Customer Reviews

Quantum Mechanics (2nd Edition)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great book. The most comprehensive undergrad QM book there is. Everything is clear and to the point-- no unnecessary fluff and no skimping out on the math (for the most part). If you find the Griffiths text to be lacking then I highly recommend this one. Although I will say this is written more like a Math book than a physics book (which I happen to like). The problems at the end of the chapter certainly reflect this as they are usually of the form: Prove equation .... Show that the energy levels are approximately ....

The fundamental difference between B&J and Griffiths is that Griffiths will often leave important results as problems-- whereas B&J will not skip out on them. While it is instructive to work out the important stuff at least once-- its pretty damn annoying when you're trying to review the material later on and don't want to work anything out.

This book has more than you'll ever need as an undergrad. I'm also surprised that a book of this caliber is so cheap. Buy it-- its worth the money.

This book is a rare Physics text that successfully bridges the gap from the undergrad to the grad curriculum. The math is accessible to anyone who has passed Junior level linear algebra and math methods while the Physics is more detailed than that of the typical undergrad quantum mechanics course. The authors give careful details of many important calculations, together with the interpretations of the steps in the context of both math and physics. All these features together with the clarity of the writing and diagrams go to make this a great transitional text.

Throughout the book Bransden and Joachain give equal importance to the wave and matrix formalisms of quantum mechanics. A nice feature of this book is the presentation of the Schrodinger equation in momentum space - a treatment not found in much detail in many undergrad texts. Significant amounts of theoretical background required by Chemists (especially on atomic spectra) is also developed in the book. This renders the text of use to Chemistry majors who have had the requisite mathematical background mentioned earlier on in this review.

I bought this book as a Senior but kept referring to it again and again as a grad student. Recently, I've begun to rely on it for the Quantum Mechanics portion of the Modern Physics class that I now teach. Each time I look at it, I appreciate the clarity, breadth and depth of the material presented. This tome is definitely worthy of greater publicity.

I have to agree with the other reviews. This is an excellent QM book for advanced undergrads or grad students. Beware, you'll need pencil and plenty of paper to read through the text and fill in the gaps between some calculations(like from equations a,b,c,d we can derive e).

This is a terrific intro to the subject for physicists and chemists. I had lost my original copy from my university days and was happy to find it for such a nice price on amazon.com. This book prepares one for more advanced treatments and specialized topics in Q.M. Truly a well thought out book by two great scientists and teachers!

This is a good book about quantum mechanics which starts out with the history of how quantum mechanics was derived. Afterwards it introduces wave mechanics and further on matrix mechanics. The math is introduced along the way, and is thoroughly explained.

My biggest problem with this book is that it never mentions Hilbert spaces which is an important part of the mathematical foundation of quantum mechanics.

This book was applied by an expert researcher in QM in an introductory course on QM. As you will read on the back cover, Bransden and Joachain are both prof. emeritus, and they write that the lack of matematical abilities of students nowadays has been kept very much in mind throughout the book. Not at all. The book precisely reads like a book written by people who have worked in the QM field for a full career and is replete with advanced mathematics; the problem is that the physics too often gets lost by them making several pages long proofs and upon which the content and the relevance of the physics has been forgotten by the end. Then, it is understandable that an expert researcher in QM finds this book good in an introductory course although it should not be used there, at least not standing alone. I found it much easier to get the more or less same information, perhaps with fewer details, by using "Schaum's Outline of Quantum Mechanics"-buy that one as well if you have to buy this one.

B&J is a good reference tool. A plethora of concepts and applications is covered, with little skimping on results.

But...

This text is an abomination to academia. Having been assigned it for an undergraduate course, I found it completely useless, and used Griffiths and Sakurai together to study and understand material. To its credit, B&J covers a wide variety of topics, and thus may be used as a reference. But I cannot forgive the poor writing, inconsistencies, lack of thoroughness per subject, and density of mathematical formulation without clear explanation. While some may argue that I may just be too simple minded to grasp the great depth of the book, I repudiate this with the judgment that a textbook's first purpose is to serve as a tool for instruction. Here is where the book fails.
B&J's derivations do not, in my mind, follow a logical flow of ideas. Nor do they provide an undergraduate reader any form of conceptual grasp for the fundamentals of QM. I find it hard to believe that this book should find any place within any university. It is completely inappropriate for an intro to QM class, yet far too lacking in mathematical and conceptual completeness to serve as an upper division or graduate text.

It may sound as though I dislike this book. I do. But I give it three stars because I do find it on many a shelf(including mine) around campus. If you have the money, buy it as a supplement to the other texts, or read it just after you finish a course. In my mind, the conjunction of Griffiths and Sakurai is a adequate (if not monetarily taxing)reading text for undergraduate courses in QM.

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As Irving Berlin wrote, Blue Skies is all I see" so goes Quantum Mechanics 2nd Edition. The theories "sing" in this thoughtfully written technical epic. As bathroom reading goes I wouldn't recommend this weighty volume since its such a long read. But anyone with a love for their neighborhood mechanic will treasure it. Thumbs up!

I've scanned through at least 10 QM textbooks for advanced undergraduate and none is better than this!!!!! If you find this book too easy, then try Sakurai' QM, even though it cost twice the price.
If you like neither, then I recommnend the magazine "Maxim". It's probably more exciting to you then.