Geometry, Spinors and Applications: Theoretical Physics & Mathematical Analysis | Springer Praxis Books by Donal J. Hurley | Perfect for Researchers & Advanced Physics Students

There is no doubt that the definitive reference for spinors is the two volume book "Spinors and Spacetime" by Penrose and Rindler. It is the best, indispensable reference, and anything said against it is just terribly wrong. It's great. However, it isn't an easy or quick read. The book under review here gives a much kinder and gentler introduction. It does everything in a correct way. It presents the formalism correctly. More importantly, it gives a great deal of clarity regarding the true underlying meaning of the different structures. All its topics are treated very clearly, and it is the only place I have found some of its important differential constructions. It is an indispensable (for me) "gateway" to the great tome of Penrose and Rindler. I chatted by e-mail the other day with a wonderful physicist and a great author in the area of relativity. He said that he has never found the spinor formalism attractive. With (actual, not pretended) respect, I suggest that the spinor point of view is physically necessary and not a matter of preference or attraction. We all need to get good at this because that's the way nature really is. Penrose has been right all these years. I know of no better place to begin that this book by Hurley and Vandyck. It's very good pedagogically. It isn't a replacement for Penrose/RIndler, just a good way to get a running start at it.