Gravitation (book)

Gravitation

Authors	Charles W. Misner, Kip S. Thorne, and John Archibald Wheeler
Cover artist	Kenneth Gwin
Language	English
Subject	Physics
Publisher	W. H. Freeman
Publication date	1973 (1973)
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print
Pages	xxvi, 1279
ISBN	0-7167-0344-0
OCLC	585119
Dewey Decimal	531/.14
LC Class	QC178 .M57

In physics, Gravitation is a well-known compendium on Einstein's theory of gravity by Charles W. Misner, Kip S. Thorne, and John Archibald Wheeler, originally published by W. H. Freeman and Company in 1973. It is often considered the early "bible" of general relativity by researchers for its prominence and is frequently called MTW after its authors' initials.

The book, whose size and shape at over 1200 pages is similar to that of a large telephone book, covers many aspects of general relativity and also considers some extensions of it as well as experimental confirmations. The book is divided into two "tracks", the second of which covers more advanced topics. MTW uses the −+++ metric convention. A substantial fraction of the book consists of boxes which add supplementary substance to the already thorough main text.

Here is an example of how it can be cited:

• Misner, Charles W.; Thorne, Kip S.; Wheeler, John Archibald (1973), Gravitation, San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, ISBN 978-0-7167-0344-0.

See also

• The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time

Further reading

• Kaiser, David (March 2012). "A Tale of Two Textbooks: Experiments in Genre". Isis. 103 (1). The University of Chicago Press: 126–138. doi:10.1086/664983.
• Braginskii, V. B.; Novikov, I. D. (March–April 1975). "C. Misner, K. Thorne, J. Wheeler. Gravitation: Reviewed by V. B. Braginskii and I. D. Novikov". Astronomicheskii Zhurnal. 52: 447–449. Bibcode:1975AZh....52..447B.

External links

• Gravitation catalog listing at the W. H. Freeman website