Customer Reviews

Methods of Theoretical Physics, Part I

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Current physics students had less mathematical trainings than those did several decades ago, when computer wasn't popular. So this book is probably too hard to read through and to work on its problems. But if you force yourself, you will begin to appreciate the beauty of mathematics. The chapter about Green's function is escpecially good, never had a so vivid lecture on Green's function before. Actually, when I read this book, I felt Green's function is the kernel and the main bone of this book. It appears almost in every chapter.

The price is pretty high, but if you choose physics as your career, it's worth to have this book, both for academic and entertaining purposes.

In response to questions from colleagues and students i'm posting this review.
This was the standard text many years ago.
Many current topics on mathematical Quantization and Stochastic Optimization are conspicuously abscent.
The publisher is working on a two Volume Paperback edition that will be available shortly, so save your money and buy this 2-vol set for one fifth the price.

The classic text, still excellent, tho' somewhat dated. Well worth having because (a) the physical viewpoint is helpful for theorists and easier for experimentalists, (b) the older viewpoint is different from that of more modern texts, and still worthwhile; multiple viewpoints increase understanding.

Feshbach Publishing has acquired the rights to this work from McGraw-Hill. Cambridge University Press did a terrific job reprinting the book using printing film supplied by McGraw-Hill.

Despite George Arfken's claim in 2002 that a paperback version was on it's way, no such version was ever planned. This book is used intensively over several decades by many people. I doubt that a paperback version would survive for long under such circumstances.

I love this book and I learn something new every time I open it up. . Every theoretical physicist I know has a copy of "Morse and Feschbach" and "Arfkin" somewhere within 15' of his desk at any given time. Arfkin's book is far more pedagogic and we use it in our "Math Methods" course (in fact his rating and review of M&F part 1 are spot on), but M&F is the classic "Methods" book and harkins back to the time where Green's functions and analytic methods ruled the day.

Though quite impressive in its size, this (series of) book(s) contains information that can be obtained in a more readable fashion and for much cheaper too. All of the information on solving differential equations, and even the Green's function section, can be found in the book "Applied Partial Differential Equations" by RIchard Haberman which is available for around $100. I found Haberman's book much more readable and the problems much more elucidating than this book. The chapters on Variational and Perturbative methods can be found in any graduate level Quantum Mechanics book, which students that would find this book of interest will have to take anyway, if they haven't taken it already.
While both of these volumes are classics, they are also classics. They are dated and horribly horribly expensive. The information contained in these books can be obtained in better explained format with excellent problems and examples to illustrate their application. If you feel you really need this book you can do a google search-incidentally it is available for free download online if you look hard enough-and see if the material presented is really worth the price. Personally, it is not worth the price-I found them used at a book store and bought them both for under $60.00 and still felt that I spent too much given I already have all the information in other textbooks.
The two stars are for the price, not the material contained in the books.

..please help the poor like me by launch the paper back edition so i can afford it..please be compassioned