Space-time and Gravitation

Based on a series of lectures, this work stresses above all the conceptual side of the special and general relativity theories, paying particular attention to the geometrical aspects of this theory.

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In 1969, at the initiative of Witold Nowacki, then vice-President of the Polish Academy of Sciences, there was organized a series of lectures on "The Achievements of Polish Science". After some time, to continue and extend these conferences, an Open University of the Polish Academy of Sciences was established. Within the framework of the first series of these conferences, one of the authors gave a course of lectures entitled "The Relativity Theory". The text of these lectures, was then extended by the other author and published in 1971 by the Ossolineum. This book, stresses above all the conceptual side of the special and general relativity theories. We pay much attention to the geometrical aspects of this theory. This book can serve as a text for those who want to learn the fundamentals of the special and general theories of relativity. It does not, however, offer an exhaustive treatment of these theories. This book should be accessible to readers who have had a one-year course in mathematics and physics at the science departments of universitites or at technical universities.