Rating: 
Summary: As clear as a bowl of water
Review: I wanted to learn GR, and had to do it by myself. This book did it for me; it's clear, easy to follow, and does what I would look for in a teacher: it explains. I recommend that you acquire some knowledge of tensor calculus before reading it, but the book will fill all the rest.
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Summary: Additions to my first review of Misner et al.
Review: I would like to further clarify some points made in my previous review and add a few points. The topology school of quantum gravity not only includes string theory but also for example the black hole 2+1 dimensional model in Carlip (see my review) and enters into almost every 2+1 dimensional model of quantum gravity. As for the algebra school, some of the best work has been done by William Pezzaglia, Jr. (whose papers will be found in Chisholm and some of the other books that I have reviewed). Pezzaglia shows that an interesting generalization of the principle of equivalence is worth considering: namely, that the laws of physics are invariant under transformations between different types of algebraic entities such as bivectors, vectors, trivectors, and even pseudo-bivectors, pseudo-vectors, etc. This means that the laws of physics are invariant across dimensions, which would fit in nicely with Carlip's and others' work on 2+1 dimensional quantum gravity instead of 3+1 (3 space dimensions and 1 time dimension) dimensional quantum gravity. There still remains the difficult problem pointed out in Carlip that some of the different dimensional results do not extend to the other dimension(s).
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Summary: Heavy Book for a Heavy Subject!
Review: If you are drawn to this heavy subject, this is the book for you! The introductory chapter, "The Parable Of The Apple" ("Geometrodynamics In Brief") alone is worth the price of admission! Any serious student of gravitation MUST follow his/her local geodesic into this oribit! But seriously, this massive volume will be a necessity for any student of this weighty subject for years to come, regardless of present or future deviations in our knowledge base from it's contents. This book will long be noted as the first encyclopedia of the subject, and a very successful one at that!
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Summary: somalian children should be made to memorize this
Review: If you look very carefully, you can see gravitational lensing effects round the edge of this book, and it does tend to suck in all objects within a ten meter radius and compact them down to a singularity, but I have to say that in my time dabbling in it I haven't once opened it on a page where I didn't learn something new and/or gain a new insight. This is the first time, for example, that I've found a book this accessible which gives a PHYSICAL description of what a tensor actually is. Most of the other material I've read just describes transformation properties, which to be honest, when all's said and done, is of precisely no use whatsoever if you want to actually understand the topic, especially in a physics book, which, afterall, is supposed to describe physics (AHEM AH*d'Inverno'*EM). And as if that's not enough for you, it's well illustrated, it's written in some weird style with lots of exclamation marks and it's got a bunch of historical facts and quotes thrown in on the side. Read this, plus a book on gut bacteria, and you'll never run out of conversation at parties ever again.
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Summary: Misner, Thorne, and Wheeler's Gravitation
Review: In reviewing Weinberg (1974), I listed his book as the best book on general relativity. This book is the second best. Weinberg's approach is algebraic, analytic, and topological, while Misner et al (MTW for short, which I write as a typo toward the end of this review) adopt a mostly geometrical approach. It has turned out that geometry and topology are very important for modern quantum gravity, but it so are all the other fields plus logic and set theory and even probability or at least (finite) measure theory. In Carlip's recent book on 2+1 dimensional quantum gravity, some of these approaches are contrasted but many things remain confused as to which fields could theoretically be eliminated. It will probably turn out that several different approaches lead in similar directions, especially four approache: geometry (the ADM or Arnowitt-Deser-Misner formalism), topology (string theory), measure-analytic-logic-probability-entropy (which leads to a direction which is a combination of the first two), and algebra (Clifford, octonion, division algebras which can describe geometry from a sort of neo-Cartesian algebraic approach - see my pending review of Bayliss and also my review of Dietrich et al and Chisholm). Since string theory appears to be only an approximation to quantum gravity, probably only the other 3 are fundamental in a deeper sense. Of these three, geometry by itself is the least well translated into ordinary language. MDT (Misner et al.) try, but they fail very much to get through to non-specialists in geometry, and they are not really addressing the public - their book is directed on a 2-tiered level to physics students and to physics general relativity geometry would-be specialists. I recommend buying and keeping this book as a reference and having a consultant or tutor help you compare it with other approaches if you are not a general relativity geometry specialist.
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Summary: Inspiring? Beautiful? That and more-- life altering!
Review: Like the Bible, this book is so extraordinary that it deserves a unique rating. One of the great scientific works of all time. 44 chapters of pure joy! The figures alone are well worth the price. Every one of the 1200 odd pages contains valuable insight and inspiration. The many problems are also a fabulous resource. This said, it should be supplemented with another text such as Wald, Stephani, or d'Inverno, because it is by now a bit dated in places, the notation can be confusing and in places the writing becomes frankly incomprehensible. But I managed to learn a great deal about gtr from this book before I knew any calculus(!), just by pouring over the pictures. It's not for everyone, perhaps, but reading this book was quite simply one of the happiest experiences of my life!
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Summary: The Current Cookbook of General Relativity & Gravitation
Review: Not for the Novice or weak of heart!! The Only book in any field that weighs as much as its subject!! Its HUGE!! The paper is the slick heavy type that adds tremendously to its weight and of course, lifetime use is not unusual. It's Multi-level approach is unique and the content is very well thought out. It is the Primary Textbook in this field at the Graduate Level. Prerequisites: Geometry of Mathematical Physics by Schutz(Cambridge U Press), Graduate Mechanics and Electrodynamics.
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Summary: My favorite physics book on any topic!
Review: Of the two shelves of physics books I own, this book is easily the one I cherish the most. I wish I had books on other physics subjects that explained things as clearly as this book does.This book is huge, in large part because it takes the time to explain each topic very thoroughly. The authors take difficult topics, and break them down into as simple terms as possible. Although quite advanced topics are covered, very little is expected of a reader as a prerequisite, beyond sophomore level math and a brief exposure to special relativity. These things combine to make the book great for self-study, when it isn't possible to ask a professor for clarification of something glossed over in a text. This book does a great job of explaining concepts visually, instead of only in algebraic terms. I, for one, can understand and remember concepts much better if I can picture them, instead of having to just memorize equations.
Rating: 
Summary: Authoritative but a little patronizing
Review: Resorting to the metaphor of "bongs of a bell" to describe differential forms and "machines" to introduce the notion of tensors is a little insulting to capable undergraduate physics students. This is one of the most overhyped and overrated textbooks I've ever used.
Physics and math students: Brush up on your vector calculus and classical mechanics and start with Shutz's "A First Course in General Relativity". If you've had some general relativity already, head for Wald's "General Relativity".
Rating: 
Summary: comprehensive but could be more concise
Review: The authors are leading experts on gravitational theory and this book is a comphrensive treatment of the field up to the developments to 1970, they write in a vivid, humourous manner, and spiced with stories, illustrations and wisdoms. It is a little bit too wordy though, which results in the unusually huge volume, I usually consult Wald when looking for some particular subject, and if treatments there are too terse to be understood, this book is a good better for help.
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