Jerzy Plebański (1928–2005) was a Polish theoretical physicist best known for his extensive research into general relativity, nonlinear electrodynamics and mathematical physics. He split his time between Warsaw, Poland, and Mexico, his permanent residence from the mid-1970s onwards. He is remembered, among other things, for defining the algebraic classification of the tensor of matter, for finding new solutions of the Einstein equations (for example, the Plebański–Demiański metric), formulation of the heavenly equations and the effective field theory relating GR and supergravity, known as Plebański action. The first part of the book is developed from Plebański's lecture notes.
