A Physicist's Guide to Mathematica, Second Edition [Paperback]

Patrick T. Tam (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0126831920 | ISBN-13: 978-0126831924 | Edition: 2

For the engineering and scientific professional, A Physicist's Guide to Mathematica, 2/e provides an updated reference guide based on the 2007 new 6.0 release, providing an organized and integrated desk reference with step by step instructions for the most often used features of the software as it applies to research in physics.

For Professors teaching physics and other science courses using the Mathematica software, A Physicist's Guide to Mathematica, 2/e is the only fully compatible (new software release) Mathematica text that engages students by providing complete topic coverage, new applications, exercises and examples that enable the user to solve a wide range of physics problems.

. Does not require prior knowledge of Mathematica or computer programming
. Can be used as either a primary or supplemental text for upper-division physics majors and an Instructor's Solutions Manual is available
. Provides over 450 end-of-section exercises and end-of-chapter problems
. Serves as a reference suitable for chemists, physical scientists, and engineers
. Compatible with Mathematica Version 6, a recent major release
. Compact disk contains all of the Mathematica input and output in this book

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Patrick Tam's contribution, A PHYSICIST'S GUIDE TO MATHEMATICA, is certainly one of the best...Tam's explanations always seem to convey just what you need to know in clear, concise language...Regardless of whether it is used formally in a course or for a self-paced tutorial, this book provides a clear and effective learning resource that is also an outstanding reference."
--Dr. Charles A. Bennett, Professor of Physics, University of North Carolina, COMPUTERS IN PHYSICS, Jan/Feb 1998. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description

Compatible with Mathematica version 3.0! --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 641 pages
• Publisher: Academic Press; 2 edition (December 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0126831920
• ISBN-13: 978-0126831924
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #44 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Physics > Mathematical Physics

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent - must read for beginners, January 1, 2002

By 

[e-mail] (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Physicist's Guide to Mathematica (Hardcover)

I read many Mathematica books, introductory and advanced - yet this one clearly stands out (even in this high quality field).

The title and the previous reviewer suggest that this is a book for physicists or physics students. This is quite unfortunate, as it may put off others from learning proper use of Mathematica from this book. True, the examples are from physics, but most of them are elementary physics, done by students of science, life sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering etc.

The reason why non-physicists should read that book is extremely clear exposure of three areas of Mathematica: a) introductory level use of mma as a simple calculator/grapher/equation solver; b) very good illustration on practical aspects of using mma to solve slightly larger problems - showing the right _methodology_ of mapping real world problems into mma so they can be solved neatly; c) very good introduction to programming in Mathematica on the introductory to intermediate level (with some hints of advanced)

I admit to having a strong bias towards this book - it is one of many introductory books I read and I regret it was not my first one. That would have saved me reading others - beginners, intermediate and advanced alike. [OK, I read them just to compare, anyway :-)]

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good Mathematica introduction for physics students!, April 1, 2000

By 

luca rinaldi - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Physicist's Guide to Mathematica (Hardcover)

If you need to apply Mathematica to study real physical systems,then i think you can find a lot of useful material in this book.The book begins with the use of Mathematica as an advanced interactive calculator and graphic display ,then elucidates its use as a programming language and finally shows a series of Mathematica packages that deal with specific problems in different physical areas.The author mixes explanations and hints with one to one reproduction of the computer screen inputs and outputs.The exposition is very clear and student-friendly.On the whole a great text!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good, November 24, 2009

By 

Vinicius M. Braganca (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Physicist's Guide to Mathematica, Second Edition (Paperback)

The explanations are simple and efficient, direct to the point. Some exercises are very mechanical but the examples are physically motivated and interesting. The final chapters about physical problems are very good. I strongly recommend for undergraduate students who wants to make some didactically calculations about basics physics