Clarity, readability, and rigor combine in the second edition of this widely used textbook to provide the first step into general relativity for undergraduate students with a minimal background in mathematics. Topics within relativity that fascinate astrophysical researchers and students alike are covered with Schutz’s characteristic ease and authority – from black holes to gravitational lenses, from pulsars to the study of the Universe as a whole. This edition now contains recent discoveries by astronomers that require general relativity for their explanation; a revised chapter on relativistic stars, including new information on pulsars; an entirely rewritten chapter on cosmology; and an extended, comprehensive treatment of modern gravitational wave detectors and expected sources.