This course has two aims.
Aim 1. To explain how Einstein’s theory models gravitation as the curvature of space-
time. This involves setting up some new mathematical machinery, notably tensor calculus.
The mathematical background will be developed in parallel with the theory. In textbooks,
it is often done the other way: mathematics first, theory after. But the textbooks do not
have to be read in linear order. The approach here should make it clearer at each stage
where we are going.
Aim 2. To treat the elementary theory of black holes.