Product Description

Provides comprehensive coverage of all the fundamentals of quantum physics. Full mathematical treatments are given. Uses examples from different areas of physics to demonstrate how theories work in practice. Text derived from lectures delivered at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #129067 in Books
• Published on: 1979-11-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 696 pages

About the Author
French; Anthony Massachussetts Institute of Technology, USA,Taylor; Edwin F. Massachussetts Institute of Technology, USA,

Customer Reviews

A good intro, but it has flaws
As has been pointed out in an earlier review, this is a basic and unfussy approach with minimal mathematical exposition. It is also readable, with no highfalutin language. Good basic stuff, in other words.

However, and it's a pretty big however, there are mistakes in it. Unfortunately, a lot of these are not particularly easy to spot. There are typos in the text (e.g. "efforts" instead of "effects", which could confuse) but also there are sometimes mistakes in some of the equations (omitting the "i" operator in an exponential makes all the difference!). In one case at least, they did the calculation wrong and, noticing the difference, said something like "well it's not a perfect prediction but it's pretty close" when in fact if they *had* done the sums right it would have been pretty damn accurate.

Another point that may well deter modern readers is that the physics tends to focus on the c.g.s. rather than SI system of units, which is possibly due to its background and age. In places the SI equivalents are given, but it takes some diligence to go through it religiously converting.

Having said that, converting to SI is an educational exercise in itself ...

Another negative point is that some of the photographs have not come out very well, and the details of some potentially highly enlightening effects are sometimes lost.

But for all that, it's very good at helping the poor student get his head round some seriously non-intuitive concepts, and the exercises (a lot of which give some applications to the macroscopic world) certainly serve to consolidate the ground covered. Unfortunately there are no answers given.

Therefore I would recommend this as a background textbook to a taught course in quantum mechanics, but for self-teaching, it may be somewhat limited in usefulness. And for all its faults, it definitely deserves 4 stars for the quality of writing alone.

Not an easy book for a beginner
French and Taylor is a comprehensive guide to all basic aspects of Quantum Mechanics, including the Hydrogen atom and a detailed discussion of angular momentum. There is very little if anything that has been left out if you are an undergraduate studying a Quantum Physics course. However, if you are an undergraduate, you may find this book a little hard going, as it is really designed for people who already understand most aspects of Quantum Mechanics, so I wouldn't recommend this to 1st or 2nd year Physics students. Try Quantum Mechanics by F Madl for a simpler, more easy going, if less thorough approach.

Easy to read and really focuses on the Physics
OK, so this book is old, having been written in the 1970s. For all that, it still does the core things excellently: namely focus on the Physics, the experiments, the theory, AND the people behind the advances.

After going through the antecedents of the classical atomic model, the authors quickly move onto the wave-particle duality. They describe, throughout, groundbreaking experimental work of the likes of Thompson and Davisson & Germer. After setting the foundations, French and Taylor go to the discussion of the one dimensional Schrodinger equation, its physical meaning, and several examples of solutions by means of qualitative plots.

The rest of the book is made up of chapters on Photons and Quantum States, Angular momentum, Atomic Systems, a detailed discussion of the Hydrogen atom and Radiation from atoms.

What I particularly like about this book is that it is grounded in the Physics, with experiment and theory given an equal footing. The authors are gentle with their use of mathematics. The concept of operators is applied to the physical problem. This, despite what to some people would be the book’s "old fashioned” nature, is refreshing. Too often, the authors of modern books on Quantum Physics "pose" with fancy mathematics to try an impress their colleagues or students.

This book is easy to read, there are plenty of worked examples and end of chapter exercises to keep the student busy. I recommend this book thoroughly.