Book Description
In The Quantum Theory of Fields, Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg combines his exceptional physical insight with his gift for clear exposition to provide a self-contained, comprehensive, and up-to-date introduction to quantum field theory. This is a two-volume work.Volume I introduces the foundations of quantum field theory. The development is fresh and logical throughout, with each step carefully motivated by what has gone before, and emphasizing the reasons why such a theory should describe nature.After a brief historical outline, the book begins anew with the principles about which we are most certain, relativity and quantum mechanics, and the properties of particles that follow from these principles.Quantum field theory emerges from this as a natural consequence. The author presents the classic calculations of quantum electrodynamics in a thoroughly modern way, showing the use of path integrals and dimensional regularization. His account of renormalization theory reflects the changes in our view of quantum field theory since the advent of effective field theories.The book's scope extends beyond quantum electrodynamics to elementary particle physics, and nuclear physics.It contains much original material, and is peppered with examples and insights drawn from the author's experience as a leader of elementary particle research. Problems are included at the end of each chapter. This work will be an invaluable reference for all physicists and mathematicians who use quantum field theory, and it is also appropriate as a textbook for graduate students in this area. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (24)

Complete discussion
I have been able to get a lot out of this book. However, it is *very* complete, and the order of the book is different than a lot of other textbooks on the subject (for example Mark Srednicki "Quantum Field Theory", which I think is a better book for a first course in QFT.). AN example is that scattering theory is covered *in detail* before acgtual construction of the free field. I'd think that the latter subject would be good to cover first.
Overall, it is very complete and a great reference to use. For someone's first course, I would recommend Srednicki; however, Srednicki references this book frequently, so...

Very thorough and logical, but somewhat difficult and painful to get through
To put the review in perspective, My Background: I am a senior undergraduate engineering/physics student with an interest in mathematics and theoretical physics.This is my third QFT book.

Things I liked about the book:
- The book follows a very logical progression.I love how Weinberg presents a coherent argument based on simple physical principles (specifically Lorentz invariance and the cluster decomposition principle).
- Weinberg takes painstaking effort to avoid hand-waving, and is very careful to enumerate (and make plausible) his assumptions.In so doing, he avoids the sort of black-magic feeling I got when reading some less well written QFT books (see for example: Peskin and Schroeder, which makes a mockery of logical progression in an effort to teach you how to calculate as soon as possible).
- The book was very thorough, and often provided an original approach to the material.The coverage of renormalization seemed natural and coherent, and since the book is presented in a logical order (rather than a historical one) Weinberg avoids justifying renormalization as some mysterious subtraction of infinities, basing it instead on general non-perterbative methods (e.g. poles of the S-matrix, etc...)

What I didn't like about the book:
- As a result of his unwavering emphasis on logical progression, and his inclusion of a vast amount of material (almost all of which is necessary to understand in order to progress through the book), the book is somewhat painful to get through.Be prepared to re-read many of the sections a couple of times, and to make very slow progress.
- Weinberg chooses to present QFT in a very general form (i.e. abstracting it from a particular field such as particle physics or condensed matter physics).This is not necessarily a disadvantage, but I often found my interest waning after reading a few hundred pages without making any contact with phenomenology.Additionally, the excercises were similarly abstract, which makes it difficult (at least for me) to particularly care about their results. (More of a problem for self-study)
- The notation is very complete, which isn't normally a bad thing.However, the equations sometimes become very cumbersome when he includes every index, and every functional dependence regardless of how redundant they may be.
- In his coverage of path integrals, he derives things using functional determinants rather than through the more common generating functional methods.I think this hides a lot of the physical insight of the path integral approach, particularly, its equivalence to the 2nd-quantized approach, and its relation to Feynman diagrams.
- This book will drive the more mathematically inclined crazy, as the author admits, it makes very little attempt at rigour, and is very uncareful.He exchanges orders of limits willy-nilly, and often is not even clear about what sort of limiting process is taking place.There is not discussion of functional integration measures, or convergence, and there is very little justification provided for regularization methods (actually the coverage of dimensional regularization is extremely sparce, and would have been unfollowable, had I not already known it).


General Comments:
- I think that, contrary to some of the previous reviews, that the first few chapters of the book (through 6) would be a good first exposure to quantum field theory.I think the reader would have a much better understanding of the theory.However, the rest of the book is quite advanced, and would not be good for the uninitialized.
- I think that in an effort to make his coverage thorough and abstracting his discussion from phenomenology, the author sacrificed some of the readability of the book.That being said, if you're serious about learning the subject, this is a good resource.

Brilliant
Weinberg never disappoints the serious student of theoretical physics. There is no good reason to ignore perusing his texts.
Weinberg is a master expositor and creator of modern physics.
There simply is no good reason not to purchase his volumes.

superb book
in my opinion this should be one of the best books in qft.
Althought I've read jauch&rohrlich photons and electrons, p.ramond, itzykson, and ultimately, hatfield, Weinberg lead all of them for many heads. The features of this book are clarity, deepness, rigor, and authoritative treatment of all the topics. The discussion for a lagrangian versus hamiltonian formalism is lucid,and no finded in any other book. Group theory is applyied when is customary without cross over the physical implications. It contains a chapter devoted to scattering like no other book, wich is clear and explain concepts involved with "in" and "out" states(other of the lacks of many books of qft). Even the problems that contain are very well picked up, and solvable in most cases. I could't find any fault or mislead in what i read in this book, perhaps any skilled reader can find some. Even binding and typography are excellent, there is nothing more valuable for hardly 40$.

Reading for Rhetoric
Physics is usually a horribly taught subject, that is why most students avoid it.When it is effectively communicated, physics can be wonderful.This book represents the former.It is dense.The author is obviously a brilliant person; but, he is not a brilliant communicator.I've got a Master's in Physics and I was lost by the end of the second chapter.I have no doubt that the mathematics as presented are accurate; however, alone they fail to effectively communicate the substance of the topic to a mere mortal.Weinberg does not spend adequate time discussing the context, reality, or historical evolution of his ideas.I purchased all three volumes and, apparently, waisted my money.

I later purchased Roger Penrose's "The Road to Reality" and thoroughly enjoyed it.It was not an easy read either, but Penrose spent a significant amount of time recounting historical context, impact, and the 'reality' of his ideas. ... Read more

Book Description
This commentary on the discovery of the atom's constituents provides an historical account of key events in the physics of the twentieth century that led to the discoveries of the electron, proton and neutron. Steven Weinberg introduces the fundamentals of classical physics that played crucial roles in these discoveries. Connections are shown throughout the book between the historic discoveries of subatomic particles and contemporary research at the frontiers of physics, including the most current discoveries of new elementary particles. Steven Weinberg was Higgins Professor of Physics at Harvard before moving to The University of Texas at Austin, where he founded its Theory Group.At Texas he holds the Josey Regental Chair of Science and is a member of the Physics and Astronomy Departments. His research has spanned a broad range of topics in quantum field theory, elementary particle physics, and cosmology, and has been honored with numerous awards, including the Nobel Prize in Physics, the National Medal of Science, the Heinemann Prize in Mathematical Physics, the Cresson Medal of the Franklin Institute, the Madison Medal of Princeton University, and the Oppenheimer Prize.In addition to the well-known treatise, Gravitation and Cosmololgy, he has written several books for general readers, including the prize-winning The First Three Minutes (now translated into 22 foreign languages), and most recently Dreams of a Final Theory (Pantheon Books, 1993). He has also written a textbook The Quantum Theory of Fields, Vol.I, Vol. II, and Vol. III (Cambridge). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

More what one would expect from a great man than a final theory
In this book we see the older Weinberg who still
thought in terms of mathematics and experiment
and not in terms of defending his theories
against an uncertain future.
This book I can give to the younger generationin conscience
and say : be wise and read this and learn.

Revealing
This book is a deviation from the author's usual books about complex cosmological issues. The Discovery of Subatomic Particles is accessible to anyone, an easy read revealing much about scientific method.It's more a history of how scientists and physicists with rather rudimentary tools devised innovative ways to probe and measure atomic particles with surprisingly accurate results.This book will be appreciated by the mechanically inclined.For the mathematically inclined, you will see in the appendices calculations developed in such a way that requires only a basic background in algebra to understand.

The author guides the reader through the history of processes that refined our understanding of the subatomic world.The subject matter is covered in a logical timeline progression and consistent format.Quantum theory is outside the scope of this book, but Niels Bohr is included in the history for using some of the discoveries to formulate his view of electron dynamics.The reader will gain a higher appreciation of how much can be measured and discovered using the basic tools and instruments available at a given level of scientific development.

Extensive appendices amount to a concise development of fundamental physics, itself creating much value owning this book.My favorite appendix has the author describing how much of Rutherford's formula for the scattering of alpha particles can be derived through simple dimensional analysis, continuing the historic application ofbasic tools to analyze, measure, and discover subatomic particles.The appendices give the technical details supporting much of the scientific development described so well in the main text.Steven Weinberg's book, The Discovery of Subatomic Particles, is an easy read that can be appreciated by anyone.

Good but short history
I wavered between four or five stars and finally gave the authors, a brilliant scientist, the benefit of the doubt.The book is actually a chronological review of the exploration of the atom.Starting with electricity and the discovery of the electron, we then go on to weighing the atoms to the discovery of the nucleus.A truly fascinating observation of Einstein's work notes that the "energy released by a moving body is larger than when at rest by an amount proportional to the square of its velocity"..e=mc2 was originally expresses as m=e/c2.

After the nucleus we descend further into all the subatomic particles.One must remember that although this book is a revised edition, the 1983 original version seems almost innocent in many of its assumptions. A LONG appendix is provided as much for explanation as for reference. ... Read more

Book Description
Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg continues his masterly exposition of quantum field theory.This third volume of The Quantum Theory of Fields presents a self-contained, up-to-date and comprehensive introduction to supersymmetry, a highly active area of theoretical physics that is likely to be at the center of future progress in the physics of elementary particles and gravitation. The text introduces and explains a broad range of topics, including supersymmetric algebras, supersymmetric field theories, extended supersymmetry, supergraphs, nonperturbative results, theories of supersymmetry in higher dimensions, and supergravity. A thorough review is given of the phenomenological implications of supersymmetry, including theories of both gauge and gravitationally-mediated supersymmetry breaking. Also provided is an introduction to mathematical techniques, based on holomorphy and duality, that have proved so fruitful in recent developments.This book contains much material not found in other books on supersymmetry, some of it published here for the first time. Problems are included. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Beuatiful and pedagogical
I'm a beginning graduate student in theoretical physics, who learned SUSY from the ground up from Weinberg's text. Weinberg is by far the best text I could find on SUSY. It is totally self-contained* - every equation can be checked by the reader. Every idea is solidly explained, and the choice of topics is extremely relevant.

In the very beginning (I knew very little SUSY) my impulse was to avoid this book, as the "notation" seemed kind of heavy, there were too many long equations (superfield identities), and it was clear that reading the book was going to be a serious endeavor**. Instead I was looking for a quick fix. However, having found the other sources inadequate***, I gave Weinberg another try. I learned how to read his book ~ read it actively, checking the equations at the level of looking for typos. I poured in many hard hours, and have a binder full of derivations to show for it****. But I never had another problem with SUSY again, and as a result was very well equipped to tackle the literature.

I really like how Weinberg builds SUSY from the ground up. He makes it come together so logically, and coherently, it is nice to watch, and I feel one is rewarded in deeper understanding.

His treatment is original and improves in many ways upon the original literature. His treatment of SUSY representation theory and constructions of superfields is excellent. His treatment of holomorphy arguments is the best I've found anywhere (literature included). His treatment of Seiberg-Witten is his own pedagogically minded retelling of that story ~ it takes a slightly different angle than the original work, and fills in many of the details. Reading the original Seiberg-Witten afterwards was much facilitated.

A word on prerequisites: A basic knowledge of QFT is needed ~ if you have Weinberg's Vol I, II, this is overkill.However, you should be comfortable with the representation theory of the Lorentz group ~ especially spinors. Weinberg provides useful appendices on spinors in Vol III, and has the rep. theory in Vol I (an understanding of angular momentum at the level of say Sakurai ch 3 helps here). To understand the interesting non-perturbative results (chapter 29) you must be comfortable with 1-loop beta functions in YM, and the chiral anomaly (covered in Vol II as well as many other texts).

A caution on typos: There are many minor typos which you will never notice unless you rederive the particular offending equation. I know of over fifty. The nature of the subject is such that there could have been many more though. However, the errors often do not propogate ~ subsequent equations are usually typo free. There doesn't seem to be an errata website, which is unfortunate.

Finally, there are a good amount of exercises. Some of them are quite good. They vary in difficulty and level of abstraction. Some are straghtforward applications of concepts just learned, others are generalizations of things in the text (these can be quite fun as they can be open ended). Of the ones I have attempted I have learned quite a bit.

* With the exception of some of the MSSM stuff, but this is clearly stated, and totally reasonable.
** But alas, for a beginning student, this is the nature of the subject.
***There is one fantastic supplement to Weinberg (after you've gone through the first couple of intro chapters), these are Argyres' notes. Theynicely cover Seiberg duality which Weinberg doesn't talk about (but he does a great job with Seiberg-Witten).
**** The meat of the book can be covered in < 2.5 months by a dedicated student (skipping the SUGRA chapter).

Defective Hard Cover
The whole current production run of this book has a defect. A glue is bleeding through on the inside of the hard cover fold, front and back. This does not seem to affect the structural quality of the book and is not visible from the outside. If you need this book and get it with this defect, don't bother trying to exchange it.

Once again, great book
Finding good introductions to supersymmetry can be difficult.Most introductions concentrate on N=1 supersymmetry in four dimensions, and there the superfield forumlation can be useful.However, when you go to N=2 supersymmetry (e.g. when considering theories in five or more dimensions), component fields can be better.Many times it's a matter of taste.For those cases, you have to go to review articles.Anyway, Weinberg concentrates on N=1 4D supersymmetry and supergravity using the superfield formalism.However, he ventures into the N=2 strong-weak coupling results of Seiberg and Witten, which are now a fundamental part of (supersymmetric) field theory.The text is, as the previous volumes are, a fantastic resource for learning the subject, and as a reference (for things like gravity- and gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking, as well as the minimal supersymmetric standard model, which are open areas of reserach).As for all modern areas of research, the body of knowledge is stacked higher every year; but the topics covered here stand as solid fundamentals of supersymmetry.For more advanced topics, one is forced to go to the recent literature.

A self-contained treatment of the subject
If the two first volumes of "The Quantum Theory of Fields" were considered masterpieces in a modern and original presentation of the basics of quantum field theory and its penetration in the recent development of particle physics, with the machinery of spontaneously broken gaugetheories, the new volume embraces the wide subject of supersymmetry inWeinberg's typical style, which always means a self-contained treatment ofthe subject, from its foundations and motivations, to its most recentapplication as a possible scenario for new physics beyond the StandardModel.

A complete review is published in CERN Courier, May2000

Weinberg Keeps the level!
Great book, contains a lot of material, will be useful to many as a reference on supersymmetry for years to come. Highly Recommended! ... Read more

Book Description
The classic of contemporary science writing by a Nobel Prize-winning physicist explains what happened when the universe began, and how we know. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

Steven Weinberg: Nobel leaureate and biographer of nature
In 1979 Steven Weinberg was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics.

This book is his 1976 take on the origins of the universe.

To understand why Weinberg was honored we need to understand first how nature is organized.As it stands, there are four fundamental forces in nature:

1)Gravity -- best described by Albert Einstein in his 1916 general theory of relativity -- gravity is the property massive objects have to distort the contours of space time itself.

2)The strong nuclear force -- which operates to hold the nucleus of all atoms together.

3)Electromagnatism --still best described by James Clerk Maxell over 100 years ago whose unification of electricity and magnetism actually prompted the likes of Albert Einstein to his turn of the 20th century discoveries.

4)The weak nuclear force -- which operates among leptons.

It was these last two forces that Weinberg preseciently forecast the unification of in 1971 and for which he won the Nobel prize.

As has been rightly pointed out by other reviewers, this book is a democartically short 149 pages making it accessible, well, to anyone, willing to take the time to read them.

And in exchange for that time, one is rewarded with Weinberg's then existing take on the origins of the universe (most of which still holds up) as well as is thoughts on the direction of physics itself.

Long story short:Weinberg said that the Big Bang was like a great freezing which hid the original constituent elements of nature in a great phase transition.So just trying to infer which atoms went where in a glass of water from their current status as ice cubes we're necessarily a little at a loss trying to figure out what todays hadrons were doing prior to the end of the first billionth of second after the Big Bang.

Interestingly enough Weinberg's bottom line remains todays bottom line: we don't know.

Have to disagree
This is NOT a book for non-physicists.I have a doctorate in Dentistry and began reading the book, thinking it would become less obtuse.Ten pages later, I resorted to flipping each page in the hope that I would find something that made sense to a "layman"...no such luck. It could have been written in a medieval Persian language and I would have learned as much from it.

Failure to Planck?!
Steven Weinberg is without a doubt the closet thing
we have to a Newton or Einstein alive today.
But he isn't perfect as much as his books are almost required reading in physics!
This popularization was imitated by others...
Weinberg made the big bang go off in modern times.
But he fails to mention a basic in modern cosmology:
the Planck scale.

A Classic--Any Edition
True that the first version of this book--appeard some time ago, that does not diminish its usefulness to the layman or person interested in the history of the popularization of cosmology--which is a steady business with many competitors.

To find one such book so clearly written is valuable in itself, even as a landmark in this stream of such publications.As such, it belongs on any amateur astronomer's bookshelf, as well as any true scholar who wishes to place more recent findings in their appropriate context.I can add one personal note, my father, Dr. Ralph A. Alpher, commented to me when Dr. Weinberg's book appeared that this was the first book to have the history of cosmology through 1977 "right."And he was in a position to know...on that basis alone, I'll recommend it--if you can find the early paperback edition, it is a fun and short read, also.

Highly recommended!

Dated Description of Cosmology
This book was first published in 1977, and the discoveries in the 29 years since then have made the material obscelecent.
... Read more

Book Description
Dreams of a Final Theory tells the story of a great intellectual adventure of our time: the search for nature's final laws and the final answer to our questions about why nature is the way it is. Weinberg, the 1979 Nobel Prize-winner in physics, imagines the shape of a final theory and the effect its discovery would have on the human spirit. He gives a defence of reductionism (the impulse to trace explanations of natural phenomena to deeper and deeper levels) and examines the curious relevance of beauty and symmetry in scientific theories. Weinberg also narrates a personal account of the search for the laws of nature, and shares with us glimpses that scientists have had from time to time that there is something behind the blackboard, that there is a deeper truth foreshadowing a final theory. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Not the most successful Weinberg book
At least he has learned between 1977( The First Three Minutes)
and 1992 about the Planck scale of mass/ energy...?
No equations in this book, just a lot of verbiage about "stuff".
This is the Steven Weinberg who wrote the "Standard Theory"
that gave neutrinos no mass ( wrong) and gluons no mass ( most probably wrong).
It seems that even his ideas of symmetry breaking may be wrong as well
or at least wholly incomplete.
I would say that Heinz R. Pagels ( The Cosmic Code) is a better bet
if you actually want a chance at understanding modern physics.
In physics we call this kind of book "dumbing down" or "physics for dummies".
If you have zero respect for yourself, buy this book.
Otherwise get wise and get his Cosmology
and give into doing some intellectual work.
He wants us to cry over the Super Collider
and that Cern is now in control of the world's high energy physics research.
I say with books like he has written,
he is probably as responsible as anyone for people turning away.

Incomprehensible
Although I have little to no education in physics, chemistry or mathematics, I have an IQ of 140, a degree in law and I have read (and even written some) philosophy, so I don't usually have problems with conceptualizing. Having said that as background, as a layman, I found this book to be completely incomprehensible. Although not religious, it is as if Weinberg is speaking in tounges, droning on and on about every physics and chemistry concept and theory from antiquity to present, without ever pausing for a single moment to actually explain any of them. I dare anyone who does not have at least a basic grounding in physics to explain anything Weinberg has said about physics in this book. Weinberg makes much of the "whys" of science, but to me, the greatest unexplained "why" of this book is why was it published.

Excellent account of aging science
The view of the author that the current theories are the right path to the final theory is unrealistic. This approach implies that the final theory is some kind of complex mix of previous theories. The final theory requires new fundamental objects in which terms to obtain the modern knowledge as this is done in Eugene Savov&#8217;s book Theory of Interaction. The final theory has to be stunningly simple.

Very Good Overview of a Difficult Subject
Dreams of a final theory
I believe this book's main propose was the Author, a Nobel prize winning physicist attempting to weigh in for Congressional funding of the Superconducting Super- Collider(SSC).This book is like reading two books in one.The first part of the book had some very good writing about atomic particle research and excellent explanations of the experiments.It also contains the author's surprisingly optimistic view that the theories being currently developed are the beginning of the correct path that will lead science to the "final theory".The remainder of the book is a promotion of the field of particle physics to show that by reduction all the sciences can benefit and share in what is learned in particle physics. Chemistry, Biology, etc at their lowest levels operate at an atomic level.Also some philosophical musings.The author has a knack for explaining complicated ideas for the layman.

I like this book
Two chapters stand out to my mind: "Against Philosophy" and "What about God?"Weinberg makes a convincing case that philosophy has made little contribution to objective truth.He also says that he knows of no important scientist in the post-war period who has been substantially influenced by philosophy.One has to be careful here with the word "post-war" because it is well-known that people like Einstein and Heisenberg were very interested in philosophy.As to the chapter on religion, who is better qualified to talk about it than a great physicist like Weinberg who understands the origin of the universe better than almost anybody alive?He makes a forceful case for atheism (though he does not use this term).My only regret is that he doesn't encourage violence against religious fundamentalists and extremists, who are always prepared to use violence to advance their agenda.

Incidentally, Weinberg's belief that a final theory is near is too optimistic.Martin Rees has got it right: The advancement of science is like fractals - every little detail can be further enlarged to reveal far more, ad infinitum.Thus, the search for scientifc truth must be endless, and the dreams for a final theory are no more than that. ... Read more

Book Description
In this second volume of The Quantum Theory of Fields, available for the first time in paperback, Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg continues his masterly expoistion of quantum theory. Volume 2 provides an up-to-date and self-contained account of the methods of quantum field theory, and how they have led to an understanding of the weak, strong, and electromagnetic interactions of the elementary particles. The presentation of modern mathematical methods is throughout interwoven with accounts of the problems of elementary particle physics and condensed matter physics to which they have been applied. Exercises are included at the end of each chapter. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

The most authoritative book on QFT ever
Before Weinberg's books, a typical graduate student in theoretical physics would study the standard textbooks (e.g. Itzykson-Zuber, Peskin-Schroeder) to pass QFT courses. When confronted with actual research problems, he would discover that all he has learned is how to do calculations in perturbation theory, that he is unfamiliar with a host of ideas and techniques that are widely used in the present-day research literature and that he has to resort to original papers and reviews to learn them.

Weinberg's three-volume set drastically changed this situation, giving the most authoritative and complete presentation of QFT to appear in a textbook. Although it is not suitable for beginning graduate students, it is invaluable for covering all these topics that are typically omitted in QFT courses and for providing valuable insight missing from other textbooks.

The highlight of the set is Volume 2, which includes most topics where Weinberg has made his own invaluable contributions. In his inimitable style, Weinberg guides us through the great developments in QFT from the 1960's to the 1980's, including most topics that are essential for a working knowledge of modern QFT. The presentation is crystal clear throughout and every topic is presented in as much detail as it deserves. In particular, the chapters on spontaneously broken symmetries are simply masterpieces, the treatment of anomalies is the most complete ever, while the chapter on extended objects is a thorough overview of an ever-expanding subject. This book is a must for everyone working on theoretical physics.

If you appreciate Vol 1, you'll want Vol 2.
I have found this text extremely useful as a guide to the essentials of modern renormalization theory, as well as modern quantization techniques for Non-abelian gauge theories.The chapter on extended field configurations is nice, though it is meant as an overview and guide to the literature.What I like most about this volume is the discussion of experimental or phenomenological issues that complements many of the discussions.He has a broad base of knowledge in particle physics, as well as field theory.If you don't have volume 1, get that first.

Delightfully insightful
This book has some of the most exquisite expositions on the theoretical aspects of quantum field theory that you are ever likely to run into, i.e. Weinberg's name is literally stamped on every page for brilliance. There are topics treated here that are not likely to be found anywhere else, for instance Batalin-Vilkovisky Quantization. Weinberg's treatment of the proof of renormalizability is compact and yet very readable. And his chapter on anomalies is simply speaking the authortiative treatment. This book is a must have for anyone interested in the more theoretical aspects of Field Theory. Though I would recommed a few months with Peskin & Schroeder, and volume 1 of Weinberg to get the full flavour of Weinberg's treatment.

Excellent, despite some idiosyncracies
This is another gem of a book by Weinberg. The discussion is fairly modern at places (for instance nice discussion of BRST, BV Formalism, RG and Anomalies), but could have been more modern and compact in certain otherplaces (like chiral lagrangians, standard model etc.). However, even thoseparts are a pleasure to read. It is just that some other aspects could havebeen discussed (as I hope he does in the third volume), such as SUSY,especially QFT dualities. Anyway, an excellent book! ... Read more

Book Description
This book is unique in the detailed, self-contained, and comprehensive treatment that it gives to the ideas and formulas that are used and tested in modern cosmological research.It divides into two parts, each of which provides enough material for a one-semester graduate course.The first part deals chiefly with the isotropic and homogeneous average universe; the second part concentrates on the departures from the average universe. Throughout the book the author presents detailed analytic calculations of cosmological phenomena, rather than just report results obtained elsewhere by numerical computation.The book is up to date, and gives detailed accounts of topics such as recombination, microwave background polarization, leptogenesis, gravitational lensing, structure formation, and multifield inflation, that are usually treated superficially if at all in treatises on cosmology.Copious references to current research literature are supplied.Appendices include a brief introduction to general relativity, and a detailed derivation of the Boltzmann equation for photons and neutrinos used in calculations of cosmological evolution.Also provided is an assortment of problems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Ancient and Obsolete
The beauty of general relativity (GR) lies in the connection it provides between geometry and physics.Weinberg's algebraic approach completely obscures this connection.Instead Weinberg teaches how to crank through complex calculations without any insight or geometric intuition.It is a fairly good book when compared to Misner-Thorne-Wheeler (another ancient text).However, by modern standards, Weinberg's book leaves much to be desired.Having been published in 1972, the book lacks modern examples in cosmology and quantum gravity.It also lacks a proper introduction to differential geometry and makes no mention of topology or other mathematical ideas prevalent in current GR research.In the 35 years since its publication, it has been surpassed by many much better books.For an excellent introduction to GR, read Carroll's book.For a more rigorous study of GR read Wald's book.For an easy introduction to GR, read Schutz's book.

Unique,IdiosyncraticApproach
Flashback to 1979.I Purchased Weinberg's Gravitation book and
Misner,Thorne, Wheeler's Gravitation book, simultaneously. Back then it took four weeks to get hold of a book by mail. The waiting made it all the more special when the books finally arrived. I still have those same two worn copies. Still re-read each. Sure, they are different viewpoints of General Relativity.
But, how greatly they both enrich the world. Together, those two
books started a pedagogic revolution. Weinberg has no
equal,cherish this book. Cherish MTW, also.

A great book by a great physicist
This is the bestbook written on general relativity, and I have read or at least looked at nearly every one of them. It is better than Wald's book because Steven Weinberg is a better physicist than Robert Wald. The only people who will not be pleased with it are those mathematicians who are looking to physics for elegant mathematics and not for physical insight.

A virtue of this book is that so far as I can see Weinberg has thought through general relativity for himself, and he has worked through all of the derivations himself - certainly the ones that I have checked - rather than quoting others.
This is not always the case for books in physics. Weinberg is careful, and I have yet to find an error in the book.

Old book that is hostile to the spirt of G.R.
There was a time when this book was probably very authoritative and useful (though I can't see myself preferring it over Hawking and Ellis, even then).Put it out of your mind: that time is gone.There are a slew of much better, much more modern books out there.Furthermore, this book is written from a perspective that attempts to filter a huge chunk of the geometry out of G.R., sullying a lot of the beauty of Einstein's central idea.If you are interested in cosmology, you can do a lot better looking at Hawking and Ellis, or one of the more recent books that will, due to their newness, emphasize the numerous advances in cosmology since the 70s.If you are interested in Relativity, PLEASE look at Schutze (beginner) or at Wald (graduate).Don't waste time and energy on this book.

That being said, there are some interesting advanced topics here, and a few things that I haven't seen elsewhere.This can be a useful reference for a researching relativist.

Elegantly and concisely written
I used this book in a class taught by its author. That makes it hard to disentangle the experience of taking the class from the book itself. However, I found this far more readable that Misner, Thorne, & Wheeler's ponderous tome. As enjoyable as I found Taylor & Wheeler's Spacetime Physics (written in a similar style), MTW is leaden in contrast to Weinberg's text. I had no problem with the notation: the rules for manipulating indices are quite straightforward and easy to apply. Furthermore, this is the notation used in a variety of other applications of tensors, from electrodynamics to mechanics (stress and moment of inertia tensors), so get used to it. As other reviewers have observed, one cannot help but think that MTW could have been edited down considerably; Weinberg's book is much tighter. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Steven Weinberg isn't ashamed of science. Of course, as a Nobel winner in physics, he does have emotional capital invested in the enterprise, but most of his arguments are sound and compelling. Facing Up is a collection of his essays, written over 15 years, celebrating and defending mainstream science.Rising up against the cultural critics who insist that science is essentially politics or even imperialism dressed up in a white coat, he is patient and eloquent as he explains how their misreadings of scientific literature and their own preconceptions guide their reasoning. From mildly wonkish to endearingly passionate, his writing engages the reader's full attention regardless of cultural affiliation. Science lovers will adore Weinberg's unabashed boosterism, while skeptics can try to rise to his challenge. --Rob LightnerBook Description

In a recent New York Times profile, James Glanz remarked, "Steven Weinberg is perhaps the world's most authoritative proponent of the idea that physics is hurtling toward a 'final theory,' a complete explanation of nature's particles and forces that will endure as the bedrock of all science forevermore. He is also a powerful writer of prose that can illuminate--and sting...He recently received the Lewis Thomas Prize, awarded to the researcher who best embodies 'the scientist as poet.'" Both the brilliant scientist and the provocative writer are fully present in this book as Weinberg pursues his principal passions, theoretical physics and a deeper understanding of the culture, philosophy, history, and politics of science.

Each of these essays, which span fifteen years, struggles in one way or another with the necessity of facing up to the discovery that the laws of nature are impersonal, with no hint of a special status for human beings. Defending the spirit of science against its cultural adversaries, these essays express a viewpoint that is reductionist, realist, and devoutly secular. Each is preceded by a new introduction that explains its provenance and, if necessary, brings it up to date. Together, they afford the general reader the unique pleasure of experiencing the superb sense, understanding, and knowledge of one of the most interesting and forceful scientific minds of our era.

Customer Reviews (13)

Making Sense
This is an entertaining collection of essays that deftly clarify the value of science, and the pointlessness of many of the arguments of its critics.

With a sharp wit, and devastating common sense, Weinberg shines a light on the absurdities behind many of the post-modern ideas. He also tackles Kuhn, in many ways the source of much of the relativist confusion, with personal correspondence with him.

He offers valuable insight into the role and meaning of reductionism. He also points out the fact that reductionism and positivism, so often intertwined and confused by the critics, are more usually opposing forces.

He deals with a wide range of other topics including intelligent design, and the utopian fantasies of various types of idealist. In the end, I felt relieved to know that there are such minds of great clarity and common sense in the world. As much as fans of the irrationalist fad would claim to deny reality, this book reminds us that the world will always intrude on our fantasies, and reveal itself, if we allow it, to be more wonderful than our wildest imagination.

How science matters
The first thing to note is that Steven Weinberg is a physicist and he repeatedly points out that he is not a science historian, nor is he a philosopher of science. Nonetheless he appears to have a solid grip on the basics of those fields, at least so far as they pertain to physical science. And science is the topic of this book. Facing Up is, as he explains, both a literal statement and a figure of speech. Facing up means looking up, as did the ancient astronomers, or at least looking to observation and experiment and logic to make sense of the world. Less literally it means facing up to our responsibility to do all these things and to defend such actions properly. Thus the subtitle, Science and Its Cultural Adversaries.

What the reader will find between these two covers is not a single monograph but a reprinting of twenty-three essays of varying lengths and topics, but all (except one) dealing with issues in the performance of science. Science has enemies. Or at least opponents, but sometimes outright enemies. They may come from either the political right or the left. They take the form of religious fundamentalists and of postmodernists. They are people who believe that science insults God. They are people who believe that science is too arrogant to be true. Beyond these two extremes, however, Weinberg delves into debates within science, and here he spends considerable effort discussing the issue of reductionism. Simply put, that is the notion that all science can be expressed, at least conceptually, as the combined action of the smallest and most fundamental concepts. In other words, particle physics. This is the subject of debates within science far more than between science and the outside intellectual community. Primarily, these days, such debates are political and fiscal. Namely, who gets funding. As Weinberg points out (since this is not merely a political plea publication), such was not always the case, and here Weinberg's basic grasp of historical issues shows. An interesting example is turn of the century (the last century) physics. It was a common belief that physics was nearing an end, and nothing remained to be solved. Though this was partly based on the idea that new concepts were fewer and further between, it was supported by a fundamentally irreductionist point of view, namely, that chemistry and biology had their own fundamental laws separate from physics. That physics couldn't explain life or atomic bonding was not a mystery so much as it was a non-issue.

Reductionism. Sociology. Postmodernism. Religion. Deconstruction. All these concepts join in the interplay within science and between science and the rest of the world. Weinberg's point is to provide the reader with his thoughts on the subject going back over the past couple decades. He makes a coherent and good case for the importance of science in our culture and for the primacy of science within its domain. As he states clearly, he is willing to have a dialogue with religion; he is not willing to have a constructive dialogue. Both sides have made their mark on history and both sides can live with their legacy. The same sentiment, I think, can be made with all of science's adversaries. But in the end, for now, science will continue its trend of discovering the universe and will do so secure not necessarily from political defeats, but always from intellectual defeats at the hands of those who would do it harm.

Well written articles on the culture of Science
This book is a collection of essays that to a large extent share the theme in the title: Science and Its Cultural Adversaries.Of course, the title begins with the words "Facing Up" which to Weinberg has three meanings: looking upwards as an astronomer, facing up to the conclusions one derives, and looking upwards rather than downwards as if in prayer.

Well, who are the cultural adversaries of Science?Creationists?Certainly.But there are others.Weinberg agrees with most of the Creationists about truth being a value.The disagreement with them is about which side possesses it.There are others who attack the value of truth, including many multiculturalists.We Westerners say that the Milky Way is a Galaxy, our home Galaxy.That works for us.Mayan culture had the Milky Way as a river in the sky.That may have worked for them.Can Weinberg say that one belief is better than the other?He sure can.As he says, "Western astronomers got it right."

Weinberg criticizes some political attacks on truth as well.That's the point of his very short (about one page) article on Zionism.His point is not that anti-Zionists may tell specific lies as a means to some goal (such as winning a war).It is that, especially when he deals with fellow Western liberals, anti-Zionism is an attack on Western civilization and the culture of science in general, so that defeating truth as a whole becomes an anti-Zionist goal.It is also the point of his article about utopias, some of which idealize a world in which the cultural adversaries of Science are either right or victorious or both.

Still, the most interesting articles are on Reductionism.This is a philosophy of trying to explain phenomena in terms of a finite set of laws, describing something complex in terms of the less complex, and describing large numbers of obervations with just a few simple rules.It is not simply an act of trying to describe objects in terms of their components.For Weinberg, reductionism is an important part of scientific culture.

It's an intriguing and informative book, and I recommend it.

Made me smile and laugh out loud
I just graduated from UT in 2002, I've seen Weinberg once and have heard many stories about him. None of the stories are positive with the possible exception that he is too smart for his students to understand (although there is a quote in his book that shows he's been trying to improve "It never was true that only a dozen people could understand Einstein's papers on General Relativity, but if it had been true, It would have been a failure of Einstein's, not a mark of his brilliance." This is on page 141 responding to an extremely funny quote from a deconstructionist). I've read his Discovery of Subatomic Particles and The First Three Minutes. They were okay readings with good information especially the former. I thought I'd give him another try with Facing Up. I was pleasantly surprised of how funny he is. The humor is dry, but I couldn't help smiling and sometimes laughing at some of his comments about philosophers and religious leaders. Maybe this is because I agree with him; I can imagine someone getting mad at some of the things he says. In any case, this book really makes you think about some philosophical issues relating to science and its value to us.

Facing Up has to be turned down
I bought this book because it was touted as an imformed examination of the dialectic between science and its cultural adversaries. Science lost when I turned to essay 15 "Zionism and Its Adversaries". Here the author presents us with his distorted view of the reality of the Zionist project in Palestine. His negative comments regarding the October 2000 condemnation by the United Nations Security Council of Israeli violence against Palestinians in their Occupied Territories is especially offensive. Mr. Wienberg is ill-informed and wrongfully chooses to use his book billed as about science to propagandize for the Zionist project. The reader who paid for his book deserves far better. ... Read more

Book Description
Available for the first time in paperback, The Quantum Theory of Fields is a self-contained, comprehensive, and up-to-date introduction to quantum field theory from Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg. The first volume introduces the foundations of quantum field theory, the second volume examines modern applications, and finally, the third volume presents supersymmetry, an area of theoretical physics likely to be at the center of progress in the physics of elementary particles and gravitation. The development is fresh and logical throughout, with each step carefully motivated by what has preceded. The presentation of modern mathematical methods is interwoven with accounts of applications in both elementary particle and condensed matter physics. The three volumes contain much original material, and are enhanced with examples and insights drawn from the author's experience as a leader of elementary particle research. Hb ISBN (1995) Vol.1 0-521-55001-7 Hb ISBN (1996) Vol.2 0-521-55002-5 Hb ISBN (1996) Vols. 1 & 2 Set 0-521-58555-4 Hb ISBN (2000) Vol.3 0-521-66000-9 HB ISBN (2000) Vols. l-3 Set 0-521-78082-9 ... Read more

Book Description
Developing a theory that seamlessly combines relativity and quantum mechanics, the most important conceptual breakthroughs in twentieth century physics, has proved to be a difficult and ongoing challenge. Thisbook details how two distinguished physicists and Nobel laureates have explored this theme in two lectures given in Cambridge, England, in 1986 to commemorate the famous British physicist Paul Dirac. Given for nonspecialists and undergraduates, the talks transcribed in Elementary Particles and the Laws of Physics focus on the fundamental problems of physics and the present state of our knowledge. Professor Feynman examines the nature of antiparticles, and in particular the relationship between quantum spin and statistics. Professor Weinberg speculates on how Einstein's theory of gravitation might be reconciled with quantum theory in the final law of physics. Highly accessible, deeply thought provoking, this book will appeal to all those interested in the development of modern physics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Tougher than the Lectures on Physics
When I readThe Feynman Lectures on Physics including Feynman's Tips on Physics: The Definitive and Extended Edition, I was hoping to understand the reasoning behind the exclusion principle, and was disappointed to find that RPF felt that this was too complex for undergraduates, so he asked them to take it on faith for the moment.

Here he is talking to a more advanced audience, and explains it - he was right, it's tough.I'm still struggling to understand it, but I have confidence that this is a good book to help.

[Added nearly a year later] Having reread the book several times, I finally understand Feynman's lecture!As is often the case, once I understand the principle, I see relationships to various other things I had not fully understood before.

I should also comment on Weinberg's lecture: he's talking about more speculative areas than Feynman, which is perhaps one reason I found him less enlightening than Feynman, but in a rather vague way I follow what he's saying.Certainly these are fascinating ideas, but they don't sing to me like Feynman's lecture.

Recommended
From Richard Feynman, with love. Need more to be said? Read it, and read it again. This one can be read all over again once in a while and does not get boring.

Great Lectures.Requires Math Background.
This short book, Elementary Particles and the Laws of Physics, offers two lectures: Richard Feynman's The Reason for Antiparticles and Steven Weinberg's Toward the Final Laws of Physics. These two talks comprise the 1986 Dirac Memorial lectures at Cambridge University. Both presentations are cogently structured and make fascinating reading.

The talks were directed at an advanced audience, one that was familiar with quantum mechanics. Unlike many popular presentations by Feynman and Weinberg, these lectures are not suitable for the general layman.

However, these lectures are accessible to a persistent (perhaps, stubborn) layman with a calculus background and a deep interest in particle physics. I am not a physicist, but I did take my share of physics, chemistry, and math courses several decades ago. I encountered Schrodinger's equation in more than one class, but not relativistic quantum mechanics. However, having recently read Bruce Schumm's wonderful review of particle physics (titled Deep Down Things), I was sufficiently motivated to work my way through both Dirac memorial lectures.

Richard Feynman's lecture, The Reason for Antiparticles, is decidedly the more difficult. Feynman first demonstrates that quantum mechanics and relativity together require the existence of antiparticles, and then shows that they also establish the spin-statistics connection. Within a few pages advanced mathematical expressions appear and then persistently stay in the foreground for nearly the entire talk.

Although understanding Feynman's mathematics is critical for a full and deep appreciation of his exposition, with careful, repeated readings the stubborn layman will have sudden moments of enlightenment and can come away with a deeper understanding of antiparticles and spin statistics.For readers engaged in some self-tutorial readings, it may prove helpful to return occasionally to this classic Feynman lecture to qualitatively measure progress.I have no doubt that, on a deeper level, Feynman's lecture will similarly challenge and enlighten physics majors as well.

Steven Weinberg discusses his speculations on the shape of a final underlying theory of particle physics.Initially, his talk is deceptively easy as few mathematical expressions are used.However, about midway a Lagrangian density equation appears, ratcheting the difficulty several notches, as Weinberg considers a theoretical framework based on quantum mechanics and a few symmetry principles, that is also mathematically consistent with the Lagrangian dynamical principle. After discussion of some limitations of the Standard Model, Weinberg concludes his talk with a somewhat mathematical introduction to string theory.

Physics by two of the very best!
As usual, the best physics books are short and to the point, as is this one. The two Dirac lectures may serve as a perfectly good mini physics course all by themselves.I always enjoy a Feynman lecture, and this isno exception. He cuts to the chase without sacrificing the plot. But, Imust say, in this case the Wienberg lecture is the better of the two.Weinberg's style has a particular grace & beauty about it that gentlyexposes the aesthetic meaning of the search for a picture of nature.

Two of the best give great insight into fundamentals.
Feynman yet again gives great insight into the laws of physics, this time exploring the reasons for existence of anti-particles, starting from the dirac equation etc.. Plus some really outstanding photographs, that fellaWeinberg will be chuffed to have his name mentioned on the book cover! ... Read more

Book Description
Provides an introduction to the field of dark matter studies and othertopics in astrophysics. Chapter topics include a discussion ofgravitational lenses, an introduction to inflation, and dark matter incosmology. Previous edition not cited. Softcover, hardcover not available. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Nobel Laureate explains the beginnings of time
This short book is very accessible to smart high school level or undergrad level people interested in cosmology. Narry an equation nor 'physics jargon' to be found anywhere. Not even any latent promotion of "big science," experimental rather than theoretical physics. Weinberg was one of the big proponents of the Super Collider.

Given Weinberg's credentials, I am confident that this book is accurate and true to the time it was written. Much work (and observation) has been achieved since then. Check out the magazine "Sky and Telescope" for news, articles, and wonderful images from space telescopes (Hubble, Chandra, others) to get updates on news about the early time of the cosmos.

This book is a clear, led-by-the-hand but not patronizing tour of how the cosmos got started, who the major theorists were if you want to do further reading (such as Alan Guth's Inflation theory, which I will get to someday. It's not as easy to read) and is well written, too. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of Steven Weinberg, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 2777 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Book Description
Since Robert Oppenheimer called the first Shelter island conference in 1947 to consolidate the advances in theoretical physics made during the war and to chart a course for the development of a "pure" physics far removed from defense applications, physics appears once again to have reached a critical juncture. Shelter Island II held at that same remote inn off the Eastern tip of Long Island documents the proceedings of the 1983 Shelter Island Conference on Quantum Field Theory and the Fundamental Problems of Physics, calling for a new consolidation and consensus on the directions of future research.

Shelter Island II brings together an international constellation of leading theoreticians, including some of the most intellectually vigorous of the younger physicists and almost all of the living participants in the first conference, a number of them now Nobel laureates. It provides a historical overview and recollections of the first conference, whose proceedings were never published, reviews the major developments in quantum field theory and cosmology over the subsequent 36 years, and identifies the most promising paths for future exploration. A number of the contributions present significant new results. Among the topics discussed are the new inflationary universe scenario, supersymmetry, "The Cosmological Constant Is Probably Zero" (Stephen Hawking), superunification and the seven-sphere, time as a dynamical variable, induced gravity, and an extensive and previously unpublished paper by Edward Witten on KaluzaKlein theories.

The contributors are Stephen L. Adler, Hans Bethe, M. J. Duff, Murray Gell-Mann, Alan. Guth, Stephen W. Hawking, R. Jackiw, Toichiro Kinoshita, W E. Lamb, Jr., T D. Lee, A. D. Linde, R. E. Marshak, Y Nambu, K. Nishijima, John H. Schwarz, Silvan S. Schweber, I. M. Singer, Steven Weinberg, Victor Weisskopf, P. C. West, Edward Witten, and Bruno Zumino.

Editors Jackiw, Khuri, Weinberg, and Witten are respectively affiliated with MIT, Rockefeller University, the University of Texas, and Princeton. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from American Scholar, published by Phi Beta Kappa Society on June 22, 1999. The length of the article is 465 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Is the Universe Designed?(Brief Article)
Author: Steven Weinberg
Publication: American Scholar (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 1999
Publisher: Phi Beta Kappa Society
Volume: 68Issue: 3Page: 160

Article Type: Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description
Philosophy/Ancient Wisdom/Enlightenment/Ramtha ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Ramtha
I had read the book of Ramtha for almost 20 years ago. Since then I continued to buy somemore of these books to give away. My spirit was reborn since I met Ramtha 20 years ago. It is growing up over the years from his teaching. I am a student of Ramtha School of Enlightment (RSE). He taught me how to love. He told me who I AM and He gave me the knowledge of immortality.
Yes, life is illusion but we need the reflection of life lessons in order to gain wisdom. If you are search for answers, if you love magic, if you love science of quantumn physics, and if you want to know how to manifest from nothingness into materials before your eyes, finally if you want to know how to time travel and unfold space, come to school (RSE). Please contact me at teresafeichan@yahoo.com or write to www.ramtha.com for free package of introduction of RSE.

Life Changing
This is THE book to read for an introduction to Ramtha and his teachings. It talks about his lifetime and the basic principles regarding the core of his message. There isn't room to explain much more than that, because he's so detailed with the basics of his message. There's a part that goes over the beginning of all creation. It's rather technical and complicated, but if you read it over more than once you'll get it.

For information on Ramtha's School of Enlightenment, where he teaches us all how to eventually become ascended masters, visit http://www.ramtha.com.

Impossible to put down!
If you're thinking of purchasing Ramtha, be prepared for everything in your life to change (I believe for the better, but that's just my opinion).Once you pick it up, you won't be able to put it down, and after, you'll never have the same unconsciousness again.You'll be more awake; more aware (for some people, that's not a good thing). If you are a universal truth junkey, like myself, then Ramtha will fit in perfectly with your collection of other spiritual reads. If you are a novice, then I have one question for you... Did you see the movie, The Matrix? Remember when Keaneau Reeves took the blue pill?That's what this book is... the blue pill.Before you buy, make sure you're ready to peek behind the curtains of "life."

A few quotes from the book.
I was shocked to see no reviews of Ramtha. I read this a few years ago. He is one of my favorite teachers. Determine for yourself if you think you might be interested in reading Ramtha.

"Do you know what "the" truth is? That there is none.There being none means that everything is."-From Chapter 12, which is entitled "Nothing But Truth".

"You are the only creation that is directly of God. Everything else you have created by thinking and feeling it into being."-From Chapter 8, which is entitled "Creation and Evolution".

"The more you love yourself, the more your brain is opened up. Then you are becoming more than your body. You are becoming that which holds you together."-From Chapter 19, which is entitled "Opening the Mind".

"You have the ability to know all that is, for everything there is to know is in the Great Consciousness of God, and the Mind of God beats like a heart to pump it to you."-From Chapter 17, which is entitled "The Science of Knowing."

A must for every individual seeking self-enlightenment
As a seeker of Spiritual Truth and a Medium/Teacher who conducts workshops on Sp. Enlightenment; I have found RAMTHA closest to my heart.When givena copy a few years ago, it 'shook me to my roots'.It was as though I hadexperienced a look into my own life and yes, 'I tingled from head to toe'. RAMTHA has been a constant companion on our (my wife Beatrice and I)travels.I have quoted excerpts from these pages so eloquently writtenand, like arrows shot from the bow of a marksman, most have struck thetarget.It has been a wonderful experience to see how these words havestruck home to my students.IT HAS MADE THEM THINK.IT HAS MADE THEMBECOME MORE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN ACTIONS.I thoroughly recommend itThe best answer for any query about the book must surely be "Try itfor yourself - life is individual, not all are ready for it". ... Read more