Customer Reviews

Quantum Physics of Atoms, Molecules, Solids, Nuclei and Particles

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is an excellent introduction to Quantum Physics. This book gives the non-expert reader an insight into the tremendous explanatory power of quantum mechanics. It describes why and how Quantum Mechanics was developed, and it is primarily concerned with the understanding of concepts and ideas, rather than focusing on mathematical techniques. For this reason it might appear a little verbose to some readers.

The first five chapters gives the reader a good insight into the history of Quantum Physics and to why classical mechanics was insufficient. Chapter 6 is an excellent overview of how to solve the Schroedinger Equation in a few specific cases, at the same time as the reader is given a very good "feeling" for how Quantum Mechanics works. The remainder of the chapters focuses on specific situations, applications and phenomena's.

There are plenty of books that use less mathematics, but I do not believe they give a good understanding of the topic. There are also plenty of books that uses a lot more complex mathematics, but they are not for beginners. I recommend this book as an introduction to Quantum Physics for undergraduate physics students, engineers, science professionals, and mathematically literate others.

For reference, these are the chapters in the book:
(1) Thermal Radiation and Plank's Postulate
(2) Photons--Particlelike Properties of Radiation
(3) De Broglie's Postulate--Wavelike Properties of Particles
(4) Bohr's Model of the Atom
(5) Schroedinger's Theory of Quantum Mechanics
(6) Solutions of Time-Independent Schroedinger Equations
(7) One-Electron Atoms
(8) Magnetic Dipole Moments, Spin, and Transition Rates
(9) Multielectron Atoms--Ground States and X-Ray Excitations
(10) Multielectron Atoms--Optical Excitations
(11) Quantum Statistics
(12) Molecules
(13) Solids--Conductors and Semiconductors
(14) Solids--Superconductors and Magnetic Properties
(15) Nuclear Models
(16) Nuclear Decay and Nuclear Reactions
(17) Introduction to Elementary Particles
(18) More Elementary Particles

I liked Appendix A, "The Special Theory of Relativity". In only sixteen pages, the authors succeed to correctly explain the special theory of relativity. I also liked Appendix C, "The Boltzmann Distribution", which was good concise description of classical statistical mechanics (you need to understand it, to understand why it was not good enough).

I am using Eisberg's and Resnick's text to review quantum physics. I am particularly impressed by the author's development of plausibility arguements for the mathematics before developing the mathematics itself. I found the first couple of chapters a bit laborious, but the succeeding chapters are very well-written. I was particularly impressed by the chapter on Schroedinger's Theory of Quantum Mechanics and the chapter on Solutions of Time-Independent Schroedinger Equations. I found the text particularly useful for self-instruction and review.

This book is perfect for introduction to Quantum Physics, especially for those who want to go into the subject step by step with an understanding of Physical concepts behind it. Most books I have seen basically are dry Mathematical Formulas which requires a lot to reading into formulas to get the real physical meaning behind those formulas. This book is perfect it tells you why certain things can not be explained by Classical Physics (Instead of simply stating that) and what assumptions are being made and where the problem was and therefore the Quantum Physics is there. It has numerous examples for you to see real applications and scales of the things. Everytime I opened the book I was so happy that I finally came across such a good book. I have no problem with the amount of verbatim in the book as some of the commentators had. I believe it is that feature of the book that makes it clear Physics book. Every line has a significance in the fundamentals of the subject.

I disagree with the reviewer who said that this book has too much commentary. That reviewer also said that he liked Griffiths better. Well it sounds to me like that reviewer was put in the same position as I was by having to use this book for a introductory QM course rather than the type of course it is suited for--a first course in modern physics or what some people refer to as quantum *physics* rather than mechanics.

I agree, Griffiths is much better for intro QM because that is what it was meant for. But who would use Griffiths for a modern physics course?

Aside from the fact that Eisberg and Resnick should not be used for a intro QM course, it is an excellent text that, in my opinion, is the best place to learn modern physics prior to undertaking a full-fledged undergraduate QM course. It does not have a treatment of special relativity, as most modern texts have, but I would still reccomend professors use this text for a modern physics course even if they have to introduce relativity via handouts and notes--it's just that good. The selection of problems is excellent and there are answers to selected problems in the back.

This text is also an excellent place to study for the GRE physics subject test in that the material in this book is probably the single most important material to know for the test besides classical mechanics and classical electromagnetism. There are very few typos also.

From the standpoint of a modern physics text, this is by far nothing close to being too verbose. It strikes a perfect balance between mathematical formalism and plain english explanations--which is a far cry from many modern texts that want to explain everything with words and leave the mathematics totally behind (take a look at Krane for instance!).

I havn't seen all the modern physics texts out there, but of those I've seen, this is by far the best. Serway is not bad if you want something that has an intro to SR in it (I really can't say anything bad about Serway's modern book), but I much prefer to use Eisberg & Resnick and get the SR in a separate course that is devoted to the subject.

Contents

1) Thermal Radiation and Plank's Postulate 2) Photons--Particlelike Properties of Radiation 3) De Broglie's Postulate--Wavelike Properties of Particles 4) Bohr's Model of the Atom 5) Schroedinger's Theory of QM 6) Solutions of Time-Independent SE 7) One-Electron Atoms 8) Magnetic Dipole Moments, Spin, and Transition Rates

9) Multielectron Atoms--Ground States and X-Ray Excitations 10) Multielectron Atims--Optical Excitations 11) Quantum Statistics 12) Molecules 13) Solids--Conductors and Semiconductors 14) Solids--Superconductors and Magnetic Properties 15) Nuclear Models 16) Nuclear Decay and Nuclear Reactions 17) Introduction to Elementary Particles 18) More Elementary Particles

This is one of the best introductory quantum mechanics textbooks. Since the mid-twentieth century, the tendency to avoid philosophical problems in favor of sheer calculation--a tendency supported by Dirac's famous maxim "follow the mathematics"--has resulted in increasingly terse books laden with practical formulae. There may be no returning to the period in which calculation and meditation went hand in hand, but at least this book has enough prose to raise issues of realism and reality, calculability and motivation, discovery and error. I can't imagine the attitude of students (and reviewers!) who prefer the equations alone.

Although the topics presented in the first few chapters are presented in a much more elegant fashion in say Kittel and Kroemer, the subsequent discussion of introductory quantum mechanics is excellent, in fact to be preferred over other modern physics texts. An appendix journeys deeper into the mathematics for the interested while the main text maintains a smooth continuity through the various topics covered. At times this book is excessively verbose, particularly in the later chapters from solid state physics to nuclear physics, but the clarity contained in chapters 4-12 compensates for this. I recommend this text for the initiate in quantum mechanics. After working through the first 12 chapters move on to Merzbacher or a text devoted exclusively to the special topics covered.

This book served as the text for an undergraduate course in quantum physics. It is very readable; Eisberg uses the perfect mix of formal mathematics and qualitative analysis to paint a very coherent picture of quantum mechanics. Each argument is thoughtfully constructed to be both rigorous and lucid. Well worth the price to any serious student of physics.

I used this used for my first course in quantum physics and it is the best physics textbook that I have ever used. Although it is rather "wordy" is nature, it certainly conveys the physics as well as the mathematics to the student. It's rare to find a book as lucidly written as this one.

I highly recommend this book to any undergraduate student.

This is one of the most simple and deep book of quantum physics ever written. It was made especially for students in the undergraduate level. For those who wants to begin their way into the amazing world of quantum physics, this book is a good choice, because it shows quantum mechanics not just in its mathematical form but also shows the physics behind it.

I think this book is surely meant to go along with a class, I don't think it is entirely suited for independent study. The reason I feel this is that the discussion questions at the end of each chapter seem to be asking about stuff that isn't really addressed in the chapter, and requires additional knowledge unrelated to what is given in the book to answer. Also, there are no solutions to the practice problems, so you will never be able to test your own accuracy. I really believe in having solutions in the back of the book, otherwise how are you to rate your own progress and understanding? In concert with a course however and with a teacher to fill in any information gaps, I think this is a fine book! All the explanations seem clear, and the steps in the derivation processes are easy to follow!