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Rating: 
Summary: Extraordinary
Review: Chandrasekhar's mind was *extraordinarily* powerful, which is a quality that is made plain in his physics and writing. This self-contained text describes in detail what Chandrasekhar's believed to be crucial insights and results concerning black holes, which in his words he described as the ``most perfect and simplist objects in the universe". As such, this is an extraordinary text written by an extraordinary mind. The text is complete in that mathematical preliminaries (of which there is plenty) are included and the writing and work proceeds from first principles. Further, *every* calculation is this text was carried out by the author himself, which is a project that is staggering to consider. This text is saturated with calculational and physical insights that are truly novel and unique. The outline follows: Basic DG is covered in the first chapter as is tetrad, Newman-Penrose formalism, optical scalars and Petrov classification. The second chapter derives the Einstein Maxwell equations for a space time of sufficient generality that the Schwarzschild, Riesner-Nordstrom, and Kerr solutions along with their perturbations can be extracted. Chapter three and four detail the Schwarzschild black hole, its geodesics and its perturbations. While chapter five accomplishes the same for the RN black hole. Kerr's black hole, its geodesics, EM waves on a Kerr background, and perturbations of the Kerr black hole are the subjects of chapters six through nine. This ninth chapter alone is sufficient reason to purchase the text since that chapter makes plain why Chandrasehkar was Chandrasekhar. But the going gets even better in the tenth chapter where it is shown that Dirac's equation is seperable in the Kerr geometry --- a result that is truly baffling. The final chapter is a stew of other results and methods and is truly eye-opening. Absolutely and without question this is an amazing document that we are fortunate to have.
Rating:
Summary: A goldmine of information
Review: First of all let me say that this book is a member of the hypersonic suppository school of presentation. I wish those that attempt to learn the tetrad and Newman-Penrose methods from this book only good luck. That said, this book contains the most extensive treatment of black holes I have seen anywhere. Period. The section in this book on Kerr black holes inspired me to seek and find a physically meaningful interior solution for the Kerr black hole. I have to admit it: the tetrad and Newman-Penrose treatments inspired me to master these techniques. In the long run that is what this book has done - inspired me. Anything by S. Chandrasekhar does that to me.
Rating: 
Summary: Thorough
Review: I cannot give this book 5 stars because it is written in such a dry fashion that it is terrible reading, certain to put you to sleep. Nonetheless, I recommend it if you are a serious student of relativity because it contains everything you need to know about black holes and the mathematical formalism of relativity in general (i.e. good for study of gravity waves etc). While to read it from cover to cover would be an exercise in torture, it makes an excellent reference book.
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