Books on Relativity and Cosmology

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Michael Berry (1989) ``Principles of Cosmology and Gravitation'' (Adam Hilger).
Edwin F. Taylor & John A. Wheeler (1997) ``Spacetime Physics'' 2nd ed. (W. H. Freeman). A delightful introduction to special relativity. One short final chapter on general relativity.
Richard A. Mould (1996) ``Basic Relativity'' (Springer). Introduction to special and general relativity, aimed at undergraduate physics students. Has a short chapter on Cosmology at the end.
George F. R. Ellis & Ruth M. Williams (1988) ``Flat and Curved Space-Times'' (Oxford University Press). An easy to follow, readable introduction to special and general relativity, with an emphasis on pictures and geometry. Claims that anyone with a high-school level of mathematics should be able to follow the arguments.
Kip S. Thorne (1994) ``Black Holes & Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy'' (Norton). A wonderfully readable, authoritative book which takes you to the edge of knowledge, without mathematics, and without patronizing.
Richard P. Feynman (1997) ``Six Not-So-Easy Pieces: Einstein's Relativity, Symmetry, and Space-Time'' (Addison-Wesley).
George Gamow (1965; reprinted 1996) ``Mr. Tompkins in Paperback'' (Cambridge University Press). A classic.
M. Begelman & M. Rees (1996) ``Gravity's Fatal Attraction: Black Holes in the Universe'' (Scientific American Library). A popular book by CU's own Mitch Begelman and Britain's Astronomer Royal Sir Martin Rees.
Carl Sagan (1985) ``Contact'' (Pocket Books $7). The book that eventually became a film. Kip Thorne was the consulting general relativistic expert on this novel.
John Cramer (1997) ``Einstein's Bridge'' (Avon $13). This is a science fiction novel involving wormholes. The author is a practicing physicist, and knows his general relativity. A compelling read.
John F. Hawley & Katherine A. Holcomb (1997) ``Foundations of Modern Cosmology'' (Oxford University Press, $50). Entry level undergraduate text aimed at non-science majors. Mostly on cosmology, but includes chapters on special and general relativity, and even discusses wormholes. There has long been a need for a text like this. Its price is a bit steep.
Timothy Ferris (1997) ``The Whole Shebang : A State-Of-The-Universe(S) Report'' (Simon & Shuster $25). There are many popular books on cosmology, and this is one of them, written by a science journalist. Wide-ranging. Zero math.
Martin Rees (1997) ``Before the Beginning: Our Universe and Others'' (Addison-Wesley $25). Another popular book, a personal view of cosmology, by Britain's Astronomer Royal.
Check out Ned Wright's Cosmology bibliography, and his Cosmology tutorial, which includes a Cosmology FAQ, and sections on the Age of the Universe and on astronomical Distances. Ned Wright also offers a set of graduate level Cosmology lecture notes (gzip'd PostScript).
Sean Carroll's (1997) Lecture Notes on General Relativity the full text of which is available as a single gzip'd PostScript file (and other formats) at http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/gr-qc/9712019. Graduate level.
Several graduate level texts in Cosmology.

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Updated 24 Mar 1998