Book Description
This best-selling title provides in one handy volume the essential mathematical tools and techniques used to solve problems in physics. It is a vital addition to the bookshelf of any serious student of physics or research professional in the field. The authors have put considerable effort into revamping this new edition.

* Updates the leading graduate-level text in mathematical physics
* Provides comprehensive coverage of the mathematics necessary for advanced study in physics and engineering
* Focuses on problem-solving skills and offers a vast array of exercises
* Clearly illustrates and proves mathematical relations

New in the Sixth Edition:
* Updated content throughout, based on users' feedback
* More advanced sections, including differential forms and the elegant forms of Maxwell's equations
* A new chapter on probability and statistics
* More elementary sections have been deleted ... Read more

Customer Reviews (56)

Great Reference+
Arfken and Weber is a wonderful reference text covering a large number of topics that are not too easy to understand at first glance.I think of it as kind of a 'bridge' between Abromowitz and Stegun on one side and Jackson on the other.Most purely physics books do not explain how the mathematics is developed, instead assuming that the reader already has some kind of familiarity with the subject in advance.On the other hand, most purely mathematics books are far too abstract to be of immediate use to the physicist.Arfken and Weber develop enough of the mathematics to give the reader the gist of how the arguments go, then present a number of good problems to practice the techniques.

Many of the other reviews of this book are very low - especially from students attempting to learn the material for the first time, presumably without a good teacher.I will admit that this would be a very daunting task!However, the material is quite accessible once the student gets the hang of it.This book has been one of the most prized volumes on my shelves for the better part of 10 years.The sections on special functions are especially useful, and I really like the way that interesting and important functions permeate the book rather then being trapped in their own chapter.This gives the reader a sense of how all of the topics are interrelated rather than separate entities.I do understand how it would be very confusing to a student trying to learn the material for the first time, however.As a textbook, this book is best used with a teacher who directs students to specific problems associated with the material being covered in class so that the class can fill in the holes.

The fourth edition does have a large number of typos - some in complicated equations where they can lead to problems for the unsuspecting student.I wonder if this is the source of some of the negative reviews..I can only hope that the sixth edition contains less of these...

All in all, a great reference that uncovers some of the 'secrets' associated with the formulas found in Abromowitz and Stegun. I find it fun to sit down with AMS-55 and try to derive some of the relations found therein after reading a section in Arfken and Weber.Maybe that's just me...If all you need is a formula book, pick up a paperback copy of AMS-55 and save yourself $60 or more.If you want to have a deep understanding of the mathematics behind it, take seven or eight graduate level courses from the mathematics department at a respectable university (good luck learning the ins and outs of the special functions...!).If you just want to see how the functions and techniques are used in practice and to explore some of their properties, this book is for you.

Waste of money
This book is the epitome of useless texts.I used this book for graduate mathematical physics as well as the "essential" version for undergraduate math methods.I have yet to learn a single thing from this book or find it remotely useful as a reference.

The explanations range from non-existent to shockingly awful to terribly incomplete.

It appears that the authors simply vomited a collection of formulas into a word processor and sold it as a textbook. Mathematical Methods of Physics (2nd Edition) is much better.

excelent deal
I appreciate the quick delivery of the book! I received it on the first dayof the estimated time interval. I enjoy shopping at amazon.com!

Why Is This Textbook So Widely Used?
I am a graduate physics student with a strong mathematical background.This is the textbook used for our 2 semester course in mathematical methods for physics.The book is massive, both in content and physical weight. The cover is attractive and the printing seems to be fairly high quality.Now comes the difficult part of the review: finding other positive comments.First of all, I have only used a few chapters of the book thus far, so my comments pertain only to those.Some difficulties I have found...There are no answers to any exercises making the book fairly useless for self-study.The material is very uneven, as if each section was written by a different author (graduate student?).The explanations and examples are mediocre at best (contrast with the Mary Boas book).There are MANY typos - what ever happened to proof reading?The class INSTRUCTOR doesn't like the book, but is forced to use it by the department, and has regularly emailed the authors with corrections and recommendations.None of the students in the class like the book.You may be forced to use this book, but I would recommend other books as supplements (e.g., the book by Mary Boas and several in the Schaum Outline Series).

Consider it for what it is
This is a 1000 page supplement to other textbooks or courses, and works best when combined with an instructor that knows the material in depth.Personally, this book was a required text for an intro to theoretical physics class that I took a few years ago, and combined with the instructor's lectures that were partially supplemented by other authors (Boas), I learned quite a bit.

Now I am in graduate school and I am still coming back to this book as a solid reference for bessel (and other special) functions, complex variables, etc.This book has many problems, a lot of them have solutions, and most of the time you can determine for yourself if you have the correct answer.I would say a great strength of this book is the difficulty of the problems.Sure, it will take some time to work through them to a solid solution, but in doing the problems in Arfken and Weber I've found I had more depth in understanding after finding solutions.Other textbooks will have loads of problems all with very little differences.You have to actually think to solve the problems contained within this book, which will sharpen your mind for quickly solving problems that you otherwise might not attempt.At least that has been my experience. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (6)

A paradoxical play about physicists

Friedrich Duerrenmatt appended "21 Points to THE PHYSICISTS," and in Point 14 he insisted that, "A drama about physicists must be paradoxical." His next point stated that, "It cannot have as its goal the content of physics but its effect." Duerrenmatt's 1962 play (which was translated into English from the original German in 1963 and then appeared on Broadway) succeeds most memorably by adhering to these two points (and his other nineteen which are printed in this edition as well).

THE PHYSICISTS features three characters who make claims to being the famed physicists Newton, Einstein and Moebius. These three toddle into the action as unpredictably as individual gas molecules move in a heated, sealed container as the play utilizes bizarre happenings in an old section of a sanitarium to examine the potential destructive power of physics (and by extension, all branches of science) and the moral and ethical dilemmas arising from that. Plot twists and turns abound as the main characters -- and some minor ones -- change like chameleons and the contexual frame of reference is turned repeatedly on its head.

THE PHYSICISTS will soon reach the half-century mark, but its themes continue to be relevant as twenty-first century scientists and the public at large confront an ever widening arena of scientific "advances" that could conceivably unleash immense, even catastrophic, repercussions. As Duerrenmatt says in Point 19, "Within the paradoxical appears reality." Within the play, one can see truths for our times.

Anyone who has seen or read the more recent plays COPENHAGEN or PROOF will probably find THE PHYSICISTS a great read.

Uniquely Playful, Entertaining, Suspenseful, and Thoughtful
Three physicists have been confined to a very expensive posh mental institution, Les Cerisiers. Herbert George Beutler says he is Isaac Newton, but he knows that he is really Einstein. He adopted the guise of Newton to avoid upsetting another patient, Ernst Heinrich Ernesti, who claims he is Einstein. The third, Johann Wilhelm Mobius is himself.As a long term patient, he enjoys frequent visions of King Solomon.

I had the great fortune of knowing little about the plot. I was continuously entertained by the playful unraveling of a murder mystery. I urge you to avoid learning more. The imagination of Durrenmatt is quite remarkable. He weaves an entertainingly unpredictable story.

This short play warrants reading more than once, even more than twice, as the Swiss playwright Friedrich Durrenmatt not only entertains us, but explores fundamental questions regarding the role of science in modern society.The Physicists was written in 1962 when the world faced the possibility of nuclear war at any moment. The Physicists has been produced at the London Royal Court Theatre, on Broadway, and by many university theatre departments. I intend to become acquainted with the plays of Friedrich Durrenmatt.

Scientific Responsibility and the Inevitability of Ideas
I originally read this play some time ago while studying German in college and it is one of the few works from those years that has "stuck with me".In fact I still have the German language edition that I used at that time.
As other reviewers have said, one of the central themes of this work is the degree of responsibility that scientists have to humanity or something called "the public".Having worked for over twenty years now as a nuclear scientist, I can definitely say that at times the desire for knowledge can override the consideration of all the possible uses of a given technology.The question them becomes, can an idea be "unthought"?This secondary theme of the book is intertwined with the theory of the inevitability of ideas at a given time and place.
The translation by Kirkup is quite good as compared to the original German version that I have.Though the expository style (some very long dialogs) may be a bit daunting at times, stick with it.This play is a philosophical discussion, not a Hollywood action film.

what you Americans call a pageturner
I want all of you to read this play. It is weird butfascinating, surprising and just brilliant. Get to know Germanliterature at one of its best!

Excellent commentary and thought-provoking!
Durrenmatt's play provides an excellent and thought-provoking critique on the role of modern science and technology in human affairs.Is science responsible to humanity?If we deem specific knowledge "harmful", how can we hope to prevent its discovery?If the knowledge does exist, how do we prevent its misuse?This is a play that is incredibly relevant in an age plagued with similar issues in genetic engineering and cloning.I'd highly recommend the German translation. ... Read more

Book Description
After reviewing the basic concept of general relativity, this introduction discusses its mathematical background, including the necessary tools of tensor calculus and differential geometry. These tools are used to develop the topic of special relativity and to discuss electromagnetism in Minkowski spacetime. Gravitation as spacetime curvature is introduced and the field equations of general relativity derived. After applying the theory to a wide range of physical situations, the book concludes with a brief discussion of classical field theory and the derivation of general relativity from a variational principle. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (9)

Excellent if you have some background beforehand
This is an excellent book if you have a little background beforehand of the topics covered in this book. Though authors try to cover the topics right from the beginning and they do it quite well, I couldn't benefit much from it as I had not studied the topics covered in this book before. I had to go back to the text books to study each of the topics and then I hope to come back to the book again. I really wouldn't blame the authors, as the topics they are trying to cover in one chapter are full fledged one-semester courses each. It is not easy to cover one semester course in one chapter.
The bottomline is - There is no way to by-pass your undergrad textbooks. if you've studied those before, this book will work very good for you.

readable and elegant account of mathematical physics
Dennery and Krzywicki is somewhat unusual in the sense that it puts noticeable emphasis on the mathematical formalism and it
strives to give a broader picture of each topic instead of tedious algebraic manipulations for solving certain special problems that might not be of interest to everyone.

Moreover, the authors do not try to cover a very broad spectrum of topics and rather focus on the formal aspects of fewer mathematical subjects. Altoughthe book`s lacking of sections on group theory and differential geometry might be seen as glaring omissions, it excels didactically in all the topics it touches upon. Especially, its treatment of complex analysis and orthogonal polynomials is absolutely exceptional.

For those who want to have a reference work that contains almost every standard topic at senior undergraduate/beginning graduate level while not taking the mathematical elegance and rigor as a priority, Arfken`s text would be a better choice. For more advanced and up-to-date account of mathematical methods, I would recommend Hassani`s (Mathematical Physics) or Szekeres`s texts.

All in all, I find this text as an excellent work on graduate level mathematical physics and refer it constantly for my work.

Too much in too-little space.
I would only recommend this book to people already fairly well-versed in the topics it covers.In this book, the authors attempt to cover FAR TOO MUCH material for such a short text.As a result, the reader ends up confused and with a feeling that the author isn't telling them NEARLY everything he knows, even about the basics.The book's coverage of complex analysis is truly pitiful, and I would recommend A Course of Modern Analysis by Whittaker and Watson, even at the much higher 60 dollar price, as a useful source on this topic.Concerning such topics as Lebesgue integration, Hilbert Space, and orthonormal bases--consult good books on real-analysis and/or functional analysis rather than this book.Perhaps the author's greatest mistake is the book's complete lack of excercizes and it's few-and-far-between, weak examples of applications to problems.That said, the reason I still gave this book three stars is that it is good in one way--namely, as a reference for those who already know the material.

A very good book
I strongly recommend this book! I am university lecturer and I was using it over recent years as a main source for the course
"Mathematical Methods in Physics". The material is well chosen,
supplemented with good examples which illustrate interesting and
non-trivial issues in an accessible for a student way.
It is a safe and a good buy!

There is a better book
I recommend getting Mathematics of Classical and Quantum Physics by Byron and Fuller (also from Dover). You'll get more (quantity and quality) for your money. Mathematics For Physicists just isn't very good, poorly written compared to Math. of C. and Q. Physics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

50 years ahead of its time
Written for the layperson, with appendices for the scientist, this is without a doubt the most profound book I have ever read. And despite being written nearly 40 years ago, it is still at the cutting edge.

An intriguing study backed with scientific percision
It's hard to easily categorize this title: a blend of psychology, physics, and spirituality written by a research psychologists, this develops his ideas on parallels between views of modern field theory and world-views of mystics. His focus on 'facts that do not fit' offers new insights on human abilities and potentials, describing the experiments which lead to his change of view, and his theory of the paranormal. An intriguing study backed with scientific percision.

Accessibly written for the non-specialist general reader
The Medium, The Mystic, And The Physicist: Toward A General Theory Of the Paranormal by psychologist, educator, and author Lawrence LeShan is a New Age book that persuasively presents evidence of psychic abilities, and seeks to draw together the views and science of mediums, mystics, and physicists alike. A extended contemplation of holistic theory, The Medium, The Mystic, And The Physicist transcends the tendency that people of different religious, spiritual, and scientific viewpoints and experiences have all to often been shortsightedly led to scorn one another. Accessibly written for the non-specialist general reader, The Medium, The Mystic, And The Physicist is a unique and very welcome contribution to Psychology and Metaphysical Studies reading lists.

A Very Important Book on healing and meditation
This genius book is Le Shan's exploration into methods of healing that use meditation, and/or prayer. I want to re-read the book and review it after, but it is aremarkable pieve of work by a great psychologist who hasworked for years on the psychodynamics of cancer.I read it years ago andhave,as a psychotherapist, used it many times to help heal individuals (andtwo dogs). It's powerful stuff..and important work for the future ofholistic medicine. Every therapist, physician and minister should read itcover to cover.I am a New york city psychotherapist, writer.

My name isMilton Haynes, CSW

A Very Important Book on healing and meditation
This genius book is Le Shan's exploration into methods of healing that use meditation, and/or prayer. I want to re-read the book and review it after, but it is aremarkable pieve of work by a great psychologist who hasworked for years on the psychodynamics of cancer.I read it years ago andhave,as a psychotherapist, used it many times to help heal individuals (andtwo dogs). It's powerful stuff..and important work for the future ofholistic medicine. Every therapist, physician and minister should read itcover to cover.I am a New york city psychotherapist, writer.

My name isMilton Haynes, CSW ... Read more

Book Description
Here is a lively history of modern physics, as seen through the lives of thirty men and women from the pantheon of physics. William H. Cropper vividly portrays the life and accomplishments of such giants as Galileo and Isaac Newton, Marie Curie and Ernest Rutherford, Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr, right up to contemporary figures such as Richard Feynman, Murray Gell-Mann, and Stephen Hawking. We meet scientists--all geniuses--who could be gregarious, aloof, unpretentious, friendly, dogged, imperious, generous to colleagues or contentious rivals.As Cropper captures their personalities, he also offers vivid portraits of their great moments of discovery, their bitter feuds, their relations with family and friends, their religious beliefs and education. In addition, Cropper has grouped these biographies by discipline--mechanics, thermodynamics, particle physics, and others--each section beginning with a historical overview. Thus in the section on quantum mechanics, readers can see how the work of Max Planck influenced Niels Bohr, and how Bohr in turn influenced Werner Heisenberg.Our understanding of the physical world has increased dramatically in the last four centuries. WithGreat Physicists, readers can retrace the footsteps of the men and women who led the way. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Highly recommended
This is an excellent book. Cropper must have put an enormous effort into researching and writing this 500 page, large format paperback, which has been nicely printed on white paper. At its current price of$12.97 an incredible bargain.

At first glance this book appears to be sort of a strange hybrid of biography and science, but the combo works. Cropper generally starts a chapter on a scientist with a few page biographical sketch followed by a longer, clearly written, physics section. I would estimate that the book is about 70% physics and about 30% biographical. The biographical sections are well done and interesting, but the book really shines in its overview of the physics.

Cropper covers 30 scientists with many of them in thermodynamics and atomic physics. Reading these sections you not only get a good overview of the science at a moderate technical level (a notch or two above the usual popular science writing level since Cropper is not afraid of using equations), but also you get an historical understanding of who did what and how their contributions fit together. Another plus is that Cropper will often describe in some detail how a key experiment has been done.

As a technical person (like a previous reviewer, I am an engineer), not only did I learn a lot from this book about how many of the secrets of this world have been discovered, but some of the gaps in my physics knowledge were filled in. Cropper set himself a big task to write an overview of much of physics, but he has pulled it off with style.

Great Book!
This is the best book I have read about the human side of physicists. Although, I have a Masters degree in physics, you don't need to be a practicing scientist to throughly enjoy the contents of this wonderful work. Cropper did an outstanding writing job.

Whata wonderful book!
I've picked up many books over the years telling the stories of great scientists, but this is the only book of this type that I couldn't put down.I am a degreed engineer, nowworking in computers, with physics as a hobby.The coverage of Thermodynamics, which I have studied extensively, was fascinatingly rich and accessible. The complexity of other topics, such as nuclear physics, of which I know little, was surprizingly clear.

My curiosity attracts me to picking up compilations such as this, but I usually find them disjunct and uninteresting.Mr. Cooper has done an amazing job of weaving a coherent story of the lives of these fascinating characters spanning a history of 400 years. ... Read more

Book Description
This textbook provides an accessible and comprehensive account of fluid dynamics that emphasizes fundamental physical principles and stresses connections with other branches of physics. Beginning with a basic introduction, the book goes on to cover many topics not typically treated in texts, such as compressible flow and shock waves, sound attenuation and bulk viscosity, solitary waves and ship waves, thermal convection, instabilities, turbulence, and the behavior of anisotropic, non-Newtonian and quantum fluids. Undergraduate or graduate students in physics or engineering who are taking courses in fluid dynamics will find this book invaluable. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

This is how textbooks should be written
This book is a page-turner.I originally picked it up while studying for a postgraduate course on shock waves, but soon decided that I wanted to know more about the various other topics Faber discusses: gravity waves, vorticies, etc.I ended up reading the majority of the book, just for fun!The pleasure of reading this book is aided further by some marvelous photographs of the various phenomena.

This book's great strength is that it presents the physics of the situations without getting bogged down in the mathematical details.(As for the symbol definitions, I was initially annoyed by that--until I realised that all symbols are conveniently defined on the inside cover.After I realised this, it was much faster to find symbol definitions in this text than any other I've used, where one usually has to flick through entire chapters looking for the definition.)

There are plenty of highly mathematical books on fluid dynamics; this isn't one of them, and I dare anyone to gain physical insight on how fluids behave by staring at chapters filled with partial differential equations.There is more to life than derivations.That said, all the results which I needed were fully derived, so it's not fair to say that this book presents the math poorly.It just isn't the book's focus, and rightly so.

Thus, I have to disagree with both of the other reviewers.I was using the book as an introductory text, and (although I had others) I found it made an excellent stand-alone source.For my situation (having little knowledge of fluid dynamics and wanting to get the necessary background to study a certain phenomena, shock waves, in great depth) this book was invaluable.I would highly recommend it to anyone who's interested in the physics of fluids.

A Book With A Different Purpose
I felt compelled to write a more favorable review of this book after reading the 1 star review. Actually I can not only sympathize with the other reviewer (from Singapore) but totally agree with that person. This book is not an introductory text, nor is it really a good stand alone reference. It really is weak on the development of the mathematics for any particular fluid situation discussed. It would be an absolutely terrible place to learn fluid mechanics. However it is good at discussing the mechanisms behind the phenomena. Many books offer equation after equation without a very good explanations; this book offers good explanation after explanation without very good equations. Thus for me I see it as a companion text.

It has its welcome place on my shelf with reason. It covers a lot of fluid phenomena not found in an intro text in what I would call a quick and dirty way.

For example - hydraulic jump. An intro text might have a section on this and would explain it in terms of energy arguments etc.. However the Faber book approachs the problem from a completely different angle and discusses the hyperbolic nature of little waves travelling on top of big waves and discusses the underlying reason why the waves gather on top of each other to form one breaking wave front.

Another example - Taylor vorticies and Benard convection (rotationl flow and natural convection) are treated together because they have the same underlying Raleigh instability - an insight skipped by most texts.

I would recommend this book for people in the field of fluid mechanics for the long haul that also happen to be book collectors. I would also recommend it for any corporate library where fluids are studied.

Redefines 'reading between the lines'
This is one of the most confusing and discouraging physics textbooks I've ever read.Faber has an annoying habit of using symbols without properly defining what they are, or only defining them much later in the text, which leads to extreme confusion and frustration.Furthermore, he covers the topics in a wierd order, making it extremely hard to compartmentalise information, especially if you're a first-time reader (to fluid dynamics).What exasperated me most was the fact that Faber simply dumped equations on me without properly deriving them.Faber set out to write a comprehensive book on fluid dynamics for physicists, but in my opinion has come out short.Way short. ... Read more

Book Description
This book is aimed at graduate students in physics who are studying grouptheory & its application to physics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Outstanding, still fresh after a generation
It was a bit of a shock for me to read this book, because I had already been exposed to the random walks idea long before I found it.I had already learned about Black-Scholes-Merton and had read about "The Holes in Black-Scholes" (that's the name of a paper by Fischer Black).But here we have a physicist who dissected the ideas of economists (mostly statistical ideas) in the 1960s and 1970s, and anticipated a lot of what has been done since.

Osborne repeatedly picks at assumptions that have tripped up those who blindly misapply BSM, such as the idea of "continuous markets".His section on market making is better than anything else I have read on the subject (though I have not been able to find much on this subject).It illustrates that market makers create the illusion of continuity on a price chart, and for them to function the way they do, the market either must have "down time" or they must be able to halt the market occasionally and restart it (or both).

This book is very rough: it's a collection of lecture notes, and the pictures are drawn by hand.This will make any reader uncomfortable who insists on having everything look like it came out of PowerPoint or Mathematica.Younger readers who don't remember what life was like before computers were common would probably find it quaint.

Careful empiricism instead of the usual 'econo-logic'
Osborne was a physicist who observed that stock prices appear to be distributed lognormally. Mandelbrot pointed out a year later (1963) that this can't be true, that price distributions look Paretian, haveexponentially decaying tails with infinite standard deviation. However, noone has yet been able to turn Mandelbrot's observation about asymptotics ofmarket prices into trading rules (what are the dynamics?). In contrast, theBlack-Scholes model, the mathematics of derivatives and option-pricing,follows from the lognormal approximation (see Hull, e.g.). Traders who makemoney apparently don't use academic option pricing theory (it underpricesout of the money trades), but texts and scads of academic papers arewritten using it because no one knows how to do anything else yet.

Lognormality is the last part of Osborne's book. The first chapters areeven more interesting. There, Osborne tears the `mathemology' ofSamuelson's Economics text to shreds by pointing out that the famoussupply-demand curve can't be constructed from any sort of data. The mainpoint is that price does not exist as a function of either supply ordemand. Example: suppose that 25 tomatoes are available (supply). What'sthe price? Answer: anything or nothing (nonuniqueness). Even better,Osborne shows that one can obtain data on both supply and demand as afunction of price, so that discrete (noncontinuous) supply and demandcurves can be plotted for a given commodity in a given market. What a pitythat Osborne did not set his mind to discussing `utility', because (asMirowski points out in "More heat than light) the differential form thatdefines utility is generally nonintegrable, meaning that utility dooes notexist. Samuelson wrote papers trying to get around this in the 50's, butthe correct underpinning of General Equilibrium Theory was neverestablished. Osborne rightfully points out that people who believe in theapproximation of continous price changes and efficient markets are gristfor the mill of traders who use just the opposite assumptions to make moneyoff them every day.

I wish that economics students would be required toread Osborne and Mirowski, but that isn't likely to happen. Meanwhile, theFed keeps hiring those guys to crunch questionable numbers using the CAPMand similar stuff. ... Read more

Book Description

Radiation Oncology: A Physicist's-Eye View was written for both physicists and medical oncologists with the aim of helping them approach the use of radiation in the treatment of cancer with understanding, confidence, and imagination.The book will let practitioners in one field understand the problems of, and find solutions for, practitioners in the other. It will help them to know "why" certain approaches are fruitful while, at the same time, encouraging them to ask the question "Why not?" in the face of assertions that some proposal of theirs is impractical, unreasonable, or impossible. Unlike a textbook, formal and complete developments of the topics are not among the goals. Instead, the reader will develop a foundation for understanding what the author has found to be matters of importance in radiation oncology during over thirty years of experience. Presentations cover, in largely non-technical language, the principal physical and biological aspects of radiation treatment and address practical clinical considerations in planning and delivering therapy. The importance of the assessment of uncertainties is emphasized. Topics include: an overview of the physics of the interactions of radiation with matter; the definition of the goals and the design of radiation therapy approaches; living with uncertainty; biophysical models of radiation damage; computer-based optimization of treatments; and proton therapy. Formulae and quantitation in general have been avoided in the belief that an understanding of the majority of important medical and biological issues in radiation oncology generally cannot be achieved through mathematical relationships.This unique and highly readable book will be indispensable both to beginners and to those with experience in either medical physics or radiation oncology.

Book Description
The Physicist's Guide to Weight Loss explains weight loss and weight gain in terms of the easy to understand Conservation of Energy. Balancing Energy In (food Calories) and Energy Out is what weight loss and weight gain are all about. Tip the seesaw toward Energy In, and you gain weight; tip the seesaw toward Energy Out, and you lose weight. It's simple physics! Along the way you'll find out how to calculate your daily Calorie needs, how much weight you should lose, how many Calories various exercises use, gain some strategies and motivation for weight loss, and learn some physics along the way. Don't let the physics scare you - it's easy! The Physicist's Guide to Weight Loss includes comprehensive Calorie and exercise tables and a worksheet you can use to chart your weight loss on a daily basis. ... Read more

Book Description

This revised and greatly expanded second edition of the Russian text Tales of Mathematicians and Physicists contains a wealth of new information about the lives and accomplishments of more than a dozen scientists throughout five centuries of history: from the first steps in algebra up to new achievements in geometry in connection with physics. The heroes of the book are renowned figures from early eras, such as Cardano, Galileo, Huygens, Leibniz, Pascal, Euler, Lagrange, and Laplace, as well some scientists of last century: Klein, Poincaré, and Ramanujan.

Customer Reviews (1)

A glimpse into the biographies of some great minds!
Simon Gindikin did an excellent job in this new edition of his book. I got acquainted with his research not too long ago when reading an essay on Penrose's Twistor theory in the "Mathematical Intelligencer" by Springer dating from early 80's.
Eventually I found out the first edition of his book, which was already quite delightful.
The book, besides being filled with witty historical facts, contains also a few interesting problems to improve one's mathematical culture.
I'm particulary kind of the chapter on Huygens and his mechanical works,Poincare's ideas on non-euclidean geometry and finally and the above mentioned article on twistor theory(which could be included on a course on analytical/projective geometry, example).
As my usual cliche, "Two thumbs up!".
... Read more

Book Description
Written by a physicist with over 15 years of experience as a quant on Wall Street, this book treats a wide variety of topics. Presenting the theory and practice of quantitative finance and risk, it delves into the "how to" and "what it's like" aspects not covered in textbooks or research papers. Both standard and new results are presented. A "Technical Index" indicates the mathematical level — from zero to PhD — for each chapter. The finance in each chapter is self-contained. Real-life comments on "life as a quant" are included.

This book is designed for scientists and engineers desiring to learn quantitative finance, and for quantitative analysts and finance graduate students. Parts will be of interest to research academics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Very effective overview
This book gives a good general overview of financial engineering but only for those who have had a lot of prior exposure to the subject, at least from a theoretical or academic point of view, but have yet to get their feet wet in actual practice. For physicists with a background in quantum field theory, stochastic dynamical systems, or statistical mechanics, the mathematics in this book will be straightforward, and physicists will be intrigued that some of their ideas are being applied to finance. It is not a book for beginners though, as it will demand a lot of attention to details, as well as a considerable amount of outside reading. Space does not permit a detailed review of such a large book, and so only selected chapters will be reviewed.

In chapter 4, the author analyzes plain-vanilla equity options and discusses in particular the case of American options. The calculation of the probabilities of exercise at different future times involves the determination of the critical path followed by a Monte Carlo simulation to determine to the fraction of paths crossing the critical path in each interval of time. The hedges are then distributed in time as the delta times these probabilities of exercise. The author unfortunately does not give the details of how to obtain the critical path in this chapter, but these details can be found in later chapters on path integrals.

In chapter 5, foreign exchange options are discussed including how to hedge with the Greeks. The author shows how to price FX forwards and FX European options. He mentions that the Garman-Kohlhagen model is used to price the FX options, but he does not elaborate in any detail on the model. This model, which is the standard pricing convention in the FX market, is the analog of the Black-Scholes model, but where a foreign riskless interest rate is used as the payout on the underlying asset. Particularly interesting in this chapter is the author's discussion on the "two-country paradox". This paradox arises because the change of variables in foreign exchange instruments forces one to do a separate normalization of the drift of each variable, and does not arise for ordinary options. The drift after the change of variable is not consistent with interest-rate parity. Also discussed are the `volatility smiles' that are empirically observed in FX. As the author illustrates in a diagram, the smile corresponds to an upward-facing parabola, and he explains its occurrence by a "fear factor" (sometimes called "crash-o-phobia" in the equity option literature), which causes the implied volatilities of OTM puts to be bid up, thus putting a premium on this volatility relative to the ATM volume.

There are five chapters in the book that discuss the use of path integrals in finance, and these chapters include the formalism and how to calculate them numerically. The writing in these chapters is very lucid, and this no doubt reflects the author's background in physics and his consequent bias toward the use of functional integration in financial modeling. The discussion of the Black-Scholes in the context of functional integration is good motivation for later developments, and should convince readers as to the viability of this approach in finance. In addition, the author gives examples where the path integral approach does not merely reproduce the standard results in finance, one of these examples being the inclusion of dividends in options valuation. Including dividends can be done via the use of an "effective drift function", as the author shows in detail. He also shows that jumps in stock price can be studied in the same way as dividends in the context of path integration. Discrete-schedule Bermuda options are also tackled using path integral methods, as well as American options, and the author shows the reader how to calculate the critical path for these scenarios, following up on a promise in an earlier chapter. The chapter on numerical methods for the calculation of path integrals is interesting because it introduces some techniques and concepts that are no doubt new to many readers, such as "geometric volatility", which corresponds to an approximate volatility that would lead to a particular set of paths.

Perhaps the most interesting and "exotic" of the discussions in the book is included in chapter 46, and regards the application of `Reggeon field theory' (RFT) to financial engineering. Even for physicists working in quantum field theory, this type of field theory may be unknown to them, but the author does give a very brief review. He assumes background in scattering theory, the renormalization group, dimensional regularization, and other topics in field theory and high-energy physics, in order to read this chapter. RFT is presented as a theory to describe high-energy diffractive scattering, as a field theory for a particle called the `Pomeron'. The author's interest for the application of RFT to finance concern its ability to model nonlinearities and non-linear diffusion. He writes down the Lagrangian for RFT, which involves the nonlinear product of three fields, and when the interaction is switched off reduces to an ordinary diffusive model in imaginary time. One could apply ordinary perturbation theory to the case of weak interactions, but the author instead is interested in the non-perturbative region for the theory. This he tackles with the renormalization group, the object of which is to find the critical dimension, in order to test for the occurrence of a phase transition. Therefore the Gell-Mann Low beta function is to be calculated (using perturbation theory) and its zeros found. The author summarizes what is known for RFT from the research in the literature. The applications to finance consist of the ability of the RFT model to describe deviations from "square-root time", the latter of which arises from the standard Brownian motion assumption in financial theory. The RFT model reduces to the standard financial model when the interactions vanish. The nonlinear interactions are expected to produce interesting "fat-tail" jump events, but the author does not elaborate on this in any detail. ... Read more

Book Description

What can a physicist gain by studying mathematics? By gathering together everything a physicist needs to know about mathematics in one comprehensive and accessible guide, this is the question Mathematics for Physics and Physicists successfully takes on.

The author, Walter Appel, is a renowned mathematics educator hailing from one of the best schools of France's prestigious Grandes Écoles, where he has taught some of his country's leading scientists and engineers. In this unique book, oriented specifically toward physicists, Appel shows graduate students and researchers the vital benefits of integrating mathematics into their study and experience of the physical world. His approach is mathematically rigorous yet refreshingly straightforward, teaching all the math a physicist needs to know above the undergraduate level. Appel details numerous topics from the frontiers of modern physics and mathematics--such as convergence, Green functions, complex analysis, Fourier series and Fourier transform, tensors, and probability theory--consistently partnering clear explanations with cogent examples. For every mathematical concept presented, the relevant physical application is discussed, and exercises are provided to help readers quickly familiarize themselves with a wide array of mathematical tools.

Mathematics for Physics and Physicists is the resource today's physicists must have to strengthen their math skills and to gain otherwise unattainable insights into their fields of study

Customer Reviews (1)

new material
For physics students, Appel's book should be a pleasure to read. It instructs you in the essential maths tools. At a level of rigour suitable to physicists, without going unnecessarily into the full epsilon-delta approach of pure maths.

Some sections are advanced. Like differential geometry. However, for those of you going into General Relativity or dynamical systems, a knowledge of this can be vital. While the section on Legesgue integration can be used when applying the use of fractals. As in calculating the approximate fractal dimension of some iterated system. Indeed, some 30 years ago, before fractals were discovered by Mandelbrot, Lebesgue integration would have been unlikely to be included in a book of this nature. ... Read more

Book Description
This book is designed as a textbook for students who need tofulfil their science requirements. Part I explores classical physicsfrom its beginnings with Descartes, Galileo, Kepler, and Newton, tothe relativity theories of Einstein. Special emphasis is given to thedevelopment of the objective, materialist, and deterministic worldviewof classical physics. The influence of Newtonian physics on otherfields of science and on society is emphasized. Finally, some of theproblems with the worldview of classical physics are discussed and apreview of quantum physics is given. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Could be better
This book is well written and pitched
at a useful level, but severely compromised by
the author's decision to use it as a vehicle
for his own philosophical views. These
speculations revolve around "quantum consciousness" and
are presented as the accepted thinking of
practicing physicists, which they decidedly
are not. Looking at his titles, it is clear that the author
stands perilously close to crankdom,
and although one can learn some physics from
this book, I would not recommend it. ... Read more

Book Description
Is it possible to think like a scientist and yet have the faith of a Christian? Although many Westerners might say no, there are also many critically minded individuals who entertain what John Polkinghorne calls a "wistful wariness" toward religion--they feel unable to accept religion on rational grounds yet cannot dismiss it completely. Polkinghorne, both a particle physicist and Anglican priest, here explores just what rational grounds there could be for Christian beliefs, maintaining that the quest for motivated understanding is a concern shared by scientists and religious thinkers alike. Anyone who assumes that religion is based on unquestioning certainties, or that it need not take into account empirical knowledge, will be challenged by Polkinghorne's bottom-up examination of Christian beliefs about events ranging from creation to the resurrection.

The author organizes his inquiry around the Nicene Creed, an early statement that continues to summarize Christian beliefs. He applies to each of its tenets the question, "What is the evidence that makes you think this might be true?" The evidence Polkinghorne weighs includes the Hebrew and Christian scriptures--their historical contexts and the possible motivations for their having been written--scientific theories, and human self-consciousness as revealed in literary, philosophical, and psychological works.

He begins with the words, "We believe," and presents understandings of the nature of humanity, showing, for example, that Cartesian theory, evolution, and natural selection do not tell the entire story of what humans are about, especially in light of many sources that attest to our spirituality. Moving through the Creed, Polkinghorne considers the concept of divinity and God as creator in discussions that cover the Theory of Everything, the Big Bang Theory, and the possibility of divine presence within reality so that God is not simply an outside observer. Chapters on Jesus analyze the different ways events are described in the Gospels and the way motivation for belief is conveyed--for example, how do these writings explain why a young man killed in public disgrace could inspire a following, when other major world religious leaders lived to become highly revered elders in their communities?

"Faith seeking understanding" is, according to Polkinghorne, like the scientific quest. Both are journeys of intellectual discovery in which those who survey experience from an initially chosen point of view must be open to correction in the light of further experience. "Religion," he writes, "has long known that ultimately every human image of God proves to be an inadequate idol." The Faith of a Physicist, based on the prestigious 1993 Gifford Lectures, delivers a powerful message to scientists and theologians, theists and atheists alike. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Typical Polkinghorne material, but very thorough
Polkinghorne is usually a puzzling read for me. One admires his expertise in the exotic field of particle physics, and also his zeal in postulating a compatibility between physical science and his version of Christianity, but I usually come away from his efforts rather unconvinced of the merits of the proposed "merger" he proposes. On the one hand, he wants us to move forward from the ancient conception of God as brutally crashing through natural events to perform miracles, and instead conceive of God as the invisible gently-prodding hand behind all events. Such a model would not necessarily violate standard quantum mechanics. While this theological model has been proposed by others, and may indeed help modernize a believer's conception of God's possible action in the world, it is nonetheless difficult to reconcile with the traditional Judaeo-Christian image given by the scriptures themselves. If one looks objectively at the stories in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, one sees an abundance of gross physical violations of natural laws, the kind that Polkinghorne obviously has trouble with when constructing his own "gentle guidance" theology. I say "has trouble with", because if one reads Polkinghorne's dialogue with fellow physicist (Nobelist and skeptic) Steven Weinberg, Polkinghorne clearly doesn't want frequent abrupt divine interventions into the natural world, as is often seen in the Old Testament, for example (anyone for killing a crowd of Canaanites this week?). And this observation is not diminished by the presence of other images that might help Polkinghorne's theology, such as the Apostle Paul's statement "in Him we live and move and have our being". In essence, Polkinghorne wants us to have our cake and eat it too-i.e., somehow remain "faithful" to the Biblical intervention narratives and yet up-to-date on integrating modern physical insights into one's worldview. There might be a fundamental incompatibility problem trying to keep both types of "actions"; something needs to give. Interestingly, it is Polkinghorne's own faithfulness to the Biblical narratives that gives way; he can't deny the physics. In fact, Polkinghorne has re-visioned the Biblical view of divine action into something neither Jesus nor his followers might recognize. Say we want to buy Jesus and Peter walking on water, for example. It wouldn't be conceivable with Polkinghorne's "gentle quantum manipulation" theology, being a sudden (massive) macroscopic violation of physics. Miracles of this type aren't conceivable to many moderns anyway, as there is no direct observation of such gross violations in the empirical world, but we are here examining Polkinghorne's own model, not a skeptic's. We can go further; none of the miraculous acts of Jesus or his disciples are adequately explainable by Polkinghorne's (sub-)quantum gentle-action. Of course, the fundamentalists will have none of this anyway; the events in the Bible are unquestionably God's abrupt intervention. Yet Polkinghorne's theology *is* one possible theology away from this, of course. Be that as it may, it is far from the worldview of Jesus or his fellow Mediterranean inhabitants; let's not kid ourselves.

Polkinghorne is powerful
Polkinghorne is brilliant: he is way out in front as a scientist with his mastery at the leading edge of quantum mechanics.He is a very well read theologian.He brings both of these qualifications to bear in the explanation and support of his strong convictions about our need for a lively faith in a benevolent Creator God. This book has launched me into a journey through his other books; a journey that has all the flavor of a treasure hunt.

"seas too deep for simple knowledge"
One may point to Polkinghorne's credentials as a theoretical physicist or an Anglican cleric, but in his writings we find that he is also a philosopher, theologian, and student of the humanities (art, history, comparative religion), although he is quick to label himself an "amateur" in these areas. A thoughtful reading of "The Faith of a Physicist" will be particularly valuable to philosophical materialists whose "skepticism" of Christian theism should itself be exposed to skeptical consideration. As Polkinghorne explains, dismissals of theism are often couched in convenient but ignorantly simplistic characterizations: "Scientists who are hostile to religion tend to make remarks such as 'Unlike science, religion is based on unquestioning certainties' [Wolpert]. They thereby betray their lack of acquaintance with the practice of religion. Periods of doubt and perplexity have a well-documented role in spiritual development . . . Religion has long known that ultimately every human image of God proves to be an inadequate idol."
Considering metaphysic's classic poles of dualism versus monism, the author is inclined to reject each in preference to a "dual-aspect monism." In this he is not particularly controversial, nor in his interpretations of quantum theory in terms of its philosophical implications. Polkinghorne's biblical exegesis will be controversial on certain points (whose isn't?). Although he is sometimes accused of being a process theologian, it seems clear that he is not. His theology is ultimately rather classical, including certain elements of process ("There are aspects of Whitehead's thought from which one can benefit without accepting it in its entirety") and what he calls a "tinge of deism" (recognizing that the cosmos was indeed "wound-up"). If the reader thinks that one must either demand that Christian scripture is inerrant or reject it as being errant, then Polkinghorne will offer him/her no satisfaction. In fact, all readers will be rather challenged.
(Regarding dual-aspect monism and David Bohm's metaphysics arising from his interpretation of quantum theory): "My instinct as a bottom-up thinker is to be wary of such grandiosities of philosophical fancy. Instead, I would want to follow the flight of such straws in a metaphysical wind as our understanding of the physical world provides. My own tentative ideas have been woven round two concepts: complementarity and openness." In other words, something like the particle-wave duality and something like the ordered-disorder of the so-called chaos theory.
(Regarding Stephen Hawking's suggestion that his "no boundaries" model displaces the need of a creator): ". . . theology is concerned with ontological origin and not with temporal beginning. The idea of creation has no special stake in a datable start to the universe. If Hawking is right, and quantum effects mean that the cosmos as we know it is like a kind of fuzzy spacetime egg, without a singular point at which it all began, that is scientifically very interesting, but theologically insignificant. When he poses the question, 'But if the universe is really completely self-contained, having no boundary, or edge, it would have neither beginning nor end: it would simply be. What place, then, for a creator?' it would be theologically naïve to give any answer other than: 'Every place - as the sustainer of the self-contained spacetime egg and as the ordainer of its quantum laws.' God is not a God of the edges, with a vested interest in boundaries."
Polkinghorne uses statements of faith taken from the Nicene Creed as a springboard for his apologetic. He offers a "non-literalist" defense of the doctrine of divine creation that assumes a general correctness to present cosmological and evolutionary theories but also finds them to be unexplained apart from the Divine action of an intelligent will. While questions certainly remain unanswered within the theistic view, the materialistic alternative is seen to provide no ultimate answers at all. He offers a defense of Christianity's doctrine of "eschatological destiny" which sees the "optimistic arrow of time" (Davies term for complexity in spite of entropy) and entropy's "pessimistic arrow of time" (second law of thermodynamics) as vectors converging in a significantly unique event. He offers a defense of New Testament uniqueness and reliability (not inerrancy); and a strong defense of the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. He argues that, when all is considered, the claimed resurrection of Christ is more credible than any alternate theories that have been proffered but which fail to explain subsequent events. Polkinghorne offers a defense of the doctrines of the Trinity and of eschatology, and concludes with thoughts of alternative views. If you find the last chapter (Alternatives) to be too brief, Sire's "The Universe Next Door" may be of further interest. In the course of the text here, Polkinghorne argues for a bold and far reaching teleology including, but not restricted to, physical theory, embracing "the natural theology of the arts". He argues also for a boldness in defending the authenticity of the canonical Christian gospel; a boldness not simply based in unquestioning fideism but arising from the best documentation of ancient history and human experience. In sum, it makes for a difficult but fascinating read.

Rich food for thought.
For a volume that contains less than 200 pages, this book is certainly rich with interesting ideas.Furthermore, the author has mulled them over until they came to intellectual ripeness.Within an outline drawn from the Apostles' Creed, Polkinghome gives his view of the anthropic principle, the relation of body to mind, the nature of God, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and other subjects, in a thoughtful manner.He strikes a good balance between authority and personal opinion.He refers frequently and in humility to what well-known thinkers on all sides of the questions at hand have said (he has obviously done his homework), but is confident, bold, and smart enough to pick his own path across the fields of fact.He argues, at one point, that "The titles assigned to Jesus play the role that models do in scientific investigation."In other words, the New Testament does not appear as a mass of dogmas artificially superimposed upon stories of Jesus' life.Rather, terms like "Son of God" show the early Christians groping for a way of coming to grips with remarkable facts.That is the kind of "bottoms up" approach Polkinghome appreciates.

I have three caveats.First, Polkinghome slips into theological jargon too often.Second, his idea that we do not have souls, but that at some point in the future, God will make copies of us from His perfect knowledge, not from the same bits of matter though, seemed weak to me.I mean, presumably God could do the same now -- there could be copies of us running around on other planets.But what does that have to do with you or I or the promises of Scripture?

Third, what Polkinghome primarily seems to give here is a cautious explanation of his faith, rather than a strong argument for it.His initial caution lends his ultimate conclusions about the resurrection of Jesus, for example, a great deal of weight.But while agnostics and atheists who make this book their token foray into Christian apologetics could do worse, they should be aware that the author is passing over some very strong areas of evidence for Christianity.Please do not put the book down saying, "Well, I survived that; I guess I'm safe."I suggest you also consider the psychological truths G. K. Chesterton discusses in Everlasting Man, the history Don Richardson relates in Eternity in Their Hearts, and the many testimonies of modern Christians on how God answers prayer.(Miracles are the most "bottoms-up" kind of evidence for God.) You might also find my new book, Jesus and the Religions of Man, worth a read, especially if the question Polkinghome raised about spiritual alternatives to the Christian faith is of interest.

d.marshall@sun.ac.jp

A tough read that is well worth it
Polkinghorne's method of exploration is simply to look at the world as a scientist and interpret it as a theologian. In The Faith of a Physicist we get the opportunity to explore with him as he does this. He asks many of the same questions and struggles with the same issues that I do, basic questions that run through the heads of people who think seriously about the world. Fundamentalists may well discard his theological conclusions, but those with an open mind will appreciate his attempt to stay true to orthodox Christian belief while exploring its interaction with modern science.

This book is dense and not one that I would recommend for speed reading (believe me, I tried when I needed to read it for class). It takes time to digest and to ponder Polkinghorne's thought processes and conclusions. In addition, I found the first two chapters to be more difficult reading than the rest of the book (perhaps I was just tired when I read them), so don't let them stop you from finishing the book. The rest of the book is great. ... Read more

Book Description

This magnificent account of the coming of age of physics in America has been heralded as the best introduction to the history of science in the United States. Unsurpassed in its breadth and literary style, Kevles's account portrays the brilliant scientists who became a powerful force in bringing the world into a revolutionary new era.

The book ranges widely as it links these exciting developments to the social, cultural, and political changes that occurred from the post-Civil War years to the present. Throughout, Kevles keeps his eye on the central question of how an avowedly elitist enterprise grew and prospered in a democratic culture.

In this new edition, the author has brought the story up to date by providing an extensive, authoritative, and colorful account of the Superconducting Super Collider, from its origins in the international competition and intellectual needs of high-energy particle physics, through its establishment as a multibillion-dollar project, to its termination, in 1993, as a result of angry opposition within the American physics community and the Congress.

Customer Reviews (4)

A Clear Historical Presentation
Kevles account of the participation of American Physicists in the practice of fundamental research most genuinely begins with Willard Gibbs as a primary contributor to the field of Thermodynamics. Early on, he also cites the contributions of Henry to the field of Electrodynamcis. Kevles goes on to describe the motivation behind the creation of various American scientific societies and government organizations. A particular point of interest is the creation of the National Bureau of Standards as a regulatory agency responding to the vast proliferation of medical "miracles" commonly refered to as "snake oil". Clearly, Kevles lays the fundamental ground work for further academic research concerning the creation of modern government regulatory agencies. Later chapters of Kevles book present more familiar material relating to military research, but this seminal work is of greatest academic value when viewed from the perspective of dynamic cultural change within an emerging scientific community of American Physicsts.

very interesting story of a scientific community
This is a very good and well written book about a truly remarkable community that flourished first in Europe and then emigrated en masse to the US around the time of WWII.The ideas of these men - and a few women - are evoked briefly as are vivid portriats of their personalites.There is, for example, Robert Oppenheimer and the ups and downs of his tumultuous career.

While this is fun to read, it is very broad and general.If you want more on anyone or any subject from a scholarly point of view, you will need to go to a more detailed source.That doesn't change the fact that this is a great overview and can serve as the beginning of a lifetime of study on these creative and influential people.Afterall, the 20C may well be remembered as the century of the physicists.

Warmly recommended.

Good book, but a bit tough at times
The physicists is a well researched, scholarly work that sums up the history of american physics.Its a good read for those who are highly interested in the field, or those who can handle books of a more scholarly bent.For the casual reader you might find this book a bit dry.It lacks a cohesive story or character to make it come alive.

Good book, but a bit tough at times
The physicists is a well researched, scholarly work that sums up the history of american physics.Its a good read for those who are highly interested in the field, or those who can handle books of a more scholarly bent.For the casual reader you might find this book a bit dry.It lacks a cohesive story or character to make it come alive. ... Read more

Book Description
Often physics enthusiasts are not comfortable using the mathematical tools that they learn in school, and this book discusses the mathematics that physics professionals need to master. This book provides the necessary tools and shows how to use those tools specifically in physics problems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good examples but careless
This book is intellectually slovenly but has many interesting examples in it. It is useful in the hands of an experienced instructor. I would rate it ahead of Arfken's well-known manual. It is a pity that Margenau and Murphy is so out of date.

THE NEW STANDARD IN MATH PHYSICS!
As a physics graduate student, I cannnot say
enough good things about this book. Professor Lea
has written what is perhaps the ONLY user-friendly
textbook in mathematical physics!

The book begins with an extremely well-written
review of basics such as vector calculus and
matrix algebra. The discussion then turns to
a very thorough exploration of complex analysis.
Then we take a delightful tour through the marvels
of differential equations, Fourier analysis, special
functions, group theory, tensors, and many other wonderful,
relevant, and challenging topics.

Entire generations of physics grad students have had
to suffer through dry tome-like math
physics books. No longer! Professor Lea has given
physics grad students everywhere what we've long wanted:
a lucid, clear math physics textbook filled with worked
examples and, most critically, clear explanations of
challenging topics.

This book will make Arfken obsolete. ... Read more