Product Description

Customer Reviews (60)

pigeon-flyer
Looks like it is at the right level to get a first introduction to the field.

The MVP of QFT Books
I have the impression that few people in the world understand QFT but still much fewer people understand it in an extremely deep way. I also feel as though you can judge a lecturer's depth of knowledge by the existence of "gems of insight" and idiosyncratic "pearls of wisdom", which can cause you to look differently at a subject that you thought you knew well. After having attended a very large number of lectures on QFT, Quantum Field Theory in a Nutshell appears to be nothing more than a large and dense collection of these gems and pearls. It's absolutely fantastic.

"I and the A and the Zee"
The second edition corrects the only two flaws in the first: (1) Mr Zee had failed to praise himself sufficiently highly, and (2) Mr Zee had failed to censure his critics sufficiently harshly. Having remedied these deficiencies, Mr Zee has created the perfect book.

Not for dummies.
I was tempted to give this book four stars, simply to stand out among the sea of five star reviews, but I cannot, for this book truly is deserving of five stars.This is indeed a wonderful book, though it is not the mythic "one field theory text you will ever need" or the book that can make Sarah Palin understand instantons.

This book covers quite a bit of ground, but that does not mean it is shallow.I've read some crap textbooks whose authors try to cram every topic under the sun into the table of contents, but do nothing to convey any real understanding (I'm looking at you Professor Kaku).This book is at the other end of the spectrum.

In physics identifying the truly interesting questions usually proves to be more difficult than performing the calculations, and what this book does really well is show what the interesting questions are and why they are interesting.If the calculational details Zee presents are too sparse, and I think they are in a few places, you can always find more information on the interwebs.

I especially liked the occasional jabs Zee takes at those types who like to whine about a lack of rigor.To paraphrase the world's most interesting man, there is a time and place for rigor in quantum field theory.The time is never, I'll let you figure out the place on your own.

Anoutstanding textbook.
This is a wonderful textbook, by an experienced and skilled expositor. It takes material of great difficulty and makes it as clear and understandable as possible. The chapters are short, so the students never feels overwhelmed by a large volume of material. The Appendices on Group Theory and the Feynman Rules are most helpful, as is the appendix
containing solutions to selected exercises. Finally, it is pleasant to see material at this level presented with a warm sense of humor. I wish this book had been available when I was
a student.
My only adverse comment is that the book could be better still if it didn't spend half a dozen or so pages at the beginning extolling its own praises. ... Read more

Product Description
This advanced undergraduate-level text provides a formulation of the quantum theory in terms of qualitative and imaginative concepts outside classical theory. A broad range of specific applications follows, worked out in considerable mathematical detail. Also included: an examination of the relationship between quantum and classical concepts. Preface. Index.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Masterpiece
This is the best book written by Bohm in my opinion. It covers all topics of non relativistic quantum mechanics (fundamentals, hydrogen atom, quantum harmonic oscillator, angular momentum and spin, perturbation theory) without using the bracket notation, in a beautiful and understandable way . Bohm also coversthe philosophical aspects of quantum mechanics, something that is missing in books nowadays. It's physics at it's very best, a must have!

Why did no one ever tell me about this book?
I have to agree completely with Gregory Bravo's review. I feel sorry for all the poor physics students struggling through their undergraduate quantum mechanics courses without the help of David Bohm. I bought every quantum mechanics book that I could get my hands on, because I had heard so many horror stories about the difficulty of the subject. It seems that this is the only book I needed to buy. As it turns out, quantum mechanics is not so difficult, afterall.

Equip yourself with this book, Schaum's Outline on Quantum Mechanics (keeping a keen eye out for errors, mind you), and whatever pathetic excuse for a text you are given, and you should be fine, assuming you have a half-way decent professor. Don't let the fact that this is a dated book lacking Dirac notation deter you. You learn all that notation in QM courses, anyways, so a clear exposition of concepts should be what you want, and no one does it better than David Bohm.

Cheap, fair book which you can't treat too seriously
This is a fair textbook of quantum mechanics, and it is very cheap. Well, I mean cheap as well as cheap. It does not contain too much mathematics. However, the words are usually good substitutes. The book covers the usual basic material of quantum mechanics based on the wavefunctions; the particle in the most usual potentials; perturbation theory; the concept of spin, and so forth.

However, I don't think that David Bohm was really among those who understood the meaning of quantum mechanics too well - and based on the other reviews, I think that the readers who claim that they finally understood quantum mechanics from this book have not really gotten the point either. Well, don't get me wrong: the book was written in 1950 and at that time, Bohm more or less believed the orthodox Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics even though he had many more doubts about the important principles of QM than what would have been appropriate.

Nevertheless, David Bohm spends relatively too much time with his (rather unsuccessful) speculations about the "deeper", deterministic structure underlying quantum mechanics. David Bohm's second most well-known contribution to physics (after the Aharonov-Bohm effect) is his new version of the pilot wave theory, initiated by de Broglie in the late 1920s and used to change the interpretation of quantum mechanics.

His new interpretation is based on the idea that the wavefunction is a real wave, and moreover there also exists a classical particle with a well-defined position. These two objects classically interact in such a way that the probabilistic results of quantum mechanics can be reproduced in several simplest contexts.

However, this is not a correct idea for more convoluted systems; experimentally speaking, it contradicts special relativity (as required in relativistic quantum field theory), the existence of spin, and so forth. More generally, even without these advanced concepts in quantum mechanics, Bohm's idea goes against the spirit of quantum mechanics with its Hilbert spaces and different bases and operators on the same Hilbert space that are "equally important".

Bohm's prejudices about determinism and the special role of the position operator may have followed from his unfortunate, conventional technical approach to quantum mechanics that always starts with wavefunctions in the position representation - an approach chosen also in this book. This representation leads many readers to the wrong conclusion that the wavefunction is something like a real classical wave in space - much like the electromagnetic wave - and that the position has a special role among the observables. I say "observable" because Bohm tries to humiliate the concept of an operator.

I agree with others who say that we are not spending enough time by teaching the interpretational issues of quantum mechanics. Bohm's book does so. However I disagree that Bohm's approach is a good one. Instead, I would recommend Feynman's lectures on physics. Feynman's pedagogical treatment of quantum mechanics starts with two-dimensional Hilbert spaces. They are very useful because the reader understands that different bases (and operators) in the same Hilbert space may be equally important, and that the probabilistic interpretation of the amplitudes is absolutely essential.

The magician Uri Geller has convinced David Bohm that he (Geller) had supernatural abilities - a point that Feynman liked to ridicule. I am afraid that this transformation of Bohm at the end of his life might be related to his exaggerated emphasis on philosophical prejudices in quantum mechanics, as opposed to the pragmatic goal to extract useful predictions.

Quantum mechanics is weird. Sidney Coleman said that if thousands of philosophers had been trying, for thousands of years, to find the weirdest thing possible, they would have had never found a thing as weird as quantum mechanics. Nevertheless, quantum mechanics works, and we know that we can extract the information about probabilities of anything. (And the new insights about decoherence also explain where the difference between macroscopic and microscopic objects comes from.) In this sense I feel that the approach to quantum mechanics "Shut up and calculate" is a better one than wasting time with a wrong philosophy.

Despite the criticism, the book is cheap enough so that I can recommend you to buy it. David Bohm was an interesting person even though he was a communist.

I (think) I finally understand...
The age of the book is what gives it a huge advantage to today's typical QT and QM textbook. Instead of presenting the concepts in the "status quo" of physics (usually just a ridiculously brief intro to why QT started, and then presenting Operators as things almost perfectly synonymous to classical concepts and continuing from there), this book really goes through the history of where all the math came from. Bohm is very careful about teaching you what parts of the math are just convenience tricks (like Operators) versus real necessities to QM. And also what parts are just based on just experiments. Unlike today, in the 1950's, QT and QM were still suspect theories, so students were taught of the known and possible holes (no pun intended :) in the theory. Bohm points these out throughout the whole book.

Disappointed
I bought the book because of the good reviews below and the low price. I was a little disappointed with Bohm's explanations and wordings of concepts that I already know. I think that it'd be difficult for someone to learn anything from this book unless (s)he is already familiar with quantum mechanics. Anyhow, the book is still a good buy considering it is at least 5 times cheaper than textbooks on quantum mech. ... Read more

Product Description
Quantum field theory is the basic mathematical framework that is used to describe elementary particles. This textbook provides a complete and essential introduction to the subject. Assuming only an undergraduate knowledge of quantum mechanics and special relativity, this book is ideal for graduate students beginning the study of elementary particles. The step-by-step presentation begins with basic concepts illustrated by simple examples, and proceeds through historically important results to thorough treatments of modern topics such as the renormalization group, spinor-helicity methods for quark and gluon scattering, magnetic monopoles, instantons, supersymmetry, and the unification of forces. The book is written in a modular format, with each chapter as self-contained as possible, and with the necessary prerequisite material clearly identified. It is based on a year-long course given by the author and contains extensive problems, with password protected solutions available to lecturers at www.cambridge.org/9780521864497. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

The middle
This book is a great reference. While introduction to quantum mechanics by Griffiths is not a good reference. Griffiths avoids Dirac notation early in the book and uses his own notation. To reference Griffiths later on you have to learn his crude notation which makes it hard to just skim the section you might need later on. Had he used Dirac notation you would not have had to do this. Now you are saying he does not know the difference between OFT and QM, so "I am gone". I am not comparing different courses but the different styles used to write physics books. Looking back I think Griffiths is a pretty good book to learn from the first time but, it is not a good reference book. This is a good reference book for later on in your career.

I am now tutoring someone in QFT. I can see all the missing steps Srednicki left out. Most people complain when an Author leaves out a couple of steps, so where are these people now. For example beginning of chapter three, right off the starting line. The first two equations he writes down take Peskin & Schroeder seven lines. In Srednicki, boom there they are just pulled out of the air. In P&S you at least get an idea from where the equation came from. If you have a really exceptional teacher who knows this book and understands his students he/she could get you through this book.

I do not understand all the "It's the best stuff". The person I am tutoring is still in shock form going through Sakurai's Modern QM book. These short chapters have been praised, but what has really happened is that what Srednicki considers fat was cut out and the fat turns out to be where the equation comes from. If you can get through this book with only this book then you have been done a disservice. You have only memorized this stuff, and at this level that kind of learning should be over. Srednicki is 600 pages while P&S is over 800 pages long. This book is great as a future reference or if it is complemented with other books. Even as a reference it is hard to find what you need to go since the author chose his own chronological order. Some of the homework problems at the end are used to work out other equations in this book. In other words you really must work all the homework problems.

I would even recommend a book by Maggiore to complement this book. I can hear the jeers now "he is recommending a baby book". Well it is your time spend learning OFT and I always used whatever book made it the easiest and help me understand the subject the most and not what someone else told me worked. If I could find a high school student that would help me I would have used him/her and not worry about what someone else thought. I have found that people have problems following through with Algebra at this level. Read the back cover of the book "Tensors, Relativity and Cosmology" by Dalarsson and they can back me up (you can look at the back cover on Amazon). I have tried to memorize very little and understand the rest, if you do this you can always go back later and skim the chapter or section you need to refresh your memory of how things were derived and not how you memorized them.

So finally this book is a good reference book or Ok if complemented with other books.

Like any other famous text for a new student
I started reading this book with high hopes after noticing good reviews about the book, I read it carefully and almost fill in all the missing steps. But now I am getting tired of Srednicki's self-contained and intuitive text. Srednicki develops a construct of his own which bogs down my understanding, what I understand books way of explaining things can only complement your own understanding if you already have grasp on the text but if you want to make an understanding out of it you have to carry so much misunderstood text on to next chapters. This will make you unsatisfied as you proceed and will create lot of confusion. Like the spin-statistics theorem, srednicki butchered it like anything, after giving much time to it I understood what he wants to write but I also realized why in the world would you like to present it like that. I do not recommend this book.

gasiorowicz version of QFT
i am still trying to figure out why people like this book.

it is not bad.but it is not elegant, and it is not a particularly deep book.it reads like a collection of lectures notes patched together.the chapters are short, often too short.students like it because it sometimes does calculations in detail.but not all calculations are done in great detail.

its an alternative to peskin & schroeder.its better organized than P&S, but P&S is a much better book. but then again, P&S isn't that great as well (its organization sucks and what happened to the path integral?! just a small chapter???)

ramond, if he had any sense would revise his primer and smooth out the uneven bits.that would then be the best, best, super-best book on the market.

in short this is a recipe type book.its good for particle physics types, phenomenology and experimentalist types.but if yur a theoretical physicist or mathematician, you might not be too happy with it.

and lastly, it like weighs a ton! how are you supposed to carry the thing around? that itself makes it pretty hard to use.

best book for self-teaching
I think that this book is the best QFT book for self-teaching; reading through the chapters you see that nothing is left unexplained or presumed; furthermore references to other good QFT books give you the opportunity to easily find more detailed treatement of many topics, which is good also to explore different points of view

Srednicki review
The book gives an elegant introduction into all of the basic ideas of quantum field theory (Feynman diagrams, renormalization, scattering amplitudes and cross sections, symmetries and conserved currents, etc.) for the simplest field - the scalar field, using the powerful technique of path integrals.
The book is excellent for beginners. The text is very readable and the physical ideas are well emphasized, however there is a lack of mathematical rigor. ... Read more

Product Description
Quantum theory confronts us with bizarre paradoxes which contradict the logic of classical physics. At the subatomic level, one particle seems to know what the others are doing, and according to Heisenberg's "uncertainty principle", there is a limit on how accurately nature can be observed. And yet the theory is amazingly accurate and widely applied, explaining all of chemistry and most of physics. "Introducing Quantum Theory" takes us on a step-by-step tour with the key figures, including Planck, Einstein, Bohr, Heisenberg and Schrodinger. Each contributed at least one crucial concept to the theory. The puzzle of the wave-particle duality is here, along with descriptions of the two questions raised against Bohr's "Copenhagen Interpretation" - the famous "dead and alive cat" and the EPR paradox. Both remain unresolved. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

Great Overview
I love this book. I'm just starting on my journey to study quantum physics, and this book is helpful, engaging and funny.It gives a very nice macro picture of what quantum physics is about.After reading it, I have a renewed sense of wonder about the natural world and how mathematics describes the natural world. This book also gives background on the history of science and how major discoveries fit together.I will recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about quantum physics and is also somewhat intimidated by it (who isn't).I wish this book had been part of my high school physics curriculum...I would have loved physics had it been taught this way.

Very good, not very philosophical
I really enjoyed this book and I think I learned a lot.I'm most interested in the philosophical aspects of quantum mechanics, especially wavefunction collapse and the mind-body problem, and I found that this book was not very philosophical.There were only a couple pages on Schrodinger's cat and a couple pages on the slits & interference experiment.For those sensitive to this sort of thing, there's a biographical page on Schrodinger which is R-rated.(Well, maybe PG-13.Whatever.)

Great book to introduce the early story as well as some of the strange concepts in quantum physics
A very worthwhile addition to the beginners series, this one deals with the rise of quantum physics. After a brief and basic explanation of classic physics, the core of the book covers a period of about 50 years, from the realization in the late 19th century that classical physics was facing many unexplained problems, up to the 1930s, when quantum theory became well established (later developments in physics from the 1940s on are not discussed here - such as the renormalization technique pioneered by Feynmann among others and the rise of the Standard Model - admittedly these are much more difficult to explain to the layman).
The famous 1927 Solvay Conference on physics, attended by many past and future Nobel prizes, and where the strange new discoveries of quantum theory were discussed, is used to introduce the story. Many strange notions in Quantum Theory are discussed and explained here, among them the wave-particle duality of electromagnetic radiation, the uncertainty principle, and the Einstein - Podolsky- Rosen paradox that seems to imply that there is no locality, that is, that a particle seems to be aware instantly of what other particle is doing (what Einstein called spooky action at distance).
Written by a former physicist, this book, like others in the series tries to explain some difficult material through comic book illustrations that includes easy to understand visualizations of the concepts discussed here, as well as some humor. Though some may complain this trivializes the subject, I think the book succeeds in explaining what quantum physics is. Of course, it would be good for readers to continue reading about quantum theory with somewhat more advanced books; many books can be of use for that but my own favorite is Heinz Pagels's The Cosmic Code - from the 1980s, so it does not cover the latest developments, but still very much worthwhile.

Excellent historical summary of the history of quantum theory
The principal value of this book is to provide to the layman an interesting and understandable historical review of the development of quantum theory.The important contributors are presented in a combination of photographs and cartoons, which provides the reader with a good "feel" for the essence of what has transpired, if not the mathematical and technical details necessary for a more rigorous approach.

Outstanding
Given that this is a "comic book" on quantum theory, I expected a fairly superficial treatment which I'd breeze through quickly.

I was instead rather surprised and very pleased to find that this book goes into substantial depth.McEvoy presents most of the key concepts of quantum theory in their historical context, and he goes beyond typical popularized treaments by including quite a few equations (sometimes with derivations), along with topics like statistical mechanics, the Zeeman effect, links to chemistry, Dirac's quantum algebra, Fourier series, and other important technical details.He even touches on philosophical interpretations and implications of quantum theory, though that's not a main feature of the book.

To be clear, McEvoy doesn't provide anything resembling a comprehensive treatment of quantum theory.No one can do that in just 173 pages, with much of the space taken by cartoons.But he still packs in a lot of content by writing clearly and concisely, and organizing the book well.

In short, I highly recommend this book as an effective and enjoyable resource to learn or review the basic concepts and history of quantum theory.The only caveat is that readers should preferably come to the book with at least a decent background in general physics.In other words, the ideal target audience for the book is perhaps a notch beyond the general reader and instead consists of people with a technical background, such as scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. ... Read more

Product 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 (4)

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

Product 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

Product Description
For most of the last century, condensed matter physics has been dominated by band theory and Landau's symmetry breaking theory. In the last twenty years, however, there has been the emergence of a new paradigm associated with fractionalization, topological order, emergent gauge bosons and fermions, and string condensation. These new physical concepts are so fundamental that they may even influence our understanding of the origin of light and electrons in the universe. This book is a pedagogical and systematic introduction to the new concepts and quantum field theoretical methods in condensed matter physics. It discusses many basic notions in theoretical physics, which underlie physical phenomena in nature, including a notion that unifies light and electrons. Topics covered are dissipative quantum systems, boson condensation, symmetry breaking and gapless excitations, phase transitions, Fermi liquids, spin density wave states, Fermi and fractional statistics, quantum Hall effects, topological/quantum order, spin liquid and string condensation. Methods discussed include the path integral, Green's functions, mean-field theory, effective theory, renormalization group, bosonization in one- and higher dimensions, non-linear sigma-model, quantum gauge theory, dualities, slave-boson theory, and exactly soluble models beyond one-dimension. This book is aimed at bringing students to the frontiers of research in condensed matter physics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Good textbook - but may not be for beginners
The other two reviewers have both noted that the book may not be a good starting point for a beginner, and I entirely agree.

Think Weinberg's three-volume QFT, or Feynman's Lectures on Physics.These books are good, full of insights, and will teach you a lot more if you already have some basic understanding of the respective subjects.However, you will suffer if these books are used as introductory texts.

That said, I find Wen's book generally a good read, and it nicely explains several concepts that I didn't understand until now.Well, I am a field theorist in my 4th year of grad school-- not exactly a beginner. But still.

One such instance is the section on Berry phase of a spin.Granted, Wen pretty much just throw at you the concept of a coherent state, but that part I learned just all right from other places.What's important is, Wen's book explains the next step "coherent state --> Berry phase" clearly.It's the only comprehensible derivation I've seen so far.(See, for example, Fradkin's Field Theories for Condensed Matters for an **unintelligible** derivation.)

I do sometimes find Wen's narrative style annoying.But hey, it's a theoretical physics textbook, and as long as he makes sound arguments (he does), how he delivers the arguments isn't that important.

Utility depends on need
This book reflects the research interests of the author, who is a genius, and should not be considered introductory, even at the graduate level.I do not find this book useful for learning anything for the first time.However, it provides an interesting perspective on many classic topics in many-body theory.Unlike the previous reviewer, I found the grandious statements a wonderful feature since most textbooks lack any of the author's voice.Reading this book is closer to attending a lecture than any text of it's kind I've read.I get this book from the library and I wouldn't pay $100 for it especially since the author posts his lectures notes on his website and much of the later material can be obtained from PROLA.

mixed
This book is really awkward. There is some standard many body theory but no beginning student will be able to learn it from this book alone. Second of all there are some very awkward statements like "fermions ..behave like non-local excitations because fermions cannot be created alone." (p146)While his line of reasoning for a particular model is decently clear, the statement about the nonexistance of a lone fermion is ridiculous. He makes occaisional grandiose statements like " [his pet theory] provides and answer to the origin of light and fermions" (p9). I find the calculations sketchy at best --you can learn deep things but at great expense. overall i find this book to mix ridiculousness and obtuse reading with insight. I think it's a poor book because pedagogy should be paramount in a textbook. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
This book is a clear and comprehensive introduction to quantum field theory, one that develops the subject systematically from its beginnings. The book builds on calculation techniques toward an explanation of the physics of renormalization. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (34)

Kindle Edition Review
The typesetting is terrible in the kindle edition:
1) Equations appear as a (low quality) scan- they are rather gray and the resolution is bad.This is a problem for sub/superscripts in particular.
2) The math symbols in the text vary widely in quality; some are correctly identified and treated as text, but others as scanned images- even within the same equation.This is a problem because the scanned parts are not lined up with the text-like symbols, making things appear as sub/superscripts when they are not.Also, consistently, right brackets (<) are three times the height of other things, including | and left brackets (>), which makes Dirac's notation difficult to read in a glance.

Hammer, saw and screwdriver
This is the ideal book to use a basis for learning QFT. That isn't to say that it's the only book that you'll need or that it can replace a course on QFT, but the good thing about the book is that it shows you how to actually calculate things. So my way of using this book is to go try to do a calculation until I run into an idea that the book does not explain well. At this point, I turn to some other book for more details. Quite a few times, the other books are not necessarily books on QFT. Ideally you want to be in a short course on QFT that shows you what the ideas in QFT are so that you can go crazy, compute a scattering amplitude and learn the details of the tricks involved in the calculations from a text. Which brings me to the the topic of backup texts to help understand things that this text does not treat well. A great set of supplementary notes for understanding the ideas involved in QFT are David Tong's 'Lectures on Quantum Field Theory' ([...]) that are freely available on the net. Unfortunately, they don't go very far but another great set of notes are Michael Luke's version of Sidney Coleman's 'QFT Lecture Notes' ([...]) that are also freely available on the net. A good text for more basic QFT stuff is Franz Gross' 'Relativistic Quantum Mechanics and Field Theory' (http://www.amazon.com/Relativistic-Quantum-Mechanics-science-paperback/dp/0471353868/). Gross' book assumes less knowledge on the part of the student and spends a lot of time on the EM field and the K-G and Dirac equations. A good supplement for (mostly) classical fields and gauges is 'Geometry, Particles and Fields' by Bjorn Felsager (http://www.amazon.com/Geometry-Particles-Graduate-Contemporary-Physics/dp/0387982671/). At a much more elementary level is Davison Soper's 'Classical Field Theory' (http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Field-Theory-Dover-Physics/dp/0486462609/). Special relativity and electrodynamics are covered well by Asim Barut's 'Electrodynamics and Classical Theory of Fields and Particles' (http://www.amazon.com/Electrodynamics-Classical-Theory-Fields-Particles/dp/0486640388/). A good book for a more laid back, overviewing, historical, pedagogical and well-written view of QFT is Steven Weinberg's 'The Quantum Theory of Fields: Vol I, II & III' (http://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Theory-Fields-Foundations/dp/0521670535/), although, like most texts written by Weinberg, it's great and scholarly for people who already know some QFT but probably not a good text for someone seeing it all for the first time. Finally, mention must be made of the excellent, but sadly out of print, text on QED by Josef Jauch and Fred Rohrlich 'The Theory of Photons and Electrons' (http://www.amazon.com/Theory-Photons-Electrons-Relativistic-Mathematical/dp/3540072950/). Jauch and Rohrlich cover most of QED but none of the developments involving the Weak or Strong Force because they were not understood at all the time of the publication of the first edition of the book (1955). An update in 1976 included more QED but the death of Josef Jauch prevented it from becoming a full-blown QFT text.
In conclusion, you'll probably wannt Peskin and Schroeder as a sort of 'hammer, saw and screwdriver' text (a carpenter's basic tools are hammers, saws and screwdrivers) but you'll need to go grab other tools every now and then.

Mixed feelings about it...
Having started reading QFT as an undergrad from textbooks like Mandl and Shaw, I was reluctant to use this one, even while it was the recommended textbook of a graduate course in field theory. The main reason for this was that Peskin and Schroeder (P&S) makes practically no effort to make contact with the rest of the (vast) literature on the subject. If you have read some other QFT book it is very-very difficult to go through P&S and vice-versa. I remember trying to use in some occasions this book for some calculation and ending up completely confused, because the notation and normalization conventions where different from everybody else. So after these first sad encounters I quickly dismissed it and decided to use other books for QFT instead.
Unfortunately, P&S seemed to remain the standard reference and everybody else seemed to have read it, so from some point on, I decided to give it another chance, so I wouldn't feel I was intellectually isolated. Thus, I bought the book and spent a couple of months reading through most of the text. This time I decided to not just read the parts I considered new, but start from the very beginning and keep going, doing every in-between calculation. Surprisingly, this time I could understand what was going on and managed to advance very fast through the chapters.
I realized though that my initial impression remained true. The book is very idiosyncratic in its presentation method and many topics are treated here in a way you won't find anywhere else. This can be actually very useful, if you have already some familiarity with the material and you want to gain some further insight.
The chapters of P&S have an obvious flaw though, which is why I couldn't follow the text on my first attempt: They are not at all self-contained. The book will present some small, one paragraph argument, which at the particular point seems rather tangential to what you are reading, then 400 pages latter, in a different chapter and subject, there comes a reference to that argument which now appears to be of outmost significance. So, you have to go back and see what is it that you missed. Apparently, unless you are reading the book without stop and start to finish, there is no way to avoid these frustrating self-references (and even if you are reading full-time, it takes about two weeks to advance 400 pages and by that time, you have most certainly forgotten half of the things you 've read). Many chapters suffer from the same problem and this renders the book almost useless as a reference, Every time you have to look up something which is a little more advanced than the Dirac equation, you end up encountering some reference to a previous passage, which then references another and so one, until you have to read again half of the book to find what you where looking for.
There are also parts where an argument on a subject (like the Ward-Takahashi identity) can extend through many chapters and many pages. It is not uncommon in P&S to find discussions which continue for more than 10 pages. By the time you reach the end, you have almost forgotten what you where trying to prove in the first place. And this is another problem of the book. It has a tendency to present subjects which are in fact difficult and obscure as long discussions, without giving a hint in the beginning about what the result will be and expecting from the reader to make up his own mind about what actually has happened over the past 10 pages. Even when the exposition is interesting and engaging, it still may leave the reader perplexed in the end. The book also makes no distinction between which parts are "considered" easy and those that are supposed to be more difficult. This is very frustrating for the reader, since he may end up struggling too much over an easy part for no reason, then the next moment not paying the attention needed to truly follow a more profound section. It is always easier to learn once you are told what to expect.
This trend seems to plague particularly the exposition of renormalisation techniques. P&S spends almost 200 pages discussing one-loop renormalisation in QED in chapters 6 and 7, then comes back to discuss renormalization more formally in Chapter 10, then 11 for renormalization with spontaneously broken symmetries, then 12 for the renormalization group. After nearly 400 pages or reading, you only have heard of Minimal and Modified Minimal Subtraction only once and in passing, without explanations or examples of how to use it. And for the record, after all this theoretical talking of renormalization, this is what you need the most in order to do some actual calculation of your own! Instead, you are left to more or less figure it out yourself after all these 400 pages.
Having read almost the entire book, and having struggled to adapt to its notation, I thought I could at least use what I had just learned to read papers and do some research. Alas, the only papers I could read and understand using P&S, where those of Peskin! And of course, this is because everybody else doesn't use his notation. In a field as technical as QFT, notational conventions are very-very important and if you can't stick to a common language, you only make your life more difficult with no reason.
Overall, I think there is no good evidence for someone to read this book and I am surprised this has become the standard reference on the subject. More surprising still, is the fact that the very professors who use it as recommended textbook in their courses of QFT almost never use its notation in their lectures or notes (from my experience in several universities, including the US). In my opinion, there is no all-encompassing textbook on QFT at the moment (Weinberg's trilogy also suffers from the same problem, it is very idiosyncratic). Maybe there will never be one again (like Bjorken and Drell once was), since the field has grown considerably over the years and has now become huge. So the only way to learn field theory is to read from many different books, depending on which has the best treatment for each topic. And in this case interoperability and notational consistency is far more worthwhile and rewarding than just striving for originality. Mandl & Shaw is perharps still the best introductory book and Bjorken & Drell has its merits. Greiner is the perfect reference for calculations on the early topics of field theory, like the Klein-Gordon, Dirac and Maxwell field and canonical quantization. His exposition of path integrals and the effective action is also a lot more coherent and to the point than P&S. Books on gauge theories like Aitchison & Hey, Huang and especially Cheng & Li are probably the best sources for more advanced topics on renormalization. Lie groups and the Standard Model. Leader & Predazzi also have a great chapter on the renormalization group. Coleman's lectures are also a must read. Finally, Zee's book is an excellent read if you actually want to know what it all really means.

poor
even years later now i still really dont like this book.
there is a gap in 1st year grad courses and this book.
Among other things i specifically dont like:
1) there is a shallow discussion of lie algebras
2) The notation can leave a newcomer confused in a field where clarity is essential to pedagogy
3) field theory isnt just QED and the standard model
4) there is a lack of nonperturbative topics
5) lack of fancier math
6) quantization is done entirely wrong, as if [x,p]~i came from nowhere. which leads to a convoluted (albeit original) tour through quantizing a dirac field
7) often the diagram and value of it are just stated in clever time and space saving ways which is detrimental to pedagogy again...
...the list goes on

I prefer:
1) ryder was easy for me to read when i started
2) bertlmann "anomalies" which is a book about much more than that
3) makeenko
4) A. Zee'stour of QFT
5) for getting into nitty gritty i liked ho kim an pham's particles book.

there are a lot of other good choices. mandl n shaw, srednicki, lowell brown's book, pokorski's, the whole series by greiner...those are also better in my view.

i think people only use this book because peskin is well known. the book doesnt have much merit from my perspective.

Perfect.
I received the book as it should be: knew. And it cames before the estimated time. ... Read more

Product Description
Learn:

• The basic concepts of this controversial theory

• How string theory builds on physics concepts

• The different viewpoints in the field

• String theory's physical implications

Your plain-English guide to this complex scientific theory

String theory is one of the most complicated sciences being explored today. Not to worry though! This informative guide clearly explains the basics of this hot topic, discusses the theory's hypotheses and predictions, and explores its curious implications. It also presents the critical viewpoints in opposition to string theory so you can draw your own conclusions.

• Understand the "theory of everything" — grasp the key concepts and importance of the theory, and learn why scientists are so excited about finding a theory of quantum gravity

• It all comes down to physics — discover how string theory is built upon the major scientific developments of the early 20th century

• Building the theory — trace the creation and development of string theory, discover its predictions, and see whether accurate conclusions can be made

• Take string theory for a spin — explore the core issue of extra dimensions, the implications for cosmology, and how string theory could explain certain properties of our universe

• Boldly go where no one has gone — see what string theory has to say about possible parallel universes, the origin and fate of our universe, and the potential for time travel

• Hear from the critics — listen in on the heated debates about string theory and weigh the alternatives being offered

Open the book and find:

• The questions string theory attempts to answer

• Easy-to-follow examples

• Explanations of Einstein's theory of relativity, quantum theory, and particle physics

• The successes and failures of string theory

• Fascinating bits of string theory including strings and branes

• Ways that string theory can be tested

• Discussions of loop quantum gravity and other possible alternative theories of gravity

• How the theory may relate to cosmic mysteries, from the origin of matter to black holes

Customer Reviews (7)

A Survey for Those Who Seek No Further information
I'm about half-way through the book so my assessment at this point may be premature.It is great on identifying scientific terms, nomenclature, history, etc., and results but so far doesn't really demonstrate string theory at work.

A solid effort to explain a tough subject to us Earthlings

Andrew Jones has taken on a monumental task: explaining string theory, with all the underlying science and universe-wide implications, without much math and without any moretechnical terms than necessary. It's impressive how well he's succeeded. If that success is short of perfection, that only reflects, as he notes himself, how vast and complex the task is.
Jones opens by noting that some of the ideas presented here will be proven false.I like that: it prepares the reader for the convoluted story which begins with the first attempts at a science of physics and ends with a theory so esoteric that the mind really can't grasp it the way we do most scientific notions (try visualizing "rolled up" dimensions some time).
Jones opens with the why of string theory: the way relativity and quantum physics have been stopped short by the unsolved mystery of quantum gravity. He then steps back to the origins of physics and leads readers through the fits, starts, progress, blind alleys, and reversals that led to string theory being discovered, abandoned, revived as superstring theory, and modified into its current form, M-Theory.
Any theory will eventually die off if it can't be proven, and Jones explains the possibilities and problems of testing string theory, including either by observing the universe or in particle accelerators on Earth. He spends a chapter on the arguments that string theory is unprovable, simply wrong, or both.String theorists are split on how (or whether) whether the traditional scientific requirement that a theory be falsifiable applies to a theory of things we may never be able to observe directly. Another chapter looks at the main competitor, loop quantum gravity. There are string theorists and LQG theorists who think there is an underlying conenction, while others are convinced the opposing camp is more of a groupthink cult than a scientific approach.Other chapters cover the implications if strong theory is correct: what it means for parallel universes, the Big Bang, time travel, and other concepts of scientific and popular interest.
Jones closes by outlining the ten questions he suggests any "theory of everything" must answer and introducing the most influential people in string theory.
There really isn't a conclusion that sums up where Jones and his physicist Ph.D. co-author think the whole argument stands today.I was looking forward to that: the information is in the Introduction and Chapter 1, but there's no law against recapping it.There also isn't a glossary, an omission which I don't understand.
The basic question in evaluating a book like this, though, is whether it leaves a nonspecialist with a better understanding of the topic. I do understand it better, much better. If you're curious about this whole business of string theory but are not interested in getting a graduate degree, String Theory for Dummies is well worth your time.

Nothing Theory for Dummies
I was really looking forward to a lucid explanation of string theory. For me, a lucid and interesting explanation would follow the lines of Heinz Pagels, who wrote "The Cosmic Code" and "Perfect Symmetry." Both wonderful books that leave the reader feeling like they learned something. When I read the reviews of this book, String Theory for Dummies, I was impressed and thought I would give it a try. I was dismayed. I read the intro, which laid out the game plan of the book, then in Part 1, I found that I was reading a re-run of the introduction, another game plan of the book.So now I had two parts of the book telling me what the book was going to tell me. The first goal of the book was my main interest - that is, "...to understand sting theory..."However, in no place in the book can I find an explanation of string theory, other than "...the universe is composed of vibrating filaments of energy, expressed in precise mathematical language."After that, all the author does is say that that is what it is.Then, the book continues on never explaining strings but only repeating that they are mathematical things.The author states: "if you subscribe to Popper's view (and many scientists don't), then string theory is certainly not scientific - at least not yet." Indeed, I am a scientist and I know many others, and the general trend is that we do follow Popper as correct most of the time. So now we see that string theory isn't even scientific. Basically, I got so disappointed with the book that I couldn't read it through, and instead, skipped and jumped around to see if it got better, and when I found that it didn't, I gave up.Now I am still looking for a good book to explain string theory.Or, perhaps I am looking for another physicist writer, such as Pagels (may he rest in peace), who can actually explain something - Greene, Randall and Smolin are also certainly NOT Pagels.

One of the better guides I've read
This is a very good introduction to the string theory. No math and the author does a pretty good judge of exampling very complex science in plan English. It also goes somewhat beyond String theory, by laying a good background in Newtonian Physics, Quantum Mechanics and Relativity. My only real knock against the book is that it does seem to skip around a bit. Clearly the author wanted to make it easy to pick up, look at the index and jump to topics. But if you read it front to back, it can be just a bit distracting. That is just a minor complaint though. I recommend String Theory for Dummies to any novices who are interested in the topic.

String Theory for Fun
It's a fun read that gives an overview of the development of String Theory with no math.If the reader has a strong background in science and math this book will have you wanting more. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (6)

Too many errors.
This book is comprehensive, BUT ...
There are 10 errata pages in the front with 121 entries, mostly in formulas. I don't dare read it until I mark all the erratas in each chapter. With that many errors, they should have corrected the edition before printing.

excellent
a book so cheap yet so great. the shipment is fast too. recommend to others who need it.

I recommend "Quantum Field Theory" by Itzykson and Zuber
As anybody who is an expert or a student in the field knows, this is the best book available
on the subject.Dover Publication Inc.'s paperback republication of this book, which was
originally by McGraw-Hill, Inc., is an excellent idea.The Dover version has better fonts
that are clearer than the original McGraw-Hill version.On top of that, amazon.com made
it much easier for many people to order it over Internet.I will definitely recommend
students to buy this paperback version in the future.

Good book for its time
This book has been used a great deal both in classes on quantum field theory and as a reference, and, in spite of its date of publication, it could still serve as such, if supplemented with updated materials. There is a lot in this book that one could not find at the time it was published, and was a welcome relief to those who needed a textbook that was more up to date than Bjorken and Drell's classic work on quantum field theory.

Some of the highlights of the book include: 1. The "wave packet" solution of the Dirac equation and the Zitterbewegung phenomenon, which the authors use as a counterexample to the idea of treating negative energy states in the framework of a 1-particle theory. 2. The treatment of two-body relativistic corrections to study the recoil of the nucleus, this being done in the context of the Dirac equation. 3. The use of the Dirac hole theory to motivate the need for a true many-body theory to accomodate particles and antiparticles via quantized fields. 4. A fairly lengthy discussion of the Fock-Schwinger proper time method to obtain an exact expression for the Dirac propagator in a constant uniform electromagnetic field and a plane wave electromagnetic field. 5. The discussion on the use of coherent states to study the positive frequency part of a (free) quantum field. 6. The discussion on charged scalar fields, and why they are needed to formulate a (scalar) theory of particles and antiparticles. 7. The quantization of the electromagnetic field using the Gupta-Bleuler method using an indefinite metric, and the need for retaining the full Fock space (with indefinite norm) in order to preserve locality. 8. The discussion of the vacuum fluctuations via the Casimir effect. 9. The treatment of the Dirac field and the Pauli exclusion principle. The authors begin with two complex fields that both satisfy the Dirac equation, but the Lagrangian then vanishes. They thus are careful to note that canonical quantization will not work, and so they turn to the using their transformation laws under the Poincare group. The derivation of the anticommutators is purely heuristic (and they note this), and they point out that locality would not be satisfied if canonical quantization were followed. The same holds true, as they state also, if one were to quantize a scalar theory according to Fermi statistics. Their discussion here is a neat illustration of the spin-statistics theorem. 10. The discussion of form factors, which they motivate by calling them a relativistic generalization of charge distributions. 11. The discussion of the Euler-Heisenberg effective Lagrangian, and its ability, even though it is "classical", to model nonlinear phenomena due to quantum corrections. 12. The discussion of the Jost-Lehmann-Dyson representation. 13. The discussion of Euclidean Green functions. 14. The derivation of the Ward-Takahashi identities and the proof that they are preserved by the regularization and renormalization operations. 15. The discussion on functional integration in Bargmann-Fock space, in particular its use in fermion systems. 16. The discussion of the Schwinger-Dyson equations and their use in studying quantum field theory independent of perturbation theory. The existence of a bound state in quantum field theory has yet to be proven using these equations, but they supposedly hold the answer to this existence. The authors give an example of scalar particles interacting via the exchange of scalar particles via the Bethe-Salpeter equation, which are then studied via Wick rotation and where crossed-ladder diagrams are omitted. They also analyze the hyperfine splitting in positronium, but remark that the methods used for this are not entirely satisfactory. 17. The discussion of the sigma model, a topic that has become very important of late. 18. The discussion of asymptotic behavior, the authors emphasizing how the infinities in the relation between bare and renormalized charges and how these infinities must compensate imposes constraints on the theory, which show up in the asymptotic behavior.

Some of the omissions which might be expected from a modern standpoint: 1. Representations of the Poincare group. 2. Critical phenomena. 3. Integrable systems in quantum field theory 4. Finite temperature quantum field theory. 5. Quantum field theory in curved spacetime. 6. A more in-depth treatment of instantons (the authors only spend one page on them). 7. Topological quantum field theory.

Superb
This is one of the best field theory texts written. Not an introduction but is suitable for the reader who already has a background in QFT at the level of Hatfield. The authors write very clearly and maintain a level of mathematical rigor superior to other QFT books I've encountered. The text is filled with numerous examples and interesting details. Each topic is dealt with thoroughly leaving the reader well grounded in the material. The presentation is pedagogical and very readable. This is a must read for anyone wishing to study field theory beyond the basics and obtain a mastery of the subject.

It is too bad that it is no longer in print. I was fortunate enough to buy a copy when it was still on the shelves. I would imagine though that almost every scientific library would have copy. ... Read more

Product Description
Quantum Theory is the most revolutionary discovery in physics since Newton. This book gives a lucid, exciting, and accessible account of the surprising and counterintuitive ideas that shape our understanding of the sub-atomic world. It does not disguise the problems of interpretation that still remain unsettled 75 years after the initial discoveries. The main text makes no use of equations, but there is a Mathematical Appendix for those desiring stronger fare. Uncertainty, probabilistic physics, complementarity, the problematic character of measurement, and decoherence are among the many topics discussed. This volume offers the reader access to one of the greatest discoveries in the history of physics and one of the oustanding intellectual achievements of the twentieth century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Typically Academic
Polkinghorne is a stalwart in the long tradition of academic egocentricity.His explanation of quantum theory is a thinly veiled display of his erudition. While pretending to teach he builds an edifice to his superiority with a little game of concept obfuscation.

Good overview
It's a difficult subject, but this is an excellent overview that will help get you grounded in some of the basic ideas of quantum theory. This can't be the only book you read on the subject, but it's a great start.

An introduction, but a somewhat complex one
I liked this book, but it is hard to see who it was written for.The book, in keeping with the others in this series, is short (about 100-pages) and it surely is an introduction to the subject.It covers all of quantum theory, from its beginnings in 1900 to present day problems and herein lies its strengths and weaknesses.It provides a nice overview, with no math (except for 10 pages of appendices), so it was obviously meant for a general audience.However, it does not cover quantum theory in an elementary manner - suitable for a high school student.While the text does not use mathematics, per se, it does use many mathematical terms, such as eingenvector, eigenvalue and superposition principle, which are discussed in the appendices, but in my opinion not clearly enough for someone without sufficient math or physics background.In addition to the basic subjects, such as the Bohr atom, matrix and wave mechanics; the book also covers more esoteric subjects such as quantum logic, relativistic quantum theory and quantum field theory.The general audience may be able to grasp the basic subjects but I suspect that, given the terse explanations that are provided, they will have a lot more problems with the more esoteric subjects, and sentences like " Putting it in learned language, the EPR effect is ontological and not simply epistemological." do not help.Fortunately, the author then goes on to a more understandable discussion, but I found the complexity of the sentence that I just quoted (and many other similar ones) to be completely out of place in a book that aims at being an introduction to this or any other subject.

This book suffers in comparison to the rest of the books in the "short introduction" series that I have read.I thought that the others were 5-stars, but I would rate this one 4-stars, at best.My biggest problem is for whom do I recommend this book.I am afraid that it is to complex for someone who has no background in the subject and those with the background may find the discussions too brief and cursory.I have read a lot in this area, so I have some of the necessary background, but I am far from an expert for whom this book would be somewhat sketchy, so the book was fine for me.I would rate this book as 3.5 stars, down rating it because I do not think that it is a very good fit for most readers and because it is unnecessarily complex in spots, but since fractional stars are not allowed I am going with 4-stars, but others will likely rate it lower.

Very Clear
John Polkinghorne is simultaneously a great scientist and a great communicator.He proves this in this brief book.

Good Read!
This book is well written but has not really demystified quantum theory. It is difficult to figure out completely what quantum theory is all about. Apparently, quantum theory deals in probabilities rather than certainties. In the quantum world, it permits mixing together of states that classically would be mutually exclusive of each other. Quantum entities that have interacted with each other remain mutually entangled even though they may be separate. ... Read more

Product Description
Following on from the successful first (1984) and revised (1993) editions, this extended and revised text is designed as a short and simple introduction to quantum field theory for final year physics students and for postgraduate students beginning research in theoretical and experimental particle physics.

The three main objectives of the book are to:

Explain the basic physics and formalism of quantum field theory

To make the reader proficient in theory calculations using Feynman diagrams

To introduce the reader to gauge theories, which play a central role in elementary particle physics.

Thus, the first ten chapters deal with QED in the canonical formalism, and are little changed from the first edition. A brief introduction to gauge theories (Chapter 11) is then followed by two sections, which may be read independently of each other. They cover QCD and related topics (Chapters 12-15) and the unified electroweak theory (Chapters 16 – 19) respectively. Problems are provided at the end of each chapter.

New to this edition:

Five new chapters, giving an introduction to quantum chromodynamics and the methods used to understand it: in particular, path integrals and the renormalization group.

The treatment of electroweak interactions has been revised and updated to take account of more recent experiments. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Quantum field theory
I bought this book after I visited a website about quantum field theory.One recommendation of this website was this book.It was mentioned that the author is one of the authorities in physics teaching.This encouraged me to buy it.
After reading this book I found it in the same trend of bad books that I have bought so far from amazon.com.There are a lot of equations which are not linked to each other.The author leaves the work of deriving the formulas to the reader.In addition it is written in a complex way that is not understandable by the reader.What he writes in words is more uderstandable than what he writes in mathematical formulas.
This is probably a general trend for writing scientific books in the western world.
In summary, if you are looking for a book the derives the equations explicitly and uses alot of phenomenology so this is not the book to buy.If you are already familiar with the subject thoroughly and need only a review so you can buy it.I personally do not recommend it for students who want to study the subject

clear, but lacks depth
This book is extremely clearly written and is pleasant to read, which is impressive for a text book. However, sometimes it lacks depth on the material it covers. It would be hard to use this as a reference text book and in the class I am taking, the professor finds it necessary to supplement it with other materials.

Thoughtful introduction to QFT
I just want to contribute my five stars.

I'm not a specialist or active in this field, but I enjoy trying to to keep up with interesting things I was led to in college.Hence perhaps I provide the ideal perspective of the perpetual student...

I have several of the other standard texts, which I have at least perused to understand their level and approach.I find Mandl and Shaw to be the best *introduction*.Here are some reasons I like it:

- It is the best book of the bunch that is both completely deep in what it covers and self-contained (but of course it course strictly assumes the implicit prerequisites: core quantum mechanics and everything you are likely to have studied if you studied that).
- It focues on the canonical approach.I'm a rabid Feynman worshipper, but in my opinion the path integral approach is best left to the second pass, because it requires two hurdles: a math one-- path calculus--, and a physics one-- shifting focus to the Lagrangian approach to QM.I find the canonical approach a better continuation of core quantum mechanics, hence a better entry point.So learn to count breadth-first; and then have fun discovering you can count it depth-first too.
- The text has a thoughtful logical order of development: Spin 0, 1/2, 1...I think I see a pattern...

Lastly, it is sprinkled with really physically deep commentary on results.Eg, how to understand spin and statistics; or when they frankly describe high-k regularization (a.k.a. math fudging) as possibly modeling new real physics.This arena is both foundational and cutting-edge-- "unfinished"; I like it that they tell it as it is.

So, this is QFT?
I never had a formal QFT course in my life, so I was curious to learn it on my own. My curiosity was only incresed by what is called "QFT methods in condensed matter physics", which I am exposed to quite a bit.

The book by Mandl and Shaw is certainly easy to read. In my case I obtained some idea about how the diagrammatic techniques look in covariant form. However, many questions I had had are still left unanswered. While it is obvious that the book is out of date, and it is hard to blame the authors for that,there is no even brief overview of the field and the basic problems it faced in that period. There is no mentioning of the approaches altenative to diagrammatic techniques. In general, the book is not very systematic, but rather present more detailed solutions for several problems that the reader is assumed to be already familiar with. Therefore, I assume, the book is good only as a supplementary material for those studying diagrammatic methods for QFT.

Quick overview of quantum field theory
When this book was first written, the intermediate vector bosons had only recently been (indirectly) observed, giving more weight to the gauge theory of electroweak interactions. The first edition did not treat the electroweak theory at all, but this, the revised edition, does, albeit using a formalism that is now considered to be somewhat antiquated. In particular, the methods of functional integration are not used at all. Canonical methods are used instead in the quantization procedures. The reader interested in a fast overview of quantum field theory could benefit from a perusal of the book. There are no fresh insights on quantum field theory in the book, and so it should really be considered as more of a bread-and-butter overview of the subject, with emphasis on the calculations of cross-sections rather than on a deep understanding of quantum field theory. The latter is very difficult both to explain and to research, and readers will have to look elsewhere to obtain this level of knowledge, or, better yet, figure it out for themselves and propose new approaches to quantum field theory, that not only predicts the results coming from scattering experiments, but also solves the major unsolved problem of quantum field theory: the existence of a bound state. ... Read more

Product Description
In trying to understand the atom, physicists built quantum mechanics and found, to their embarrassment, that their theory intimately connects consciousness with the physical world. Quantum Enigma explores what that implies and why some founders of the theory became the foremost objectors to it. Authors Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner explain all of this in non-technical terms with help from some fanciful stories and anecdotes about the theory's developers. They present the quantum mystery honestly, with an emphasis on what is and what is not speculation. Quantum Enigma's description of the experimental quantum facts, and the quantum theory explaining them, is undisputed. Interpreting what it all means, however, is controversial. Every interpretation of quantum physics encounters consciousness. Rosenblum and Kuttner therefore turn to exploring consciousness itself--and encounter quantum physics. Free will and anthropic principles become crucial issues, and the connection of consciousness with the cosmos suggested by some leading quantum cosmologists is mind-blowing. Readers are brought to a boundary where the particular expertise of physicists is no longer a sure guide. They will find, instead, the facts and hints provided by quantum mechanics and the ability to speculate for themselves.

"A remarkable and readable presentation of the basic mysteries of science, our universe, and human life. Critically important problems in our understanding are interestingly discussed with perception, depth, and careful objectivity."
--Charles Townes, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics

"Lively and thought-provoking."
--The Washington Times

"This book is unique. The clearest expositions I have ever seen."
--George Greenstein, Professor of Astronomy, Amherst College

"An immensely important and exciting book."
--Raymond Chester Russ, editor of Journal of Mind and Behavior

"Exposes the hidden skeleton in the physicist's closet."
--Nick Herbert, author of Quantum Reality ... Read more

Customer Reviews (73)

Delicious Science Reading at it's Best
It's rare that I enjoy a book so much that on finishing the last page, I fill with the melancholy that 'it's really over,' then flipping back and forward again, I make the decision to re-read it right away.

This is just such a mysterious and interesting subject, written with a great deal of style, and presented with the sure-footedness of someone who teaches this as their career. The book's scope feeds equally a sweet tooth I harbor for both science geekitude, and escapades in unconventional spirituality. I just ate this book up, reading it on my iPhone whenever and wherever I could, like a very guilty pleasure. I wholeheartedly recommend this book.

Uneven and poorly edited
I found Quantum Enigma disappointing in several respects.Most importantly, the book wastes chapters on tangential matters that have little or nothing to do with the central thesis.The section on cosmology, black holes, Hawking radiation (huh?), and the Big Bang seem like total filler (got be 200 pages to be a hardcover.)On the other hand, the book trips lightly through several topics of absolutely central importance.THE central experiment that illustrates the quantum enigma - the double slit experiment - is barely discussed.Rather the authors hint at the topic via an allegory about people in huts.I've no problems with allegory and metaphor, but they should be introduced as explanatory devices after the real experiment and its outcomes are fully described.The section on "robotic observers" was, in my opinion, critically important but grossly terse.I reread it several times and still don't grasp the logic of the argument - maybe I'm stupid - but I don't think so.The book is highly repetitive (at times it seems like an amalgam of unedited lecture notes) and yet still full of logical holes.I've no doubt that the authors have the capacity to do far far better, but brilliant scientists rarely make great authors.They simply can't comprehend why complex concepts are not "obvious" (Brian Greene being a rare exception.)Scientists in general, and these authors in particular, desperately need to be guided by a skilled editor.That's what's clearly lacking here.I suggest the authors try again but this time with a publisher willing to invest the editorial time and effort that's required to bring order to these sketchy notes.Cut the fluff and spend some real effort to dive deeply into each central topic.

Great Book
When I first encountered quantum physics, I thought I would be somewhat of a geek for reading about physics and its `encounter with consciousness' on my spare time.I opened the book, not really know what to expect.I am decent at physics, psychology, and philosophy, so I figured I would be able to get the basic idea of the book.
Soon, I was intrigued.The book presented one of the most mind boggling question in physics and our acceptance of reality.Physicist have shown that atoms are capable of duel properties.For a example - scientists have shown in `inference experiments' that light can be both a wave and a particle.
A similar experiment was done with 4 pairs of boxes, a mirror, and `wavefunctions' (which we'll call marbles).Under one of the boxes in each pair , was a marble. The results of the experiment indicate that before one of the boxes was lifted, the marble was in both boxes at the same time.It's baffling, `controversial', but true!This also helps to present the idea that our own consciousness creates the reality we are given.It's strange to consider that our own consciousness assigned every atom's property, place, and structure.Hopefully one day, our technology will help us understand this mystery more and solve the unknown questions of the Universe.
Overall, it's a great book!I hope to learn more about quantum physics in the future.

Good First Book for This Subject
This is quite a good book, but very much written for high school or undergraduate students. It explains the concepts clearly enough, but the prose is fairly workmanlike with a tone of earnest cheerfulness. It sets many of the key lessons as little stories or skits - it is an effective teaching method, but makes for annoying reading, as do the slightly corny verbal gimmicks and line drawings. It would suit non-technical readers who are coming to the subject without much prior knowledge. For the more philosophically sophisticated, there are better titles out there. Not a bad book, and filling an important gap, but not exactly what I was after, although at least it signifies that a somewhat esoteric subject is becoming mainstream.

Great Book
Very good! Read in two days. I found it hard to find stopping points while reading, I didn't want to set it down. Interesting and written in a very compehensible way. ... Read more

Product 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 (25)

Quantum Theory of Fields
This book, along with volume II, is definitely the best of all the qft books I have read.After a year-long course based on Peskin and Schroeder I was able to calculate Feynman diagrams, but I had very little understanding of quantum field theory.To see why it is that qft is so useful both in particle physics and condensed matter physics, I believe that it is really necessary to motivate its foundations and clarify its relation to ordinary quantum mechanics, as is done in this book.Weinberg does not explain everything in complete detail, but he almost always gives enough that the interested reader can fill in the gaps.I would suggest only three things to be aware of:

1) Because of his heavy reliance on the S-matrix, his intuitive motivation is less useful for dealing with theories like QCD in which the asymptotic states do not correspond to fields in the Lagrangian.

2) The treatment of renormalization is somewhat dated, in that it still first assumes a continuum theory exists, begins to calculate and finds divergences, and then renormalizes them.He does emphasize that renormalization is present even without divergences, but the cleaner Wilsonian picture, in which the regularization is part of the definition of the theory, is introduced in an "optional" section and seldom used.

3) The discussion of Lagrangian symmetries in volume I is almost entirely classical.Anomalies and spontaneous symmetry breaking don't appear until volume II, but the careful reader will "discover" them trying to understand the cases where the arguments in volume I fail.I would have preferred to an "honest" discussion from the outset.This would of course require a more modern discussion along the lines of point 2)...

That said, the introduction of and motivation for gauge invariance, infrared divergences, canonical quantization, local fields, mass/coupling renormalization, and path integration are all very transparent and insightful.The canonical quantization of electrodynamics in Coulumb gauge is a very educational exercise, and it shocks me that the representation theory material in chapter 2 is not covered in all qft books.Without it we cannot even understand why photons do not have 3 spin states!Other highlights are the CPT and Spin-Statistics theorems, and the discussion of symmetries of the S-matrix.

All of this is not to say one shouldn't use other books; P&S provides necessary tools for phenomenologists, and Zee is useful in that he will tell you all the results without really justifying them.Zee especially is good for a beginner, since you know what to look for when you try and learn things properly.But anyone with the necessary background interested in understanding QFT will ultimately turn here.

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$. ... Read more

Product Description
Over the last century quantum field theory has made a significant impact on the formulation and solution of mathematical problems and inspired powerful advances in pure mathematics. However, most accounts are written by physicists, and mathematicians struggle to find clear definitions and statements of the concepts involved. This graduate-level introduction presents the basic ideas and tools from quantum field theory to a mathematical audience. Topics include classical and quantum mechanics, classical field theory, quantization of classical fields, perturbative quantum field theory, renormalization, and the standard model. The material is also accessible to physicists seeking a better understanding of the mathematical background, providing the necessary tools from differential geometry on such topics as connections and gauge fields, vector and spinor bundles, symmetries and group representations. ... Read more

Product Description
Quantum field theory has been a great success for physics, but it is difficult for mathematicians to learn because it is mathematically incomplete. Folland, who is a mathematician, has spent considerable time digesting the physical theory and sorting out the mathematical issues in it. Fortunately for mathematicians, Folland is a gifted expositor. The purpose of this book is to present the elements of quantum field theory, with the goal of understanding the behavior of elementary particles rather than building formal mathematical structures, in a form that will be comprehensible to mathematicians. Rigorous definitions and arguments are presented as far as they are available, but the text proceeds on a more informal level when necessary, with due care in identifying the difficulties. The book begins with a review of classical physics and quantum mechanics, then proceeds through the construction of free quantum fields to the perturbation-theoretic development of interacting field theory and renormalization theory, with emphasis on quantum electrodynamics. The final two chapters present the functional integral approach and the elements of gauge field theory, including the Salam-Weinberg model of electromagnetic and weak interactions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

QFT for Mathematicians
It is well known that mathematicians and physicists approach advanced mathematics from entirely different quadrants of the universe.This communication gap explains in part why physicists often find it so challenging to learn their requisite mathematics from "pure" mathematicians, and why mathematicians can find it so unbelievably difficult to teach themselves some current theoretical physics by reading books written by physicists, even when they already understand the underlying mathematics quite well.

Among the short list of books which help bridge this chasm (books by authors such as O'Neill, Frankel, Arnol'd, Marsden, Sachs and Wu, etc.), I would now include Gerald Folland's lucid introduction to quantum field theory.The opening sentence in the Preface summarizes Folland's intent perfectly:

"This book is an attempt to present the rudiments of quantum field theory in general and quantum electrodynamics in particular, as actually practiced by physicists for the purpose of understanding the behavior of subatomic particles, in a way that will be comprehensible to mathematicians."

Prospective buyer beware:this book is NOT an elementary introduction for beginners or a self-contained reference that will introduce the mountain of prerequisite mathematics.To read this book, the prospective reader must already be familiar with Fourier analysis, basic functional analysis (esp. Hilbert space theory), distributions, a little Lie theory, the use of manifold theory through the Hamiltonian/Lagrangian approach to classical mechanics, special relativity, and basic quantum mechanics.

Folland's book is especially well-suited to the professional mathematician who is trying to educate himself or herself in the basics of quantum field theory, although it would also be an excellent reference for the physicist who wants to see the mathematics "done right."Mathematicians doing independent study who have already grown frustrated trying to read QFT books by physicists (Weinberg, Zee, Srednicki, Peskin and Schroeder, Kaku, Bjorken and Drell, etc.) will find Folland's book written in a style that is much more familiar and accessible to them.

Professor Folland is to be commended for taking the time and effort to write this unique book.The potential audience for any book on quantum field theory is already quite small, and this book addresses a subset of that already limited group.For those to whom the book is directed, however, it will serve as a truly unique and invaluable reference.


... Read more

Product Description
Entertaining, rigorous introduction to the development of Quantum Theory traces its history—from Max Planck’s revolutionary discovery of quanta and Niels Bohr’s model of the atom to anti-particles, mesons, and Enrico Fermi’s nuclear research. Numerous line drawings. 1966 ed.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Quantum Mechanics History
You just need to read it to see how interesting it is! Much more than the similar books.

A good book for the right reader
This is a good book for a reader with a modern physics background.It is not a good book for someone with little or no background in mathematics or physics, as they will be overwhelmed by unfamiliar concepts and mathematics.I recommend the first half of John Gribbin's "In Search of Schrodingers Cat" for those readers.It covers much the same historical ground, but without any mathematics.

Gamow was one of the "shakers" who shook up the world of physics between 1900 and 1930 and as such he was very well placed to write this book.The book chronologically traces the development of Quantum Mechanics.Interspersed with the physics are capsule biographies and personal reminiscences of the major players.Gamow also includes his drawing of the players and some of his personal photographs.The style is light and breezy, but with a firm grounding in the relevant physics.The book starts with the problem of explaining black body radiation and how the assumptions that Max Planck required to solve the problem created Quantum Mechanics.I found the explanation of the "ultraviolet catastrophe" to be clearer than I have found in most other sources.To do this requires some mathematics, but not the complete rigorous sort that you will find in a textbook.However, if you are afraid of second order differential equations and matrix mathematics, then this is not the book for you.The development of the "uncertainty principle" was also quite good.Gamow shows that it flowed naturally from the mathematics that Heisenberg utilized and that it was only is a subsequent paper that Heisenberg employed the idea of it as the product of an experimental limitation.

I would have given the book 5 stars were it not for two factors.Firstly, the book is only 165 pages long, including a play written by several pupils of Niels Bohr, which is a variation of the Faust legend applied to the scientists who developed Quantum Mechanics.Personally, I could have done without this part of the book.

My second concern is more a bit more serious.The development of Quantum Mechanics was not quite as straightforward as described here.For instance, while Planck was the father of QM he did not believe in it and did his best to disprove some of the basic ideas that others created from his initial work.Einstein, the first person utilize Planck's ideas also became an opponent of QM.As mentioned, there is an excellent derivation of Heisenberg's "uncertainty principle", but no discussion of why some people believe that it is a basic rule of the universe, independent of the experimental arguments that have been used to describe it, while others embrace the experimental idea and dismiss the mathematical arguments as being a quirk of the mathematics that were employed.To my mind the book would have been greatly enhanced if some of these problems were discussed.Even if they are not resolved, it is important to know that they exist.

For physics majors...
I came to this book looking for some basic explanations and summaries of quantum mechanics theories, having just read "Einstein: His Life and Universe" by Isaacson.Isaacson wonderfully explained both Einstein's theories and the theories of some of his contemporaries in ways that I could understand, and I was looking for more of the same.Reviews here praise Gamow as being wonderful for the lay reader.I must disagree.

The value of this book is that it does beautifully bring together, in a good order and organization, the theories and personalities of the physicists involved in quantum theory.Some of it, written in the first person, is very entertaining, as Gamow relates stories told to him, or shares experiences he had with these men.

But in terms of explaining to a -lay- reader the theories, he fails.The best example of this is when he relates Einstein's challenge to Bohr at the 6th Solvay Congress.It's a classic story of how Einstein, ever eager to challenge quantum theory, shook Bohr up with an apparently unanswerable objection.The next morning Bohr had the answer.But Bohr's answer, by Gamow's hand, is almost impossible to understand.Isaacson describes the same episode and makes both the challenge and the answer clear.If I hadn't already read Isaacson's explanation, I would have had no idea what Gamow was talking about.(This is somewhat ironic in that Gamow -does- explain some things that he might take for granted: complex numbers, matrix arithmetic, basic units like c and mg, et al.)

In short, this volume is a most valuable book for the physics student.Much of it is interesting to the lay reader as well.But if you're looking for clear explications of the theories, look elsewhere.Yes, the theories are complicated, and some physics background is inevitably necessary, but Gamow makes them even less accessible than they need to be.

Great book
If one can't explain a concept to an educated layman it only means onedoesnt understand it. This is a difficult task and not everyone can do it. Dr. Gamow gets across the essence & beauty of Quantum Mechanics so artfully that one is truly captured with awe. Only a master of the subject can accomplish such a job. This is also a good book for those wanting to read about the history of development of QM.

A great book from the master!
A reprinted Dover edition of a lovely set of biographies of the physicists of the Golden Period, from the pen of George Gamow. The original 1966 edition has been out of print for a number of years. This 1985 edition is beautifully reproduced, and it includes fascinating pictures, sketches, and poems, done by Gamow himself. He was born in Odessa, in what was then Russia, --before the Soviet Union. The story of his escape to the West is straight out of a thriller. Only it is real! Later in the US, Gamow was referred to by a journalist,--- some time during the Cold War, as "the only scientist in America with a real sense of humor". With his lovely books, we have now all come to experience how Gamow can take the most technical stuff and make it simple. Fun too! The book:--Intellectual treats, whimsy, but deep. It contains penetrating and personal biographies of Niels Bohr, Paul Ehrenfest, Wolfgang Pauli, Werner Heisenberg, Albert Einstein, and recollections from the conferences in the 1930ties in Copenhagen, Brussels, and in the Solvay Institute. Illustrated with lovely drawings by Gamow himself. A book with pictures and conversations! Much of it can be understood by a child, and other parts might require a little concentration. All of it is great fun. The author Gamow started in nuclear physics, during the Golden Age of Physics, worked with Niels Bohr, then later in the US, on the Manhattan Project during WWII, and after the war, he was professor in Boulder Colorado. He has a building on campus named after him! The books he wrote are pearls, and they have been equally popular with my parent's generation as with mine. Luckely some have been reprinted! Other Gamow titles: Biography of Physics, Atomic Energy [dedicated to the hope of lasting peace], Physics of the Strapless Evning Gown,...We are lucky that Dover has reprinted some of them. Gamow's list of scientific accomplishments includes a 1948 landmark paper on the origin of chemical elements, the Big Bang model, and later work with F. Crick on DNA and genetic coding.-- Do more Gamow editions, Dover! ... Read more

Product Description
Choices have power. Too often, people — especially women — make the wrong choices and end up feeling victimized, unaware that deep within lies the power to control their own destiny. Brenda Anderson defines ten "energetic choices," or approaches to life, ranging from "black hole" and "head tripping" to "suspending judgment" and "lightening up." She shows readers how to make positive changes in their own life approach, changes that allow them to tap into the transformative power of The Field, the universal force that connects everything and everyone. Women are especially suited to utilizing this remarkable force, because intuitively, they have always known this connectedness existed, even if they didn’t know how to access its power. The practical steps, case studies, and simple guidelines in this book offer readers the chance to change their lives. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

The Soul of a Woman's Vision
I expected science physics and knew I might have trouble reading this one.What I received was a personal journey on how to change my choices to empower my life. I loved her flow of words as she describes the power each one of us has to improve, change, and influence our personal lives by using our energy edge. Understanding my personal loops was mind blowing. She is crystal clear in her development of the zones and how they effect our lives.Thank you for a new life! The Soul of a Woman

Interesting
Interesting but who do you think created the "field" - I'd rather talk with Him.

Playing the Quantum Field
Sometimes life can be a chore. We know we are stuck but we just can't seem to make a change. We have dreams and such high hopes but every time we try to push forward, we only get more heartache.

Playing the Quantum Field looks at the energy behind the choices we make in life. Mostly, we don't even recognize that we are hijacking ourselves at every turn. The good news is that we have a choice. We can choose low energy fear based activities like staying in our comfort zone, having head trips, getting suck in loops, magnetizing trouble, or falling into the black hole of despair. Just as easily though, we can make high energy power based choices of suspending judgment, lightening up, tuning in, scanning, tapping the truth, believing, and allowing a breakthrough.

Perhaps, the most important aspect of Playing the Quantum Field though is that it reminds us all that life isn't black and white. Sometimes, we need to wallow in that black hole for a bit until we see what needs to change in our lives. Sometimes, a breakthrough happens in an instant. Each of these experiences is valuable in its own way.

Playing the Quantum Field
This book re-enforces how we should maximize our return on energy and live our lives with our own power versus feeling victimized by everyday life. This book will energize you to tap the truth of honoring who you are.

Playing the Quantum Field : How Changing Your Choices Can Change Your Life
This book turned out be something different than what I expected.I was expecting something deeper but the book reads more like an autobiography of the author.With the word Quantum in the title, I thought the book would be more scientfically oriented towards Quantum Physics which is a main interest of mine.The book is very basic which I think would be good for someone new to this type of subject matter, but I was hoping for something more advanced.I am encouraged though by the book.I am impressed that someone can take her life experiences and write a book that could be of help to others.I have a similar passion for sharing my experiences and learnings with others.This book gives me hope that I can indeed help others on a larger scale than maybe I had originally thought. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (6)

Heavy on the Math . . .
This book is an excellent reference for group theory. It gives you the detailed math behind group theory (which is great for me). It also gives you a brief introduction so you can work with molecular group theory. This was the recommended text in my chemical group theory class. It serves as a good mathematical reference. Also, see Cotton's group theory book, and Carters group theory book.

Good for the Undergrad Students.
This book has the advantage of applying group theory directly to solvable physical problems. In most areas of applied physics it is
very important to know the basics concepts of group theory, but
there is no need to have a deep knowledge as well as to know how to
proof all the main theorems. As an introductory course for undergrad
students this book is well recommended.

Most accessible of the useful physics texts
My background is that of theoretically inclined inorganic chemist and this review is intended for those with interests in inorganic and physical chemistry or solid-state chemistry/physics.

Tinkham's text is the first textbook one should go to for a reasonably rigorous introduction to the theory and use of group representations in physics and theoretical chemistry.Modern theoretical chemists should become familiar with all of this book, with the possible exception of the some of the material in Chapter 5 that will be applicable only to physicists (and not a lot of that, actually).The pervasiveness of band theory, even in general inorganic chemistry journals now, should convince chemists who teach this subject to include a lot of Chapter 8 (Solid-State Theory) and chemical theorists will even have to go beyond the symmorphic groups treated here.

The purely mathematical aspects of the subject are treated briefly, but much more completely, than "chemical group theory books" like Cotton's, for example.Naturally, this comes at a price of more mathematical abstractness, but that is unavoidable.These sections, like the rest of the book, are very well written.

Chapter 7, on applications to molecular quantum mechanics, is now quite dated.It was quite incomplete even when written, since it did not include any discussion of ligand-field theory.The effects of antisymmetric wavefunctions for electrons are touched on briefly in Chapter 5 (atoms), but are not adequately accounted for in discussion of molecules.(Incidentally, the failure to use Mulliken notation in molecular QM is an unfortunate annoyance.)

These objections aside, this book is an excellent buy for the price of a Dover edition.Indeed, if I'd included price in my rating, it would be 5 stars - easily!

A must for every grad student
I began reading this book having just finished a course on Abstract Algebra through my school's math department, and the semester before I took a graduate course on the exact subject.

After taking the math course, I was presented with group theory as if it were some muddled mix of facts, and the course came across as a poorly taught class on number theory. After reading just the first chapter of Tinkham's book, I developed a new, deeper understanding of group theory as a whole. For example, the way that Tinkham presents normal subgroups makes vastly more intuitive sense than the presentation I received in my math course.

The first two chapters alone are probably worth 80% of the book's sale price. The rest is made up entirely of the fact that the book does not piddle around with trivial examples, but genuinely frames quantum mechanics in the language of group theory, and the most important part is that Tinkham does it well.

This book, along with his book on superconductivity, are must-haves for any serious condensed matter person, and this book should be at least read (if not owned) by any physics grad student.

Group Theory and Quantum Mechanics
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