Description

This volume faithfully reprinted here in its entirety, first appeared in the English and Russian Editions in 1974 as an introduction to the rapidly developing field of relativistic astrophysics and cosmology. Some of the classic concepts introduced in that first edition included:

• the lines of force of electric and magnetic fields near a black hole
• the ergosphere and effective potential techniques for a rotating black hole
• the details of rotational energy extraction from a black hole
• basic estimates for the cross-sections of gravitational wave detectors and for the energy sources of gravitational waves
• the scenario for gravitational collapse

In cosmology, the foundations of the hot big bang model, the cosmic background radiation and cosmological nucleosynthesis were reviewed: the volume concluded with a lecture entitled “beyond the end of time” by J. A. Wheeler. This new edition is an effort to bridge the gap since 1974 in view of the enormous progress made in some of these areas. An appendix of key articles that mark this progress has been added here together with a lengthy new introduction