in much clearer way than other books. The book makes a clear distinction between assumptions, choices (like working with a metric compatible connection), or derived facts. It is nice that the book makes a difference between a Christoffel connection and a generic connection. The appendices are worth reading too cause they will give you a feeling for some new to you math necessary for GR like pullbacks, Lie Derivatives, hypersurfaces etc.

Chapter 4 is worth reading too cause it makes clear that Einstein's equations are just the simplest guess out of many other possibilities. Also it shows how we generalize physical laws from special relativity to GR making it clear our choices are the simplest ones but not the only ones possible.

The chapters after that discuss applications of GR like black holes, gravitational radiation, cosmology etc. Of these, I've read only the black holes chapters 5 and 6 and I wasn't able to understand 100% what was goin on. The problem was that the book uses concepts that you still don't quite understand if you are a beginner like 'spacelike singularity' or 'conformal diagrams'. That is informative but the book doesn't provide the necessary level of detail and examples for beginners so you could really master such concepts and use them in your practise.

There are problems after each chapter but not the necessary beginners problems that increase your conceptual understanding of the theory. Instead, some of the problems are just tedious algebra of type 'find the curvature for some general form of the metric' for which specialists in the field use symbolic programs like Mathematica. Solving these by hand proves that you can take derivatives and you are a mazochist but not that you understand GR. Other problems are really relevant to your education but are not dirrectly connected to the discussion in the text. Because of that you have to solve them from scratch and it will take you ages ...

If you are a beginner like me, you should read the math chapters and all appendices of Carroll's book plus chapter 4. Then you should read a real book for beginners with a lot of examples how to apply GR in real calculations and how to understand it. For that I recommend James Hartle's "Gravity: An Introduction to Einstein's General Relativity" and Bernard Schutz's "A first course in General Relativity". After that hopefully you will understand the rest of Carroll's book better. My experience was that often I had to read Hartle's book in order to understand and solve a problem in Carroll's book.

Spacetime and Singularities: An Introduction (London Mathematical Society Student Texts)

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A Stimulating and Interesting Book

Spacetime and Singularities: An Introduction (London Mathematical Society Student Texts)
Gregory L. Naber
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521336120

Book Description

Naber provides an elementary introduction to the geometrical methods and notions used in special and general relativity. Particular emphasis is placed on the ideas concerned with the structure of space-time and that play a role in the Penrose-Hawking singularity theorems. The author's primary purpose is to give a rigorous proof of the simplest of these theorems, by the one that is representative of the whole. He provides exercises and examples at the end of each chapter. No previous exposure either to relativity theory of differential geometry is required of the reader, as necessary concepts are developed when needed, though some restrictions ae imposed on the types of space considered.

Customer Reviews:

A Stimulating and Interesting Book.......2000-11-01

This book is concerned primarily with a geometrical and in places, a topological approach to spacetime, leading to a full proof of one of Hawking's singularity theorems.The first part introduces the geometry of Minkowski Spacetime as.. 'a 4-dimensional ral vector space on which is defined a nondegenerate symmetric bilinear form of index one'.Some mathematical maturity is required to attempt this book on one's own.Chapter two develops relativistic mechanics in quite an abstract way (certainly for a first encounter) and chapter three develops spacetimes from the point of view of maps between manifolds.This chapter ends with a statement of one of Hawking's theorems. Chapter four sets out a full rigorous proof. There are no hints/partial solutions for the exercises although there are some 'examples'. The first three chapters were enjoyable and I managed to do quite a lot of the exercises and problems.As someone who works entirely independently at this kind of thing for 'fun',I found chapter four very hard going.Having no-one to ask when stuck made it a bit frustrating.The book was very stimulating though and encouraged me to research other sources for similar material to fill in gaps in my mathematical knowledge.

The Geometry of Minkowski Spacetime: An Introduction to the Mathematics of the Special Theory of Relativity

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Special Relativity for the graduate student.
Fascinating but not for the general reader

The Geometry of Minkowski Spacetime: An Introduction to the Mathematics of the Special Theory of Relativity
Gregory L. Naber
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486432351

Book Description

This mathematically rigorous treatment examines Zeeman's characterization of the causal automorphisms of Minkowski spacetime and the Penrose theorem concerning the apparent shape of a relativistically moving sphere. Other topics include the construction of a geometric theory of the electromagnetic field; the theory of spinors; and more. 1992 edition. 43 figures.

Customer Reviews:

Special Relativity for the graduate student........2007-01-18

This book is NOT for the pop science buff or the novice with little understanding of Special Relativity.

This book is designed for graduate level students in mathematics or physics who want a deeper understanding of Minkowski space. It presupposes a solid foundation in SR.

Having said this, the book is phenomenal. It brings out startling relationship between mathematics and physics explaining esoteric phenomena in SR.

For example:

1) The author shows how Lorentz transformations can be realized as fractional linear transformations of the Riemann sphere. By doing so we can use the full power of complex analysis to derive far reaching results. One property of such tranforms is that they map circles to circles thus explaining why an observer at rest who sees a circle ( say lit by lights ) will also see a circle, NOT ellipse from length contraction, when he moves relative to the circle.

2) Using a simple example ( scissors, chair and rubber band ) the author shows how a 360 degree rotation may not leave a system in the same state requiring the need of a new mathematical object ( spinor ) to describe this transformation.

3) The author clearly develops the mathematics of spinors. In fact this is the best introduction to spinors I have read. He develops the notion of spin vectors and realizes spinors as multi-linear functionals with inputs as spin vectors, their duals, their conjugate, and the conjugate duals. He then lays out the transformation properties of the spinors and shows that certain spinors have exactly the transformation properties needed to model particles with spin.

4) There is a great section on the relationship of SL (2,C) to the lorentz group. The author shows how Minkowski space can be represented by certain combinations of 2x2 complex matrices and shows how SL ( 2,C) can then operate on these. This operation is actually equivalent to a lorentz transformation thus giving a mapping between the two groups. He then shows that we can easily analyze SL (2,C) by breaking it down into irreducible representations ( which are known ) and that to each of these representations there exist a unique representation of the Lorentz group ( provided certain conditions are imposed ). If that condition is not met the representation leads to the all familiar 2-valued representation of the Lorentz group one hears so much about. Thus by studying SL ( 2,C ) which we know alot about we can represent the Lorentz group which is generally harder to study but of the most relevance in physics.

The books is filled with such insights and I would recommend it to anyone who wishes to understand particle physics or relativity.

Fascinating but not for the general reader.......2006-06-29

Starting with a quick overview of certain structures from linear algebra (bilinear forms) the book moves to discussing Minkowski spacetime. Unfortunately for many, the text is highly esoteric without even a single descriptive section that doesn't make use of some fairly advanced mathematics.

The level of mathematical maturity required is comparable to a fourth year mathematics major at any decent university. The relationship between the mathematics involved and the special theory of relativity is fully explained.

A solid introduction to special relativity for the earnest mathematician.

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A First Course in Relativity

Introduction to Spacetime
Laurent Berterl
Manufacturer: World Scientific Pub Co Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Customer Reviews:

A First Course in Relativity.......2005-10-28

This is a book on the understanding of relativity. Unlike many such books, it does not spend a lot of time and energy on why relativity became an extension of Newton's theories. It presumes that the reader has enough belief that using this limited space to repeat these arguments isn't necessary.

This book is based on material that was taught in a course given at the Stockholm University. It is one of the very few books simple enough for the advanced amateur to understand that goes into the concept of tensors. This is the approach used by Einstein in the original development of his theories.

Many books concentrate on the description of relativity using rather imprecise general verbage, what Einstein called 'thought experiments.' Einstein did a lot more than think about relativity, he put a solid mathematical foundation under his thoughts using the then new developments in tensors. (It also has come to light that Einstein's wife at the time, Mileva Maric, was probably better at math than was Einstein and may have contributed significantly to the overall theory.)

Introduction to Relativistic Continuum Mechanics (Lecture Notes in Physics)

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Introduction to Relativistic Continuum Mechanics (Lecture Notes in Physics)
Giorgio Ferrarese , and Donato Bini
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

This mathematically-oriented introduction takes the point of view that students should become familiar, at an early stage, with the physics of relativistic continua and thermodynamics within the framework of special relativity. Therefore, in addition to standard textbook topics such as relativistic kinematics and vacuum electrodynamics, the reader will be thoroughly introduced to relativistic continuum and fluid mechanics. Emphasis in the presentation is on the 3+1 splitting technique, widely used in general relativity for introducing the relative observers point of view.

Introduction to Spacetime: A First Course on Relativity

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Fine modern advanced undergraduate special relativity

Introduction to Spacetime: A First Course on Relativity
Bertel Laurent
Manufacturer: World Scientific Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Customer Reviews:

Fine modern advanced undergraduate special relativity.......1999-09-23

This material of this book was successfully used in a course of special relativity for advanced undergraduates at the University of Stockholm by the late professor Bertel Laurent, one of Oskar Klein's best students. When he sadly passed away shortly before retirement the manuscript was transformed into a book by his enthusiastic friend Stig Flodmark.

Book Description

Employing only calculus-based college physics this text develops heuristically the exact Einstein equations for simple yet important physical situations such as the space-time near a star, and exotic cases such as black holes and wormholes, as well as the basic equations of cosmology, and then leads the reader through a complete solution of these equations. This opens the text up to a very wide market, including the many science majors in universities and perhaps the entire post graduate scientific community, or at least those among them who would achieve satisfaction at being able to derive (albeit heuristically) and solve the Einstein equations.

Average customer rating:

an unusual introductory text

Eastern Religions: Hinduism, Buddism, Taoism, Confucianism, Shinto

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Best Guide to Eastern Philosophy and Religion

The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Vol. B: 100-1500 with Inserts, 2nd Edition

The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Vol. A: Beginnings to A.D. 100, 2nd Edition

Monkey: Folk Novel of China

Maya Cosmos

ASIN: 0195221915

Book Description

This fascinating volume provides a concise, illustrated introduction to five of the great religious traditions of the world--Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Shinto. Buddhism, one of the world's great religious traditions, attracts millions of modern-day followers. Hinduism, one of the most ancient of all belief systems, is increasingly well known in the West through expatriate Indian communities. Taoism has been an important influence on Western thinking, especially through the impact of the Tao Te Ching. Confucianism, less metaphysical in its principles, emphasizes family values and the role of the individual within the state. And Shinto, distinctively Japanese in character, is the most animistic of the great religions, based on a belief in numerous individual spirits. The contributors explore a great variety of topics within these religions, including: the life of the Buddha; karma and rebirth; inspiring teachers and gurus; the life of Confucius; sacred Taoist texts; the epics of the Ramayana and Mahabharata; holy landscapes, shrines, and festivals; enlightenment; and--for all the faiths--the spiritual and ethical teachings, art and architecture, sacred writings, ritual and ceremony, and death and the afterlife. Also included are extracts from or summaries of historical texts, with author commentaries that explain the significance of each piece and place in its full context. Authoritative and accessible, Eastern Religions provides a gateway for all those in the West who wish to move one step closer to the spirit of the East.

Customer Reviews:

an unusual introductory text.......2005-11-06

This Oxford publication seems best suited for a comparative world religion course. I found it in search of material for a unit on comparative world religion in my Sociology of Religion course, but I can only use it to deepen my understanding -- for a course text I need a 1-volume world religion overview. EASTERN RELIGIONS is unorthodox in that it has the glossy pages and color photos typically found in a large-format textbook, but instead is in a 5" X 7.5" handbook format. It is 550 pages long, but with plenty of great photos, including reproductions of artwork, the actual text is nowhere near that long.

The organization of the sections is both the strength and the weakness. Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Shinto are covered, and for each there is a section on 1) Origins and Historical Development, 2) Aspects of the Divine, 3) Sacred Texts, 4) Sacred Persons, 5) Ethical Principles, 6) Sacred Space, 7) Sacred Time, 8) Death and the Afterlife, and 9) Society and Religion.

The strength of this approach, from a sociological standpoint, is that religious practices receive as much attention as religious doctrines and beliefs. For instance, Dipavali, the Necklace (or Festival) of Lights, which was recently celebrated, is covered in the Sacred Time sub-section of the Hinduism section. For instance Laozi, fabled author of the Tao te Ching, is worshipped as a god by Taoists in China, which I'm sure is news to many in the West who read the Tao te Ching as philosophy and are informed that Laozi may never have existed as a singular historical person at all. The reader learns of the Three Teachings tradition of China, which combines Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Here's where the strength becomes a weakness, though -- the China expert has to write the Taoism and Confucianism sections separately, and so while some of the material overlaps (for instance qi, yin and yang), it remains unclear exactly how they are (or were) combined in the everyday life of the Chinese people, let alone how they combine with Buddhism which has a separate author altogether. And the Chinese "popular religion" is mentioned as well, but never explained at all, because it doesn't fit the framework.

Credit where credit is due: the Hinduism section is written by Vasudha Narayanan, Professor of Religion at the University of Florida, the Buddhism section is written by Malcolm David Eckel, Associate Professor of Religion at Boston University, the Shinto section is written by C. Scott Littleton, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Occidental College in Los Angeles, and the sections on Taoism and Confucianism are written by Jennifer Oldstone-Moore, Assistant Professor (of what the book jacket does not say) at Wittenberg University in Ohio.

Eastern Religions : Confucianism, Shinto, Hinduism, Buddism, Taoism

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Eastern Religions : Confucianism, Shinto, Hinduism, Buddism, Taoism
Michael D. Coogan
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKQSSO

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