Amazon.com
A series of anecdotes shouldn't by rights add up to an autobiography, but that's just one of the many pieces of received wisdom that Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman (1918-88) cheerfully ignores in his engagingly eccentric book, a bestseller ever since its initial publication in 1985. Fiercely independent (read the chapter entitled "Judging Books by Their Covers"), intolerant of stupidity even when it comes packaged as high intellectualism (check out "Is Electricity Fire?"), unafraid to offend (see "You Just Ask Them?"), Feynman informs by entertaining. It's possible to enjoy Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman simply as a bunch of hilarious yarns with the smart-alecky author as know-it-all hero. At some point, however, attentive readers realize that underneath all the merriment simmers a running commentary on what constitutes authentic knowledge: learning by understanding, not by rote; refusal to give up on seemingly insoluble problems; and total disrespect for fancy ideas that have no grounding in the real world. Feynman himself had all these qualities in spades, and they come through with vigor and verve in his no-bull prose. No wonder his students--and readers around the world--adored him. --Wendy Smith
Book Description
The outrageous exploits of one of this century's greatest scientific minds and a legendary American original. In this phenomenal national bestseller, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard P. Feynman recounts in his inimitable voice his adventures trading ideas on atomic physics with Einstein and Bohr and ideas on gambling with Nick the Greek, painting a naked female toreador, accompanying a ballet on his bongo drums and much else of an eyebrow-raising and hilarious nature. A New York Times bestseller; more than 500,000 copies sold.
Customer Reviews:
Unique insights into a curious and great character indeed!.......2007-09-23
Mr. Feynman is a curious and great character indeed, he's the sort of guy that doesn't take your word for it, unless he's able to experimently verify it himself. Remember, this is the guy that, during the Challenger tragedy hearings, demonstrated the O-ring's inadequacy in-person by using ice-water. He's the kind of guy that believes in seeking the true nature about things, never afraid to ask questions, never too concerned with puppetry or distinguished titles. In short, he's the kind of guy that is an inexhaustible inspiration and guiding star for all of us that is facinated with what science can bring.
Now, the improbable outcome that this guy should end up as a Nobel Laureate, the most distinguished and honourable title of the science community at large, is of course the great irony of it all. This book tells you the background story of this and other improbable events. Be it real or surreal, they are always hilarious, sometimes as a result of Mr. Feynmans highly developed sense of humour, sometimes unintentionally so. The stories date back to young Feynman when he was only a kid, and are told with such warmth and good spirits, that they will make you both laugh and cry. And at the end, you be left with unique insights into a curious and truly facinating character indeed!
An inspiring and fun book.......2007-09-18
Feinerman was an amazing man in so many ways. His life is a real lesson in doing all that you can, and enjoying every minute of your life. Loved this book.
A book you'll wear out and buy again........2007-09-07
I find myself in the funny position of reviewing a book that I never thought enough of to list as a "favorite" or as "deep". It's not a book I would normally bring up in a discussion of "life-changing" books.
That's partly because this book defies categorization. It's not a profound look at a genius; indeed we are given only glimpses into certain facets of Feynman's personality, with only hints of his darker sides. It's not just a book of anecdotes. There is an underlying message, as exemplified by the closing "Cargo Cult Science". On the other hand, it's not trying to be a book with a lesson or moral.
However, over time, this is a book I've read over and over again. And it always seems fresh, as if I was reading it for the first time. His exploits make me laugh, pause in thought, and inspire me to be curious about the world. That's what draws me again and again to reread it. I honestly think I've read it as many times as all my favorite books put together. And I can't figure it out.
great book and inspirational.......2007-08-14
I guess for a grad student this book is inspirational. It gives guidelines on how research should be done, how to not just "believe" blindly others work, but to try and understand it and prove it yourself. It also points out what is wrong with the way we are taught to think, learn in school, by our teachers. It shows how superficial people are in thinking, and how they prefer just to take things as they are and not think them through!!!
Unimpressive.......2007-07-31
This book chronicles a few incidents in the peculiar life of Noble award winning physicist Richard Feynman. Feynman was a brilliant scientist and an inspiring teacher who led an eccentric lifestyle. Although most readers have loved this book, I found it to be boring and dull. A few of Feynman's so called adventures were pretty interesting and had a sparkle to them (like how he learned to open safes), but I thought most of his stories were boring, especially his adventures with ladies in bars. I was pretty disappointed with this one.
Amazon.com
A thoughtful companion volume to the earlier Surely You Are Joking Mr. Feynman!. Perhaps the most intriguing parts of the book are the behind-the-scenes descriptions of science and policy colliding in the presidential commission to determine the cause of the Challenger space shuttle explosion; and the scientific sleuthing behind his famously elegant O-ring-in-ice-water demonstration. Not as rollicking as his other memoirs, but in some ways more profound.
Book Description
The best-selling sequel to "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!"--funny, poignant, instructive. One of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century, Richard Feynman possessed an unquenchable thirst for adventure and an unparalleled ability to tell the stories of his life. "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" is Feynman's last literary legacy, which he prepared as he struggled with cancer. Among its many tales--some funny, others intensely moving--we meet Feynman's first wife, Arlene, who taught him of love's irreducible mystery as she lay dying in a hospital bed while he worked nearby on the atomic bomb at Los Alamos. We are also given a fascinating narrative of the investigation of the space shuttle Challenger's explosion in 1986, and we relive the moment when Feynman revealed the disaster's cause by an elegant experiment: dropping a ring of rubber into a glass of cold water and pulling it out, misshapen. A New York Times bestseller.
Customer Reviews:
Must-read one.......2007-09-23
This is one of my favourite books.
Interesting life of one intelligent person with atypical sense of humour with interesting style of thinking.
Long part about physics may be boring for some kinds of people, but it still also contain a lot of interesting to read. Either way if you are absolutely out of physics you will maybe close this book on first sites of the second part.
So Much Wisdom in A Small Book .......2007-05-20
As others have noted this is the perfect companion to Reflections...... which I listened to on a long road trip. However this book needs to be read and the content savored while Reflections is more entertainment.
The Challenger investigation shines light on all that is wrong with Washington and the good people who perform despite the system. The book is worth reading if for only these chapters. These chapters are also must reading for anyone who read the 9/11 report and either believes it or completely distrusts it. Sadly the Washington insiders are masters at controlling independent panels from the Kennedy investigation to the most recent policical investigations. The term independent panel simply does not exist in DC. Sadly too many on the Challenger panel were working hard to protect that which most needed to be fixed. I believe the same truth holds true with the 9-11 investigation where the "scope" was carefully crafted to avoid potholes.
What's refreshing is Feynman's refusal to go along and also the coaching he received from the USAF general along the way.
Non technical, the book is suitable for interested readers from 10-100. Great illustration of how much positive impact can come from one great mind.
I love Feynman.......2007-05-04
Although this isn't quite the same as "Surely you Must be Joking, Mr Feynman", this is still a great read. There's a great account of his involvement in the investigation of the Challenger accident. If you liked the "Surely you Must be Joking" this one is well worth it. Feynman is such a compelling guy, that (along with Douglas Adams) when reading his books I actually get bummed out that they're not still around and contributing to society.
Further travels with Dick Feynman.......2007-05-02
What Do You Care What Other People Think? is sort of a sequel to Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman. As a whole this book is not as good as Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman. Part 1 of What Do You Care What Other People Think? is excellent and is very similar in tone and content to the earlier book in that it contains anecdotes of Feynman's youth, travels, and work at Los Alamos, and a touching account of the untimely death of his first wife Arlene. I recommend it highly (with only one qualm, see below).
Part 2 is an account of Feynman's work investigating the space shuttle Challenger disaster. This part contains some interesting material but it seemed incomplete, technical in odd ways, and I found it hard to follow--actually impossible to understand fully.
Feynman's epilogue on the value of science is simple-minded, and IMO unworthy of publication.
Let me repeat: Part 1 is fascinating and is a valuable supplement to Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman, but one thing that bothered me is Feynman's hostile attitude to philosophy. Here is a particularly annoying example: Feynman is discussing how he helped Arlene with her philosophy homework. Feynman attacks Descartes' proof for the existence of God. Feynman has Descartes' argument summarized fairly accurately and gives one of the standard refutations (offered as his own brilliant idea). All of this is sophomoric, literally, in that it is standard fare in intro to philosophy courses, but Feynman presents it as though he is this daring iconoclast, uprooting the stuffy philosophers. I quote: "Arlene understood me. She understood, when she looked at it, that no matter how impressive and important this philosophy stuff was supposed to be, it could be taken lightly--you could just think about the words, instead of worrying about the fact that Descartes said it." (p. 29)
Of course this is just what philosophers teach in intro to philosophy. This is philosophy! Take nothing for granted, question everything, "The unexamined life is not worth living" (Socrates). Feynman is a brilliant physicist and wonderful story teller, and he's had a wild life, but his attitude to philosophy is uneducated and uninformed. Feynman especially should appreciate our philosophical heritage. One of Feynman's valuable contributions is that he has been something of a gadfly in the spirit of Socrates, the founder of philosophy in the Western tradition.
Finally I find the title annoying. Of course you care what other people think, and so do I and so did Feynman. Why else would he relate his anecdotes, tell us the story of the death of Arlene, and so on? Indeed, Feynman strikes me as quite sensitive and concerned about other people and their thoughts.
Perspectives of Richard Feynman.......2007-03-29
This was my first introduction to Richard Feynman, and it left an indelible impression. The book consists of a collection of essays, ranging from his upbringing, loss of his first wife, a few anecdotes, and even an in depth look at the Challenger disaster. Among other things, Feynman is a great writer, and makes each of these subjects a captivating read. He has a brilliant mind, and an intriguing vantage point for every subject. If you ever wondered what makes some men stand out from the rest, this is a perfect book to read.
Book Description
What can a physicist gain by studying mathematics? By gathering together everything a physicist needs to know about mathematics in one comprehensive and accessible guide, this is the question Mathematics for Physics and Physicists successfully takes on.
The author, Walter Appel, is a renowned mathematics educator hailing from one of the best schools of France's prestigious Grandes Écoles, where he has taught some of his country's leading scientists and engineers. In this unique book, oriented specifically toward physicists, Appel shows graduate students and researchers the vital benefits of integrating mathematics into their study and experience of the physical world. His approach is mathematically rigorous yet refreshingly straightforward, teaching all the math a physicist needs to know above the undergraduate level. Appel details numerous topics from the frontiers of modern physics and mathematics--such as convergence, Green functions, complex analysis, Fourier series and Fourier transform, tensors, and probability theory--consistently partnering clear explanations with cogent examples. For every mathematical concept presented, the relevant physical application is discussed, and exercises are provided to help readers quickly familiarize themselves with a wide array of mathematical tools.
Mathematics for Physics and Physicists is the resource today's physicists must have to strengthen their math skills and to gain otherwise unattainable insights into their fields of study
Customer Reviews:
new material.......2007-08-08
For physics students, Appel's book should be a pleasure to read. It instructs you in the essential maths tools. At a level of rigour suitable to physicists, without going unnecessarily into the full epsilon-delta approach of pure maths.
Some sections are advanced. Like differential geometry. However, for those of you going into General Relativity or dynamical systems, a knowledge of this can be vital. While the section on Legesgue integration can be used when applying the use of fractals. As in calculating the approximate fractal dimension of some iterated system. Indeed, some 30 years ago, before fractals were discovered by Mandelbrot, Lebesgue integration would have been unlikely to be included in a book of this nature.
Average customer rating:
- excelent deal
- Why Is This Textbook So Widely Used?
- Consider it for what it is
- Not if you want to learn math, use only as reference
- Basic and Essential
|
Mathematical Methods For Physicists
George B. Arfken , and
Hans J. Weber
Manufacturer: Academic Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Applied
| Mathematics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Mathematics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Research
| Mathematics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Physics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Applied
| Mathematics
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Physics
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
All Amazon Upgrade
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Professional & Technical
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Classical Mechanics (3rd Edition)
-
Classical Electrodynamics Third Edition
-
Modern Quantum Mechanics (2nd Edition)
-
Quantum Mechanics (2 vol. set)
-
Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems
ASIN: 0120598760
Release Date: 2005-06-21 |
Book Description
This best-selling title provides in one handy volume the essential mathematical tools and techniques used to solve problems in physics. It is a vital addition to the bookshelf of any serious student of physics or research professional in the field. The authors have put considerable effort into revamping this new edition.
* Updates the leading graduate-level text in mathematical physics
* Provides comprehensive coverage of the mathematics necessary for advanced study in physics and engineering
* Focuses on problem-solving skills and offers a vast array of exercises
* Clearly illustrates and proves mathematical relations
New in the Sixth Edition:
* Updated content throughout, based on users' feedback
* More advanced sections, including differential forms and the elegant forms of Maxwell's equations
* A new chapter on probability and statistics
* More elementary sections have been deleted
Customer Reviews:
excelent deal.......2007-09-30
I appreciate the quick delivery of the book! I received it on the first day of the estimated time interval. I enjoy shopping at amazon.com!
Why Is This Textbook So Widely Used?.......2006-11-14
I am a graduate physics student with a strong mathematical background. This is the textbook used for our 2 semester course in mathematical methods for physics. The book is massive, both in content and physical weight. The cover is attractive and the printing seems to be fairly high quality. Now comes the difficult part of the review: finding other positive comments. First of all, I have only used a few chapters of the book thus far, so my comments pertain only to those. Some difficulties I have found... There are no answers to any exercises making the book fairly useless for self-study. The material is very uneven, as if each section was written by a different author (graduate student?). The explanations and examples are mediocre at best (contrast with the Mary Boas book). There are MANY typos - what ever happened to proof reading? The class INSTRUCTOR doesn't like the book, but is forced to use it by the department, and has regularly emailed the authors with corrections and recommendations. None of the students in the class like the book. You may be forced to use this book, but I would recommend other books as supplements (e.g., the book by Mary Boas and several in the Schaum Outline Series).
Consider it for what it is.......2006-10-11
This is a 1000 page supplement to other textbooks or courses, and works best when combined with an instructor that knows the material in depth. Personally, this book was a required text for an intro to theoretical physics class that I took a few years ago, and combined with the instructor's lectures that were partially supplemented by other authors (Boas), I learned quite a bit.
Now I am in graduate school and I am still coming back to this book as a solid reference for bessel (and other special) functions, complex variables, etc. This book has many problems, a lot of them have solutions, and most of the time you can determine for yourself if you have the correct answer. I would say a great strength of this book is the difficulty of the problems. Sure, it will take some time to work through them to a solid solution, but in doing the problems in Arfken and Weber I've found I had more depth in understanding after finding solutions. Other textbooks will have loads of problems all with very little differences. You have to actually think to solve the problems contained within this book, which will sharpen your mind for quickly solving problems that you otherwise might not attempt. At least that has been my experience.
Not if you want to learn math, use only as reference.......2006-09-27
I used this book as a textbook for a Math class. Okay, I'm not a mathematician so it was suppoused to be a side course. Since I'm not precisely fluent in most of these topics I expected to learn at least the basic stuff. But, as I tried to use the book as a basis for my studies, I found only concepts and demostrations, and no clear examples about anything! I think the authors must think that putting examples in a book like this may be considered offensive by some of their most lectured readers!
I recommend this book only if you are fluent in mathematics, if you already know about the topics and just want a reference book, or if you want to put your "genious" to the test trying to find out what's going on without any kind of aid.
Basic and Essential.......2006-08-05
This book is not so difficult and easy to understand, but it contains basic and essential mathematical knowledge and technique. If one learns eagerly this book, one can get important and useful knowledge to learn science or engineering. Let's become specialist of science or engineering.
Book Description
After reviewing the basic concept of general relativity, this introduction discusses its mathematical background, including the necessary tools of tensor calculus and differential geometry. These tools are used to develop the topic of special relativity and to discuss electromagnetism in Minkowski spacetime. Gravitation as spacetime curvature is introduced and the field equations of general relativity derived. After applying the theory to a wide range of physical situations, the book concludes with a brief discussion of classical field theory and the derivation of general relativity from a variational principle.
Amazon.com
In April 1943, a young physicist named Robert Serber stood up before a small group of fellow scientists in a laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and, as one attendee later recalled, began to speak in "a hazy, uncertain voice" about the project on which they would all be working. "The object," he said, "is to produce a practical military weapon in the form of a bomb in which the energy is released by a fast neutron chain reaction in one or more of the materials known to show nuclear fission." That mechanism, of course, was the atomic bomb, which a little more than two years later would be used against Japan.
In the following weeks, Serber touched on many themes, racing to an array of chalkboards to scribble complex formulas and equations. Among other things, he addressed how big a bomb would need to be in order to achieve critical mass--between 13.5 centimeters and 9 centimeters, he calculated--and what the probability of premature detonation might be. (It was, he concluded, always a danger.) At the end of the series, his lecture notes, classified as top secret, were gathered and printed for distribution to later cadres of scientists who came to work at Los Alamos. Years after the war they were declassified, and Serber, who died in May of 1997, took the opportunity to reflect on his work and the strange culture of the laboratory, adding postscripts and other commentary reproduced in the present edition.
Serber's book is an important document in the history of science, and remains one of the most accessible introductions to nuclear physics ever written. (On that note, those who worry that it is all too easy to find bomb-building instructions in the library or on the Web should rest assured: these lectures were tough for the greatest theoretical physicists of the time to follow.) It all makes for provocative reading. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
The classified lectures that galvanized the Manhattan Project scientists--with annotations for the nonspecialist reader and an introduction by a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian.
In March 1943 a group of young scientists, sequestered on a mesa near Santa Fe, attended a crash course in the new atomic physics. The lecturer was Robert Serber, J. Robert Oppenheimer's protégé, and they learned that their job was to invent the world's first atomic bomb.
Serber's lecture notes, nicknamed the "Los Alamos Primer," were mimeographed and passed from hand to hand, remaining classified for many years. They are published here for the first time, and now contemporary readers can see just how much was known and how terrifyingly much was unknown when the Manhattan Project began. Could this "gadget," based on the newly discovered principles of nuclear fission, really be designed and built? Could it be small enough and light enough for an airplane to carry? If it could be built, could it be controlled?
Working with Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian of the development of the atomic bomb, Professor Serber has annotated original lecture notes with explanations of the physics terms for the nonspecialist. His preface, an informal memoir, vividly conveys the mingled excitement, uncertainty, and intensity felt by the Manhattan Project scientists. Rhodes's introduction provides a brief history of the development of atomic physics up to the day that Serber stood before his blackboard at Los Alamos. In this edition, The Los Alamos Primer finally emerges from the archives to give a new understanding of the very beginning of nuclear weapons. No seminar anywhere has had greater historical consequences.
Customer Reviews:
The Los Alamos Primer: prime!.......2007-01-11
IANAP (I Am Not A Physicist), but the son of one who worked in Los Alamos some time after WWII ... definitely recommend this for those not intimidated by some equations. There's lots here without the match, and the more of it you can appreciate the more the insights. Serber's comments add a lot of perspective.
Great book on the physics of the bomb.......2004-01-15
This is a truly exciting book for people with the desire to understand bomb physics. This book consists out of the original lecture notes from a series of seminars given in 1943 to the bomb scientists at the start of the Manhattan Project. These lecture notes are clearly annotated so that a layman can understand the bomb. Although the book discusses mainly the knowledge of 1943, the clear annotations of the author comments also on the advances since 1943.
In this book you will learn to calculate the energy of an atomic bomb after already 5 pages using only one simple physical law (no, not Einstein!). When you are halfway in the book, you will understand the calculations of the critical mass.
However to fully appreciate the book, you need to have a basic understanding of mathematics and physics. (it would be nice if you know what a differential equation is.)
The book also contains several funny anekdotes which make it a truly astonishing reading.
Excellent!.......2003-04-09
Excellent book, it takes a bit to stick with it, but the modern day excerpts/perspectives threaded into the book give it a good historical perspective. This is a good combo to go together with Richard Rhodes "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" and "Dark Sun".
10 STARS! Essential reading.......2001-09-25
- for anyone seriously interested in our nuclear heritage, weaponeering, or the NWEPS program. Gives INCREDIBLE insight as to the minds and directions these young physicists were going.
This book is a must-read. Simple, concise, straightforward technically. You gotta read it, 'nuff said.
Fascinating.......2001-08-24
This is an incredible book. This is originally a compilation of Robert Serber's notes he gave to incoming scientists at Los Alamos in the 1940s, explaining to them the purpose of the Manhattan Project and the expected means by which they would achieve their goal. This particular copy, courtesy of the University of California Press, contains not only an introduction by Mr. Richard Rhodes (author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb - strongly recommended), but notes throughout the Primer itself by Robert Serber. It is fascinating to read comments on a document by the man who wrote it many years afterward. Be warned: This is NOT a how-to book, and does require some basic knowledge of calculus and physics. It is, however, unbelievably interesting, and worth the cost to add it to your collection.
Book Description
As leading experts in geometric algebra, Chris Doran and Anthony Lasenby have led many new developments in the field over the last ten years. This book provides an introduction to the subject, covering applications such as black hole physics and quantum computing. Suitable as a textbook for graduate courses on the physical applications of geometric algebra, the volume is also a valuable reference for researchers working in the fields of relativity and quantum theory.
Customer Reviews:
makes your head buzz..........2007-08-04
I'm reading this book somewhat in parallel with Hestenes' New Foundations for Classical Mechanics. Both are fantastic books (Hestenes' predates this one), and in some parts they are complementary, while of course they overlap in the foundations and many special topics. What is so fascinating about Geometric Algebra and Calculus? I think it's mainly the recognition that many seemingly complicated theorems of mathematical physics really become much clearer - in a sense of getting a guts feeling about the geometry. The method opens a way to look at the same thing from totally different angles: If one can't imagine something based on geometric arguments, one can take the presented formalism and translate it back into geometry, and suddenly things become clear.
Is the book (or that by Hestenes) basic and easy to understand or are they difficult? Certainly they require some work by the reader. To follow the entire book, one really can't do without learning to master the formalism of geometric algebra, which is simple, yet sometimes bizarre. I suspect though that it is only bizarre to the one who "knows it all" already: The student or scientist who has grown familiar with vector spaces, matrix notation and wiggling around with tensor notation, needs to go through the same exercises as the bloody beginner to whom even the idea of a vector may not be clear. In fact, the beginner could be at a real advantage to not being poisoned by vector calculus. For example, take the very basic notation for a geometric product of two multi-vectors: ab = a.b + a^b (the sum of inner and outer product). What's so confusing about it? Nothing, really, after one really understands what "+" here means. But it happens often enough that one only thinks about this product in terms of the right hand side of the equation, because those are totally familiar for anyone who took basic linear algebra, and then ends up making simple things complicated again. I must say that it was like loosing shadows from the eyes to see how the formulations in this book and Hestenes' work explain so well why it is that the quantum mechanical psi function needs to be complex, or better yet what really the i means in physics, and how the entire set of Maxwell equations (all 4 of them) are one simple continuity equation. That's the kind of thing that makes your head buzz. I'm not done with these books, but I have a clear feeling that in the end I will have an entry point to understand QM and parts of general relativity not just formally (especially QM) but really develop a guts feeling for it.
One thing that I'm still a bit missing in any of the books related to geometric algebra is classical continuum mechanics. This may be so because many of the authors are immersed in fields related to cosmology. In this book, one can find a tiny little bit also about elasticity (linear and nonlinear). However, I keep wondering what it would be like to reformulate the entire underlying theory of continuum mechanics (about deforming solids, elastic or viscoelastic or plastic, about fluid flow, about polarized materials, biological active materials, etc). Could something new be learned? I bet it could!
Provides a very interesting point of view.......2007-02-22
Provides a very interesting point of view, absolutely necessary for grasping the bolts and plumbing of modern physics.
The material covered was not present in other texts that I had a look at so this book serves as a good corner stone to build advanced undergraduate and graduate courses on.
A powerful mathematical language for physics and engineering.......2004-08-01
This is a well-written book on a very interesting and important subject: geometric algebra (GA) is a powerful and elegant mathematical language -- based on the works of Hamilton, Grassmann and Clifford -- that is especially well-suited for spacetime physics and several fields of engineering.
The authors adopt David Hestenes' viewpoint of a graded GA as a unified mathematical language that is coordinate-free, thereby stressing the fundamental role of geometric invariants in physics.
In fact, the elementary vector analysis -- which pervades almost all undergraduate (and even) graduate approaches to electrodynamics -- finds its roots in the misguided Gibbsian approach: Gibbs advocated abandoning Hamilton's quaternions and just work with scalar and cross products of vectors. However, the cross product has a major flaw: it only exists in three (or seven) dimensions -- if we require that (i) it should have just two factors, (ii) to be orthogonal to the factors, and (iii) to have length equal to the corresponding parallelogram.
Electrodynamics and relativistic physics, particularly, are elegantly presented through GA and otherwise cumbersome calculations may be circumvented in a simple and insightful way.
Mainstream physics and engineering cannot overlook GA anymore.
Compared to what ?.......2004-01-30
This is truly a great book for any one who is interested in not just physics, but physical reality. Although the ideas expressed therein have a long history and are by no means as uniquely those of its authors as were Albert Einstein's in his day, I believe that they will have comparable lasting value. Moreover the synthesis presented in this book, which builds pre-eminently on the work of Hestenes, is absolutely superb. Interested readers need not take my word for these claims, but are invited to prove it to themselves.
Although the above should be a sufficient review, my experience nevertheless indicates that it is a good idea to warn potentially enthusiastic readers against several common semantic misconceptions, lest they jump to conclusions which prevent them from ever taking that vital first step. Thus let it be clearly understood that Geometric Algebra is NOT:
(1) A replacement for linear/matrix/tensor algebra (on the contrary, it is a very nice complement to these formalisms).
(2) Identical, or even very close, to Emil Artin's earlier excellent book on bilinear forms with the title "Geometric Algebra".
(3) Another name for the enormous field "algebraic geometry" (it is indeed appropriate that the word stemming from "geometry" comes first in "geometric algebra").
(4) Just another reformulation of complex / quaternion / octonian analysis; for it connects all these purely algebraic objects, and many generalizations thereof, to Felix Klein's Erlangen Programme and Sophus Lie's theory of continuous groups.
(5) The ultimate theory of everything (although it probably will eventually be found to have something to do with it).
Geometric algebra IS a practical and natural (canonical) tool for formulating physical and mathematical problems in homogeneous spaces in a fully covariant fashion. But more importantly, you do not need to understand all those words in order to benefit from it, and this book is an excellent place for physicists of all stripes to start.
Articulate Path to the Future.......2003-07-19
The quality and importance of this book could hardly be overstated. Geometric algebra might casually be considered the "correct" generalization of linear algebra. By considering, for a start, directed line segments, the linear algebra courses presently taught in some high schools and all universities achieve miracles. Although viewed by a few of the slower students as merely unpleasant bookkeeping systems, linear algebra derives its power from allowing algebraic manipulation of sophisticated aggregate objects, namely vectors. The benefits are not just computational, but stem more importantly from a more powerful and more unified, although slightly more abstract point of view than a student had before studying. Geometric algebra is all that and much more. By extending consideration from directed line segments to the inclusion of direct plane segments, directed elements of three space, etc., an extremely flexible and elegant mathematical tool arises. It allows a deeper, quicker, and more concise treatment of essentially all of modern differential geometry. Its applications throughout physics are at once simplifications of ordinary matrix treatments and occasions to allow much greater insight.
Geometric algebra is a great theory, one of highest importance. It will, undoubtedly, find a dominant place in our mathematics curriculum at the highest speed allowed by our educational systems (the highest speed being actually quite slow). This book is an especially good place to begin study. It starts from the most elementary principles, and exposes the material with very thoughtful, clear presentation. The economy and elegance of the geometric algebra itself allows this one substantial but not enormous book to reveal great insights into many branches of study, from differential geometry and its applications to gravity theory to quantum mechanics and classical mechanics.
If I had no books in my library, I would purchase a Bible. If I had only the Bible in my library, I would purchase this book next. I would certainly study this book in all detail before making a third purchase. My library already has several books in it. None of them will be read further until I finish every line, every exercise of this book. It's an important theory, and it is explained in a very useful and articulate way. This would, of course, be entirely expected if the authors were from Oxford University. Since they are only from Cambridge, we might not have expected as much, but we got it, nonetheless.
Book Description
This book summarizes the radiation physics knowledge that professionals working in medical physics need to master for efficient and safe dealings with ionizing radiation. It contains eight chapters, each chapter covering a specific group of subjects related to radiation physics and is intended as a textbook for a course in radiation physics in medical-physics graduate programs. However, the book may also be of interest to the large number of professionals, not only medical physicists, who in their daily occupations deal with various aspects of medical physics and find a need to improve their understanding of radiation physics.
The main target audience for this book is graduate students studying for M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in medical physics, who haveto possess the necessary physics and mathematics background knowledge to be able to follow and master the complete textbook. Medical residents, technology students and biomedical engineering students may find certain sections too challenging or esoteric, yet they will find many sections interesting and useful in their studies.
Candidates preparing for professional certification exams in any of the medical physics subspecialties should find the material useful, and some of the material would also help candidates preparing for certification examinations in medical dosimetry or radiation-related medical specialties.
Numerous textbooks are available covering the various subspecialties of medical physics but they generally make a transition from the elementary basic physics directly into the intricacies of the given medical physics subspecialty. The intent of this textbook is to provide the missing link between the elementary physics on the one hand and the physics of the subspecialties on the other hand.
Average customer rating:
- Good examples but careless
- THE NEW STANDARD IN MATH PHYSICS!
|
Mathematics for Physicists
Susan Lea
Manufacturer: Brooks Cole
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Applied
| Mathematics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Calculus
| Pure Mathematics
| Mathematics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Mathematics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Physics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Mathematical Physics
| Physics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Calculus
| Pure Mathematics
| Mathematics
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Physics
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Mathematical Physics
| Physics
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Modern Quantum Mechanics (2nd Edition)
-
Classical Electrodynamics Third Edition
-
Quantum Physics
-
Quantum Mechanics: Concepts and Applications
-
Analytical Mechanics
ASIN: 0534379974 |
Book Description
Often physics enthusiasts are not comfortable using the mathematical tools that they learn in school, and this book discusses the mathematics that physics professionals need to master. This book provides the necessary tools and shows how to use those tools specifically in physics problems.
Customer Reviews:
Good examples but careless.......2005-12-01
This book is intellectually slovenly but has many interesting examples in it. It is useful in the hands of an experienced instructor. I would rate it ahead of Arfken's well-known manual. It is a pity that Margenau and Murphy is so out of date.
THE NEW STANDARD IN MATH PHYSICS!.......2003-07-12
As a physics graduate student, I cannnot say
enough good things about this book. Professor Lea
has written what is perhaps the ONLY user-friendly
textbook in mathematical physics!
The book begins with an extremely well-written
review of basics such as vector calculus and
matrix algebra. The discussion then turns to
a very thorough exploration of complex analysis.
Then we take a delightful tour through the marvels
of differential equations, Fourier analysis, special
functions, group theory, tensors, and many other wonderful,
relevant, and challenging topics.
Entire generations of physics grad students have had
to suffer through dry tome-like math
physics books. No longer! Professor Lea has given
physics grad students everywhere what we've long wanted:
a lucid, clear math physics textbook filled with worked
examples and, most critically, clear explanations of
challenging topics.
This book will make Arfken obsolete.
Average customer rating:
- A good concept, but dry at times
- High energy physics: deconstruction of a non-culture
- From NKV
|
Beamtimes and Lifetimes: The World of High Energy Physicists
Sharon Traweek
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Popular Culture
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Cultural
| Anthropology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Energy
| Physics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Physics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Nuclear Physics
| Physics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Nuclear Physics
| Physics
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Entertainment Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Nonfiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Science Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Nonfiction
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Laboratory Life
-
Writing Women's Worlds: Bedouin Stories
-
Epistemic Cultures: How the Sciences Make Knowledge
-
Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society
-
Science as Social Knowledge
ASIN: 0674063481 |
Customer Reviews:
A good concept, but dry at times.......1999-07-17
I read a review of this book and it sounded interesting, so eventually I bought it. The idea seemed good - study the community of physicists as a subculture of its own. And this book has its moments. Unfortunately, it was a bit too dry for my tastes. Traweek's habit of not giving names to the people she talks about and referring to everything in incredibly generic terms can be very irritating. I assume that this is some sort of anthropological or ethnographic practice - however, I'm not sure if this book should have been cast so heavily in the scholarly mode of anthropology. Parts of this book I skipped over because it seemed too dry. However, it's interesting to hear about the distinctions between the different kinds of physicists, the educational system that they were taught in, and the like. Looking back, I probably should not have read this book in one sitting, short as it is. Maybe my attention span just isn't long enough. But it still offers some interesting insights.
High energy physics: deconstruction of a non-culture.......1999-02-20
Beamtimes and Lifetimes by Sharon Traweek is an unusual book which documents the specific norms, values, and physical aspects of the high energy physics community in Japan and the U.S. One of the main strengths of this book is its comprehensive study on why physics is not a gender-neutral, unbiased, and totally objective science. Traweek exposes the fact that science is not the an individual endeavor devoid of human experience, biases, and human nature. By systematically, documenting the community and the ethos that the physcists adhere to, the reader walks away with the fact that physics like many other sciences are results of human interepretation - a construct of knowledge that is organized, affected, and generated by concerns of collaboration, funding, competition, gender biases, and culture. Although parts of this book may be pretty dry for the non- scholar and people are simply not interested, there are pivotal and salient paragraphs in Beamtimes and Lifetimes that show that science isn't objective and neutral as it seems. It is worth reading and non-scientists and scientists alike. Read carefully and don't plow through it!
From NKV.......1999-02-15
If the relation between science and society, nature and human, interests you, this is a book you should read. The author, who majors in anthropology, tries to examine high-energy physics community in the light of anthropology. As far as I know, anthropologists have hardly written any book about physics, physicists' community. As you will see, this book is different from the books that are usually written by physicist. The books, that physicists write, require more physical and mathematical background. But such prerequisites are not required at all in this book. Rather, this book requires the information about community, that is, anthropology. In prologue, the author explains the motivation of beginning this fieldwork, the relation between high-energy physics and war, the method of analyzing physicist community, and the landmark emerged in constructing an account of physicists' culture. First of all, the method of analysis through anthropology is the thing that this book is different from usual books about physicists. The author says that the account written as an outcome of anthropological fieldwork usually includes information about four domains of community life. They run as follows: ecology, social organization, the developmental cycle, cosmology: the group's system of knowledge, skills, and beliefs, what is valued and what is denigrated. As this method, she develops his argument until epilogue. In chapter1, she, who was partly employed to conduct public tours of Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC), introduce SLAC and KEK in Japan, as if we tour through SLAC, KEK. In ch2, detectors, which is probably the most important tool observing nature, is revealed. There are many differences between detectors at SLAC (ESA, LASS, and SPEAR) and those at KEK. She does proficiently explain "why are detectors at SLAC and those at KEK different?" In the next chapter, she turns from the detectors to their makers who have different strategies for making research equipment. This chapter is entitled "Pilgrim's Progress: Male Tales Told during a Life in Physics". If you are concerned with physics, considering to major in physics, you are strongly recommended to read chapter. The life of physicist is divided by 4 stages: undergraduate student, graduate, postdoctoral physicist, and established physicist. The author does minutely explain the psychological state, required qualifications, in each stage. Until this chapter, the author has introduced the actors in the high-energy community but from now, she will describe their activities. Ch.4 entitled "Ground states: Distinctions and the Ties that Bind" explain networks of physicists, ranking of institutions, distinctions between experimentalist and theorist, women and men, etc... In this chapter, the author try to show the relationship that bind physicist community, she consider it to be highly fixed relation through talking, not writing. In last chapter, physicists, who try to maintain stability, negotiate with one another for resources, and change themselves in the front of knowledge. As deeply as this book probes into the anthropological details of high-energy physics community, it disappoints in being constrained to honor a typical theory of anthropology. "I have explored a theory originally formulated by Durkheim and...."[P.157]. The author did certainly succeed in analyzing high-energy physics community in the light of Durkheim's theory, but she failed in creating her unique view. Sometimes, she tries to vaguely show her opinion. The question of "whether electrons exist of not?" is translated into a less abrupt form to her "where do the social categories of physicist and physics community and physics culture exist?"[p.162]. On the other hand, it is likely that she has a prominent insight into detectors. "The relationship between scientist and nature is at its most intimate and physical in the detectors"[p.158]. "The detectors in the end are the key informants of this study; physicist and nature meet in the detector, where knowledge and passion are one" [p.17]. It is reasonable that she regards the detectors as the outcomes of physicists' culture and science policy of governments, etc.... But, it is a little drowzy...not clear...
Books:
- The Creator and the Cosmos: How the Latest Scientific Discoveries of the Century Reveal God
- The Data Warehouse Toolkit: The Complete Guide to Dimensional Modeling (Second Edition)
- The Data Warehouse Toolkit: The Complete Guide to Dimensional Modeling (Second Edition)
- The Feynman Lectures on Physics including Feynman's Tips on Physics: The Definitive and Extended Edition
- The Feynman Lectures on Physics Volumes 1-2
- The Firm, the Market, and the Law
- The Improvement Guide: A Practical Approach to Enhancing Organizational Performance (Jossey-Bass Business and Management Series)
- The Intention Experiment: Using Your Thoughts to Change Your Life and the World
- The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 11th Edition
- The Physics of Baseball (3rd Edition)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Think and Grow Rich!: The Original Version, Restored and Revised
- The Best Bread Ever: Great Homemade Bread Using your Food Processor
- She Loves Me Not
- Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail: The Evolution of Fighting Tactics, 1650-1815
- Paper Dreams: The Lost Art Of Hollywood Still Photography
- Seeing the Light: Optics in Nature, Photography, Color, Vision, and Holography
- Pride of Place: A Contemporary Anthology of Texas Nature Writing
- 5 Magic Paths to Making a Fortune in Real Estate
- Procedures for the Office Professional: Text/Data Disk Package
- On the Edge of Greatness: The Diaries of John Humphrey, First Director of the United Nations Divisio
What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious Character
Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher
Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From The Beaten Track: The Letters Of Richard P. Feynman
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter
Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman
