John Archibald Wheeler (1911–2008)

Special Relativity in all of its glory exposed using only high school mathematics. This is not a layman's treatment, it is the full theory. Any high school student wishing to learn this topic who has studied high school physics will be delighted with this text.

"Gravitation" is a thorough introduction to Einstein's general relativity. Assuming basic calculus and mechanics, it introduces the mathematics, notation, and physics required to understand general relativity. In its discussion of experimental tests and post-GR theories it's a little dated, but as a textbook or reference book it's generally pretty thorough, and very accessible.

The jewel of texts on classical relativity. It is massive, it is a common joke among physics students that it "illustrates its topic by its weight." It is also the authoritative text on the classical topic; most modern texts take examples and expositions directly from it. Every student of relativity loves this text for its clarity and completeness.

A friend of mine in college liked to take this book from my shelf and drop it on the floor in a demonstration of gravity. As this is a monstrous tome, it made a fairly satisfying "thwomp" upon impact, edifying all present. This is one of the canonical references on general relativity. Favoring the geometric approach over the "index" approach, it is an important resource for any serious GR researcher. On a physical note, the binding cannot hope to cope with the mass of this puppy; it will show more break immediately.

UPDATE (2020-11-24): Well, the binding never did give way completely but I ended up purchasing the 2017 hardback version to go alongside my original paperback which is collapsing under it's own weight in some sort of recursive lesson on gravity. Even though I am long out of the field, I felt the need to get a lasting copy of this classic text. show less