Introduction to Solid State Physics

Book Description

Since the publication of the first edition over 50 years ago, Introduction to Solid State Physics has been the standard solid state physics text for physics students. The author's goal from the beginning has been to write a book that is accessible to undergraduates and consistently teachable. The emphasis in the book has always been on physics rather than formal mathematics. With each new edition, the author has attempted to add important new developments in the field without sacrificing the book's accessibility and teachability.

* A very important chapter on nanophysics has been written by an active worker in the field. This field is the liveliest addition to solid state science during the past ten years
* The text uses the simplifications made possible by the wide availability of computer technology. Searches using keywords on a search engine (such as Google) easily generate many fresh and useful references

Customer Reviews:

Solid State Physics Book.......2007-10-08

This book is in good condition! It also came in good time (a little less than a week). I am a satisfied customer.

I'm sorry.......2007-09-28

Hey guys, so my friend and I are trying to work through a problem set in our solid state physics course at UC Berkeley and as you might imagine, because Kittel was one of our professors, the department likes to use his books. We love ourselves. Unfortunately for us undergrads (and all of you) we are forced to use his book. Now our problem sets reeeally shouldn't be too much of a problem. For instance, we were asked to solve something for x-ray diffraction and though we had a little bit of an understanding a la Kittel, we found that that little tidbit of knowledge could not in fact be used with confronted with data or a simple experimental setup. There are simply no examples. We have not read Ashcroft or the other books suggested, but after I write this review, we will certainly be out there to purchase another book.

I just wanted to say that I'm sorry we harbored the professor that wrote ths book. I'm sure he's not a bad guy. I know it's hard to write coherently, but seriously this is ridiculous.

To be read together with Ashcroft and Mermin.......2006-12-02

This book has been compared so much with A&M that I have a suggestion - read both together! There are some parts in Kittel where a better treatment can be found in A&M, such as the treatment on Bravais lattice. And A&M goes into greater detail into some topics such as the Drude and Sommerfeld theory of metals. But I feel that there are many areas where Kittel is superior simply because the notation is simpler and the treatment more concise. See, for instance, the material on the empty lattice approximation and energy bands. Kittel is also more updated, and the 8th edition includes a chapter on nanostructures written by Paul McEuen.

Kittel is not a perfect book, but neither is A&M. The two, however, seem to complement each other. There are many instances when I come across something I do not understand, and I find it explained better in the other book. So if you have the time (and money!), read both!

This is not an introductory book.......2006-11-06

This book cannot be used to learn solid state physics. Kittel has a problem with leaving out large portions of derivations. It seems that with each successive edition he removes essential details in return for covering new science. There is also a problem with Kittel's use of terminology. He uses the term lattice to refer to bravais lattices. It is a small but confusing distinction. This is not a good introductory book, though it is quite useful as a reference material after you have some background in solid state physics.

Awful.......2006-09-26

A nightmare... The prose is both laconic and imprecise - a combination that spells very poor readability. The book assumes too much knowledge for an undergraduate text: in order not to get confused you'd have to be comfortable with QM including Dirac notation, Hamiltonian mechanics, results from e&m in matter, atomic physics, and a good deal of thermal and statistical physics. It's actually worse than that, because the book simply uses results or assumes familiarity with some technique without stating so much as "it is well-known from X..."

If this weren't bad enough, the main body of the text is cluttered with pedagogically useless references to charts and experimental data. This always disrupts the flow of logic and makes already inadequate explanations even harder to follow.

The problems are usually trivial once the light bulb is on and you've come to grips with the concepts involved. The problem here though is that, for above-mentioned reasons, it takes much, much longer to learn anything from this book than it should given the actual level of complexity of the material.

If this book is required for a course, then be sure you at least have a teacher whose lectures you can learn from. A bad teacher plus this book will ensure that you have one hell of a stressful semester.

Average customer rating:

Great fundamentals book
3rd Ed a good book, but less like Sze, more like Ng...
still a bible
A classic work
A classic textbbok for semiconductor physics

Physics of Semiconductor Devices
Simon M. Sze
Manufacturer: Wiley-Interscience
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0471056618

Book Description

This completely reorganized edition of the classic reference provides detailed information on the underlying physics and operational characteristics of all major bipolar, unipolar, special microwave, and optoelectronic devices. Integrates nearly 1,000 references to important original research papers and review articles, more than 650 high-quality technical illustrations, and 25 tables of material parameters for device analysis.

Customer Reviews:

Great fundamentals book.......2007-03-09

This book had all of the information for a good foundation. It is easy to read.

3rd Ed a good book, but less like Sze, more like Ng..........2006-11-10

This is a fairly good book; however, it is more like a 3rd edition of the Complete Guide to Semiconductor Devices by the second author Ng than the expected updated edition of Sze's classic. Many of the figures are the same as in Ng's book, and although more topics are covered than in Sze's 2nd Ed, the theory of what is covered is often less in-depth. This is a nice book to have, especially if you do not have a copy of Ng's book, but I would not get rid of your 2nd edition of Sze yet. I am giving it 3 stars not because it is a bad book, but I truly believe there is a great deal of similarity between this 3rd Ed of Sze and the 2nd Ed of Ng's book, and I feel a little disappointed.

still a bible.......2005-11-03

This book is not for undergrad. But if you want to be a guru, you still find this book very useful.

A classic work.......2002-09-08

If there should at all be one point against this book, then it is that it is a priced high (at least in my country). However I found that the text was worth the investment. This book is one of those must-haves for every electronics engineer.

The text is presented in a way that will appeal to any student as well as working professionals, and the least one can say is that it is extremely well-written. This text is an indispensable one.

A classic textbbok for semiconductor physics.......2001-12-19

As well known, this book is one of the classic books for semicoductor physics. It provides a lot of information in various devices, although some probably is outdated. However, as I know, the author was trying to tell the readers why and how semiconductor devices become what we see today. Because only we know about what the pioneers thinked, we can further modify or invite new semiconductor devices. I must agree that this book is not so easy to follow and read, but, don't froget, this book is devoted for advanced semiconductor physics course. It assumes the reader is already familiar with some foundamental semiconductor knowledge!

Lie Algebras in Particle Physics (Frontiers in Physics)

Average customer rating:

classical
A good *first* start
What do you need more?
good supplement
Mediocre

Lie Algebras in Particle Physics (Frontiers in Physics)
Howard Georgi
Manufacturer: Perseus Books Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0738202339

Book Description

An exciting new edition of a classic text

Howard Georgi is the co-inventor (with Sheldon Glashow) of the SU(5) theory. This extensively revised and updated edition of his classic text makes the theory of Lie groups accessible to graduate students, while offering a perspective on the way in which knowledge of such groups can provide an insight into the development of unified theories of strong, weak, and electromagnetic interactions.

Customer Reviews:

classical.......2005-08-05

very well written text about the algebra of standard model,
but not for beginers,a very solid background in particle physics
and symmetry methods for physics is required

A good *first* start.......2003-08-14

This book is good for what it is, namely, something to get your feet wet. When learning the basics of particle physics, e.g. as an undergrad or a beginning experimentalist, this is the quickest way to get a feel for the standard model gauge group.
However, this is *not* a complete text on group theory in particle physics (and therefore, little of what you need for supersymmetric field theories and string theories). So in addition to this book, you'd need something else with an introduction to the other things you need for your particular interest. Try Gilmore's "Applications of Lie algebras...", which I believe is out of print (in libraries). Also, Cornwell's abridged "Group theory in physics" is good (though if you can find the older set of three volumes, that may be more suited to your desires).
I don't suggest many of the other books on group theory for particles/fields/strings. There are tidbits of group theory you can pick up in the particular text you are working with, e.g. "Quantum theory of Fields" by Weinberg if you are learning quantum field theory.
For mathematical physics in general, I strongly suggest "Gauge fields, knots, and gravity" (John Baez), "Differential Geometry for physicists" (Chris Isham), and "Mathematical Physics" (Geroch).

What do you need more?.......2003-02-11

I'd say that, at least, the Georgi's book is too underestimated here.

I agree that this book lacks some notions and concepts which are usually dealt with in the matmatical literature, but not on logical clearity. Every book has its own way. For example the later parts of Green, Schwarz and Witten are also a mere sketches but it sufficiently pinpoints every important steps. A physically inclined reader(?), soon realize that it is filled with (and you may feel the leakage of) the master's intuition. You can see what mathematics going on beneath the physics. It is a well-framed series of informal lectures which reveals some space-between-lines secret.

good supplement.......2002-03-09

good supplement of introductory quantum field theory. particle physics books often have aggressiveness but this is in a relaxed mood, apt for reading in fine sunday mornings. 27 chapters in 300 pages, short chapters, without one for manifold and topology. from this book you can't get a mathematically deep understanding of Lie algebra nor exotic viewpoint for particle/string, but that's not this is for. i hope someday this will be included in Dover classics.

1.finite groups 2.Lie groups 3.SU(2) 4.tensor operators 5.isospin 6.roots and weights 7.SU(3) 8.simple roots 9.more SU(3) 10.tensor methods 11.hypercharge and strangeness 12.Young tableaux 13.SU(n) 14.3-d harmonic oscillator 15.SU(6) and the quark model 16.color 17.constituent quarks 18.unified theories and SU(5) 19.classical groups 20.classification theorem 21.SO(2n+1)and spinors 22.SO(2n+2)spinors 23.SU(n) Mediocre.......2001-09-01

Georgi's book has its strengths and weaknesses. It is very strong on application to physics but suffers greatly from a lack of mathematical substance. It has all the earmarks of a mathematics book written by a physicist: lots of physical insight but poor logical structure. Clear definitions and statements of theorems are missing and contribute to the nebulous feel of the text.

This is the kind of book that a casual reader will go through and think he has learned alot but for which the serious student who seeks a precise, thorough understanding of the material will likely end up confused at many points. It is a book of tools. The reader will not obtain a mastery of the subject but must suppliment this book with other, more theoretical treatments of representation theory.

Book Description

A revision of the defining book covering the physics and classical mathematics necessary to understand electromagnetic fields in materials and at surfaces and interfaces. The third edition has been revised to address the changes in emphasis and applications that have occurred in the past twenty years.

Customer Reviews:

The emperor is naked.......2007-07-25

This is terrible textbook. Jackson has no idea how to present material so that you can use it to solve real world problems. He should be covered in sackcloth and ashes.
Dr Val

canon.......2007-06-09

If you are a physics graduate student, you probably will encounter this book at some point. Everyone tries to pidgeonhole it: space physicist want it to focus on plasma physics, string theorists want it to focus more on field theory, etc. When you take average focus of so many disparate groups of physicists, you get the book that has actually been written! Even for a such a specialize audience. Jackson is as general as possible. I commend him for it!

Jackson is not a pedagogical text........2007-04-13

Jackson's book is the gold standard, bar none, for *reference* textbooks on E&M. That's why you will find at least one copy in the office of every physics professor and most physics grad students in the English-speaking world. It is not and was clearly never intended to be a pedagogical device, however, so pray to your deity of choice that you have an outstanding teacher to guide you through it. You can't really call yourself a physicist unless you've slogged through it in a grad E&M class, because everybody else before you did it too. Good luck!

A Review of "Classical Electrodynamics", Jackson, J. D. , 3rd Edition.......2007-03-14

This large book (808 pages) is an excellent text for its intended purpose, which is for classroom training of graduate-level physicists in electromagnetics. The study of magnetism and its effects is a very large one, and no single book could cover the entire field. One might perhaps divide the subject into two overlapping parts, low-frequency and high-frequency. The first covers such things as motors, actuators, solenoids (solenoidal actuators), permanent magnets, and such, where the material properties are often nonlinear and the displacement vector D of Maxwell's equations is not significant. The other, high-frequency, is the realm of this book, involving radio, microwaves, light, etc. where the displacement vector must be used and where the properties are assumed to be linear. It makes extensive use of advanced mathematics such as vector calculus, Greene's functions, spherical harmonics, Bessel functions, and the Hamiltonian. The book lightly mentions such subjects as relaxation (finite-difference), finite-element methods and eddy current effects, but discusses extensively the relationship between Einstein's theory of relativity and electromagnetics ( about a third of the book). Before buying this book, it might be best to determine that its particular emphasis fits the reader's needs.

Classical Electrodynamics Nightmare!.......2007-03-04

This book is the hardest book I have ever encountered in my electrical engineering experience. I have to relearn the electrodynamics theory in CGS units and form the physicist perspective. Jackson is famous for his nearly impossible to solve problems as well as his abstract derivations throughout the book. At least I ended up with an A in the course after a semester's hard work.

Average customer rating:

Comprehensive but poor
Broad coverage, but lacking detail
corrected printing has appeared
at last, an update for Ashcroft & Mermin's book

Condensed Matter Physics
Michael P. Marder
Manufacturer: Wiley-Interscience
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0471177792

Book Description

A modern, unified treatment of condensed matter physics

This new work presents for the first time in decades a sweeping review of the whole field of condensed matter physics. It consolidates new and classic topics from disparate sources, teaching "not only about the effective masses of electrons in semiconductor crystals and band theory, but also about quasicrystals, dynamics of phase separation, why rubber is more floppy than steel, electron interference in nanometer-sized channels, and the quantum Hall effect."

Six major areas are covered---atomic structure, electronic structure, mechanical properties, electron transport, optical properties, and magnetism. But rather than defining the field in terms of particular materials, the author focuses on the way condensed matter physicists approach physical problems, combining phenomenology and microscopic arguments with information from experiments. For graduate students and professionals, researchers and engineers, applied mathematicians and materials scientists, Condensed Matter Physics provides:
* An exciting collection of new topics from the past two decades.
* A thorough treatment of classic topics, including band theory, transport theory, and semiconductor physics.
* Over 300 figures, incorporating many images from experiments.
* Frequent comparison of theory and experiment, both when they agree and when problems are still unsolved.
* More than 50 tables of data and a detailed index.
* Ample end-of-chapter problems, including computational exercises.
* Over 1000 references, both recent and historically significant.

An Instructor's Manual presenting detailed solutions to all the problems in the book is available from the Wiley editorial department.

Customer Reviews:

Comprehensive but poor.......2004-06-25

I admire anyone who attempts to teach all of condensed matter physics in one book. That being said, being comprehensive and being comprehendible are two very different things. While being the former it sacrifices the latter. Marder does not do a good job of explaining the physical concepts needed to build a better understanding of advanced material. In addition, his end-of-chapter problems can be relatively uninformative and tedious i.e. you are left asking why did I just do this problem? Inevitably I find myself going back to Ashcroft & Mermin's wonderful but dated book. Hopefully one day they will publish a new edition...

Broad coverage, but lacking detail.......2003-10-05

I used Marder's book (the corrected printing) during a solid state physics course this past Spring 2003 semeseter. While I have to commend Marder at his attempt to provide a great deal of breadth on the enormous field of condensed matter, I think he fell short on the details and pedagogy that are necessary for someone new to the subject. Too often, I found myself (and the others I worked with) having to refer to Ashcroft & Mermin's text to complete HW problems assigned out of Marder's book. Also, his notation in certain chapters was unnecessarily confusing, especially the chapter(s) on phonons. I have since read most of the book by Taylor & Heinonen, and I found it to be of much more use than Marder's book. T&H's book is very well written and the concepts flow smoothly from one to the next. In fact, many of the things I struggled to understand last semester were so clearly explained in their text, that I wondered how I could have been so confused! Marder's book has been praised by others as a modern improvement to the A&M standard, but up-to-date topics are of little use if the first-timer has difficulty understanding the nuances of core ideas (e.g., transport, band-structure, and electron-phonon interactions). My opinion is that a good library should include A&M's text for those fundamentals that never go away (crystal structure, semiconductors, etc.) and a book such as T&H's or Chaikin & Lubensky's for the more modern topics ("soft" condensed matter, mesoscopic physics, etc.).

corrected printing has appeared.......2001-05-08

Note that a corrected printing (not 'new edition') came out in February 2001. Make sure you get this version, which is identified on the cover.

at last, an update for Ashcroft & Mermin's book.......2000-06-16

The classic solid state / condensed matter text by Ashcroft and Mermin (A&M) is now 25 years old. It's a very accessible and elegantly written book, but condensed matter is a fast-moving subject, and it's embarassing that A&M is still used today. The alternatives have all been too specialized, too formal, and/or too leadenly written in comparison.

This book by Marden may finally replace A&M. Like Ashcroft and Mermin, Marden is a member of the Cornell mafia. Some parts of the book practically echo A&M, and the writing style is at least as friendly to the beginning grad student ("Now it will be protested that atoms without dipole moments do not have dipole moments. This is true. However...") But the large number of new developments of the last 25 years are discussed or at least mentioned. In addition to the same-old band structure, magnetism, etc., liquids are covered (a surprising omission in A&M), as are surfaces, soft matter, optical properties of materials, etc. The book is fairly logically structured and works well as a text, except that there is way too much material here to cover in a year.

Book Description

This book describes the roles of various intermolecular and interparticle forces in determining the properties of simple systems such as gases, liquids, and solids, of more complex colloidal, polymeric, and biological systems. The book provides a thorough grounding in theories and concepts of intermolecular forces, allowing students and researchers to recognize which forces are important in any particular system and how to control these forces.

Key Features
* Surface-force measurements
* Solvation and structural forces
* Hydration and hydophobic forces
* Ion-correlation forces
* Thermal fluctuation (steric and undulation) forces
* Particle and surface interactions in polymer melts and polymer solutions
* Contains worked examples, discussion topics, and more than 100 problems

Customer Reviews:

Great Service.......2007-10-08

The book was brand new and the shipping was fast.
Thank you for an easy transaction.

A great text with lots of information in a small package........2007-09-29

This text is perfect for the reader who can read graphs and diagrams. A picture is worth a thousand words and so are graphs and diagrams. This text is chock full of graphs with all the information that you may need for an undergraduate or graduate course. I love this book. Its an excellent reference.

Good book........2007-09-03

Was used for "intermolecular forces" class... Advanced, and I think, it could be useful for people who work with AFM.

Fantastic Book.......2005-07-23

If you want to learn about the title subject, this is a great intro book. And it's probably the most enjoyable theory book you are likely to own, if you purchase it.

Forces you know or not????.......2004-02-13

The above "reviewer" needs to learn the English language! What the hell is that guy trying to tell us? I'm glad the book is useful to the outdoors.

Customer Reviews:

Old book, but the physics is the same .......2007-08-06

The Ashcroft text is superior to other Solid State texts because of its readbility. It is not over-written like some texts, and its presentation of fundamentals is appropriate for a graduate course in solid state physics. It is not fair to under-rate the book simply because it is "old". Despite having several decades to write a better book, few authors have.

There are advanced chapters toward the end of the book that lay the foundations for superconductivity and vibrations in solids, among other things. Like most physics books, the direct application of the physics to real world tools is an afterthought, as it took me 5 years of experience to finally realize that Ashcroft's treatment of phonons in later chapters could be used to describe the piezoelectric efficiency of acoustic sensors. Perhaps this is because the book is dated, or perhaps it is because many physics texts fail to make the link between consumer technologies and fundamental breakthroughs in understanding, as if it is beneath the moral integrity of physics to worry about the engineering that follows. The work in superconductivity is advanced for a typical solid state course and might be better for a special topics series, as it was when I was a graduate student.

Ashcroft will serve as a good primer for most solid state topics, and it is well augmented with Kittel. A lesser book by Ibach and Luth, while it has just a few positive qualities, will fail a student unless they have Ashcroft on hand. Between Ashcroft and Kittel, a student would have a strong reference library.

As a side note, while it seems to be par for the course for most solid state texts, little is done to address the findamentals of crystalline structure that have led to the growth and evolution of the field of materials science. One of Ashcroft's introductory chapters summarizes a fundamental MSE text (such as Callister) very well by describing different crystalline structures and calculating packing fractions. However, it requires a leap of understanding to see that solid state physics is not just about semiconductors, but it is also about strength of materials and the fundamentals of transmission electron microscopy, among other things. Ashcroft is not to blame for this oversight - perhaps publishers would rather separate these topics for diversification and an overall increase in sales.

In short, if you are an instructor considering a text for you upcoming course, I strongly recommend Ashcroft. The physics hasn't changed since the book was introduced, though the applications have.

Bible for Solid State Physics.......2007-01-10

Unfortunately this is the only solid fundamental Solid State physics book available. The problems at the ends of chapters have very little to do with the reading and there is no solution manual available. As a source for reading the book works very well, as concepts are explained throughly. However I do not recommend using this book as a source for homework since the problems are more concerned with mindless algebra rather than physical concepts. A lot of "make this expression look like this" type problems.

science has marched on..........2006-06-29

This is a very well-written book, but it is OVER THIRTY YEARS OLD. The selection of topics was excellent for the time, but it is now a different time. If you are not yet brain-dead, i.e. not content with teaching only what you learned as a grad student, try something more current, such as Chaikin and Lubensky.

about time for a new edition?.......2006-05-18

For undergrads or grads who are majoring in solid state physics, there are often two common choices of texts. This one and one of Kittel's books. There are differences. Ashcroft & Mermin tends to have better diagrams, of reciprocal space and Fermi levels, for example. And overall, the topics are discussed at a slightly more advanced level.

The biggest problem with Ashcroft and Mermin is that it surely is time for a new edition. Notably to include high temperature superconductors. Plus the quantum Hall effect. And maybe giant magnetoresistance. The latter is responsible for much of the advances in disk drive capacities in the 90s, for example.

Another problem is the sheer cost of this book. $155 list price?! Sounds like gouging.

Good intro to a growing science.......2006-01-04

The 20th century saw the birth of quantum mechanics, and its connection with physics, chemistry and engineering to form the discipline collectively known as solid state science. Dealing with the properties of solids at the atomic-scale, the advances in this field have made the entire Digital Age possible. As such, the literature, both educational and scientific, in this field has grown exponentially over the past 50 years. One of the best books in this field is Solid State Physics by Ashcroft and Mermin. This extremely thorough book covers the field from basic crystallography and bonding models up through magnetic, optical, and superconducting properties. The book includes lots of derivations, sample problems, and all the important equations. Also, the book covers both experimental techniques used in solid state science, and the growing field of computer simulations, especially those using density functional theory. All in all a great book to read for those working in or planning to work in this field.

Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity

Average customer rating:

Wordy and Wonderful
BY FAR the best book on GR
A nice blend of the ideas of physics with mathematics
Great Book But Won't Get You To The Promised Land
good math chapters, not at beginner's level after that

Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity
Sean Carroll
Manufacturer: Benjamin Cummings
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0805387323

Book Description

Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity provides a lucid and thoroughly modern introduction to general relativity. With an accessible and lively writing style, it introduces modern techniques to what can often be a formal and intimidating subject. Readers are led from the physics of flat spacetime (special relativity), through the intricacies of differential geometry and Einstein's equations, and on to exciting applications such as black holes, gravitational radiation, and cosmology. For advanced undergraduates and graduate students, or anyone interested in astronomy, cosmology, physics, or general relativity.

Customer Reviews:

Wordy and Wonderful.......2006-12-12

This is an advanced text, but all the same it is not particularly rigorous or dense, so it is in principle accessible to the beginner. With an easy authority, Carroll leads us on a wandering journey through the mystical lands of general relativity. This is very different from, and compliments nicely, the clarity and directness of Wald. As a student of GR, I use Wald for the bottom line on any subject, and Carroll for the random physical or computational insights that I invariably find in any section of the book. Carroll's prose is like music to the ear and I always enjoy myself when I decide to open up this book.

Be warned that there are lots of mistakes in this first edition--you might want to wait for the second one.

Also, his chapter on cosmology is better than any I've seen.

BY FAR the best book on GR.......2006-10-21

I am currently on the 4th chapter of Carroll's "Spacetime and Geometry" and thus far I am amazed at how clear it is. Sure there is a lot of math in it however that also is very clearly explained. In fact, I think that Carroll explains the differential geometry material better than any mathematician has in any book on the subject. If you want to learn general relativity, there is no getting around the math; sooner or later you'll have to learn it. I'd suggest, especially if you are self-studying the subject, to rather pick up this book and go through it than pick up a more "elementary" text and a book on Riemannian geometry to look at later.

(Although I do also highly recommend Kay's (Schaum outline) "Tensor Calculus" for self study. The prima donnas don't like Kay's book because it "doesn't have enough theory." I suppose if a freshman calculus book does not have the Lebesgue integral defined in ti they'll complain about that too.)

Because, you can always skip through certain sections if the math is too heavy and go back through it later. And like I wrote earlier, you won't find a better introduction to the mathematical material than here.

Carroll should be given the Nobel prize for this book. If not in Physics, then in literature. I'd give this textbook 10 stars if I could.

A nice blend of the ideas of physics with mathematics.......2006-04-11

Kudos to Carroll.

This book is an excellent INTRODUCTION to SR and GR for the graduate physics student as well as the graduate mathematics students.

Pure mathematics often loses sight of the ideas which motivated it and physics often loses the mathematical foundations from which it is built.

This book offers some level of mathematical formalism to the physics student while exposing the ideas motivating the mathematical concepts.

I particularly like how he builds up the mathematical machinery of GR by introducing sets then topology on this set giving a topological space. Now he adds in the ideas of a manifold which make this topological space look like Rn locally with the patches sewn together smoothly. The manifold comes equipped with tangent space, cotangent spaces and their product spaces giving tensor spaces. These are defined nicely with reference to component formalism as well as the multilinear algebra approach as maps from products spaces to the reals, etc. He delves into forms and tantalized the reader with deRham cohomology although doesnt go into it. He shows how these can be differentiated ( exterior derivative ) and integrated.

Now the metric is introduced giving a geometry. To this is added a connection which is independent of the metric and leads to notions of parallel transport and differentiation of tensors ( covariant derivative ). One sees that in a special case one can derive a unique connection from the metric ( Levi-Cevita ) which is used in GR.

Fibre bundles, Lie derivatives, pullbacks etc are introduced as needed.

He then presents some introductory GR material by applying the mathematics.

Great Book But Won't Get You To The Promised Land.......2005-12-14

My comments come with a few caveats.

1. This is my fourth GR book.
2. I'm not hardcore into physics. I'm not a physic grad and I'm reading GR for fun. I have a decent graduate math background but I've been corrupted with 10+ years in working in various roles software engineering, electronics engineering and marketing.
3. I assume that since you're considering buying this book, you're goal is to get at the "real" GR, not the watered down discover channel version.

With these caveats in mind, here are my comments.

First, on a scale of 1-5, I rank Carroll at level 3 in terms of math/physics maturity and thoroughness. Here is my full ranking of authors from my limited reading: 1. schutz 2. hartle 3. penrose 3. carroll 4. wald 5. physics journal articles

Second, using the rankings above, I recommend Carroll as the second port of entry. If you're comfortable with multivariable calculus, start with schutz (#1). You'll get warm fuzzies doing the toy exercises. But Schutz is tensor/math-lite. If you've had advanced calculus and geometry already, jump in with carroll (#3). But you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone else as polite to the reader. He won't prepare you for 80 percent of what's published. If you're ready to throw off the training wheels and jump dive into mainstream GR go with Wald (#4).

Note that Hartle (#2) is a good "tweener" book with feel-good exercises and some of the full-on GR equations at the end. I bet most instructors teaching a first year grad course would go with Hartle along with a dose of supplementary material.

Third, don't expect Carroll to be your last GR book purchase if you want to reach the promised land (see caveat #4). Living and breathing GR is found in physics journals and for that you'll need Wald or another advanced GR book.

good math chapters, not at beginner's level after that.......2005-03-07

I had a course based on that book and I've read chapters 1-6 (out of 9 chapters total) plus all the appendices. Also, I've solved some of the problems.

Please keep in mind my review is from a beginner point of veiw. Readers more experienced in GR may feel different but that book is supposedly written for beginners right?

The math chapters 2 and 3 are worth reading because they will teach you tensor analysis on manifolds in much clearer way than other books. The book makes a clear distinction between assumptions, choices (like working with a metric compatible connection), or derived facts. It is nice that the book makes a difference between a Christoffel connection and a generic connection. The appendices are worth reading too cause they will give you a feeling for some new to you math necessary for GR like pullbacks, Lie Derivatives, hypersurfaces etc.

Chapter 4 is worth reading too cause it makes clear that Einstein's equations are just the simplest guess out of many other possibilities. Also it shows how we generalize physical laws from special relativity to GR making it clear our choices are the simplest ones but not the only ones possible.

The chapters after that discuss applications of GR like black holes, gravitational radiation, cosmology etc. Of these, I've read only the black holes chapters 5 and 6 and I wasn't able to understand 100% what was goin on. The problem was that the book uses concepts that you still don't quite understand if you are a beginner like 'spacelike singularity' or 'conformal diagrams'. That is informative but the book doesn't provide the necessary level of detail and examples for beginners so you could really master such concepts and use them in your practise.

There are problems after each chapter but not the necessary beginners problems that increase your conceptual understanding of the theory. Instead, some of the problems are just tedious algebra of type 'find the curvature for some general form of the metric' for which specialists in the field use symbolic programs like Mathematica. Solving these by hand proves that you can take derivatives and you are a mazochist but not that you understand GR. Other problems are really relevant to your education but are not dirrectly connected to the discussion in the text. Because of that you have to solve them from scratch and it will take you ages ...

If you are a beginner like me, you should read the math chapters and all appendices of Carroll's book plus chapter 4. Then you should read a real book for beginners with a lot of examples how to apply GR in real calculations and how to understand it. For that I recommend James Hartle's "Gravity: An Introduction to Einstein's General Relativity" and Bernard Schutz's "A first course in General Relativity". After that hopefully you will understand the rest of Carroll's book better. My experience was that often I had to read Hartle's book in order to understand and solve a problem in Carroll's book.

Materials Science and Technology, Phase Transformations in Materials (Materials Science and Technology: A Comprehensive Treatment)

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Materials Science and Technology, Phase Transformations in Materials (Materials Science and Technology: A Comprehensive Treatment)

Manufacturer: Wiley-VCH
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ASIN: 3527268189

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This volume covers phase transformations, a general phenomenon central to understanding the behavior of materials and to creating high-performance materials.

From the Contents:
Pelton: Thermodynamics and Phase Diagrams of Materials. Murch: Diffusion in Crystalline Solids. Binder: Statistical Theories of Phase Transitions/Spinodal Decomposition. Wagner/Kampmann: Homogeneous Second Phase Precipitation. Purdy: Transformations Involving Interfacial Diffusion. Delaey: Diffusionless Transformations. Ruoff: High Pressure Phase Transformations. Pitsch/Inden: Atomic Ordering. Müller- Krumbhaar/Kurz: Solidification.

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Polymer Physics Bible...
Detailed but Still Clear
Super Intro!!!

Polymer Physics (Chemistry)
M. Rubinstein , and Ralph H. Colby
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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ASIN: 019852059X

Book Description

This is a polymer physics textbook for upper level undergraduates and first year graduate students. Any student with a working knowledge of calculus, physics and chemistry should be able to read this book. The essential tools of the polymer physical chemist or engineer are derived in this book without skipping any steps. The book is a self-contained treatise that could also serve as a useful reference for scientists and engineers working with polymers. While no prior knowledge of polymers is assumed, the book goes far beyond introductory polymer texts in the scope of what is covered. The fundamental concepts required to fully understand polymer melts, solutions and gels in terms of both static structure and dynamics are explained in detail. Problems at the end of each Chapter provide the reader with the opportunity to apply what has been learned to practice. The book is divided into four parts. After an introduction in Chapter 1, where the necessary concepts from a first course on polymers are summarized, the conformations of single polymer chains are treated in Part 1. Part 2 deals with the thermodynamics of polymer solutions and melts, including the conformations of chains in those states. Part 3 applies the concepts of Part 2 to the formation and properties of polymer networks. Finally, Part 4 explains the essential aspects of how polymers move in both melt and solution states. In all cases, attention is restricted to concepts that are firmly entrenched in the field.

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Polymer Physics Bible..........2007-01-24

As a polymer physicist, among other things (mechanical engineer/tribologist) I can tell you that this is must for anybody trying to understand polymer physics. Whether you are a scientist or worked in applied sciences (engineering) this will make a great text book and reference.

Detailed but Still Clear.......2007-01-09

I am a Chemist working on applied R&D in the oil refining industry. I bought this text as I needed a good understanding on polymer containing fluids (viscosity, solutions behavior). It is very well written and quite detailed. It is not the sort of text that tries to introduce excessive and not useful mathematical details but is anyway very accurate. I advice it also for professionals

Super Intro!!!.......2006-01-26

This book is very straightforward reading with nice intuitive ways of thinking about polymer behavior. I used it during an intro grad school class and still refer back to it first when I'm thinking about polymers. It has just the right mixture of explanation and equation for anyone with a background in Calculus and a little bit of experience with statistical mechanics (really... just a little bit). A great book.

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