This is a book review of Special Relativity and Classical Field Theory: The Theoretical Minimum by Leonard susskind & Art Freeman.
Special Relativity and Classical Field Theory: The Theoretical Minimum, by Leonard Susskind & Art Freeman (Penguin), 2017. Pp. 525, 20 × 13 cm. Price £10.99 (hardbound, ISBN 978 0 141 98501 5).
A frequent complaint about books on Special Relativity is the lack of distinction between purely relative effects as described by the Lorentz transformation, real effects such as the age difference between the travelling and stay-at-home twin, and the appearance of rapidly moving objects. Regarding the last, I was happy to see Terrell rotation mentioned. The structure is perhaps a bit unusual, starting with the Lorentz transformation then moving to classical field theory, then to the Maxwell equations, then to classical physics, essentially the opposite of the historical path. However, that does adhere to the theme of the theoretical minimum. Despite the length, the book is a breezy read, due both to the writing and the somewhat larger than usual typeface and interline spacing. It is a rather faithful rendition of the video lectures, which I recommend to those who prefer that medium to books.