Customer Reviews

The Story of Spin

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(The following remarks are based on a reading of only 9 of the12 chapters so far, but that is basis enough for a strong impressionand to give a warning to potential buyers of this book.) This book contains Tomonaga's charming memoirs on the early years of Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Field Theory. It might be subtitled "Physics papers I knew and loved."--he takes the readers through an informal but masterly tour of many key QM and relativistic developments surrounding Spin as they unfolded during the 1920's and 30's. Thanks to the informal, historical approach, this account possesses a human warmth and interest that no textbook is likely to match. All students of Quantum Theory must be grateful to the author for recording these lectures, and to the translator for his making them available in a pleasant, (almost) idiomatic English (and for adding some helpful remarks.) WARNING : "most accessible" treatment of Spin , as described in the Editorial Review does **NOT** mean this book is the for the casual science buff. Ideally the reader should have a very solid background in Physics--preferably at the graduate level--including at least a 1-year course in Quantum Mechanics, and some acquaintance with (Relativistic) Quantum Field Theory won't hurt at all for some chapters. Although the discussion is more informal than that of a textbook, and the math is not beyond undergraduate level, the author does not spare the equations or technical detail. Even if you lack the technical background, as I did in places (notwithstanding a Ph.D. in physics) you may still enjoy his piquant reminiscences about such masters as Pauli, Heisenberg, and Dirac, and their unique, distinctive styles of creating physics. In the final (non-technical) chapter, he also talks frankly about the state of Physics in Japan and his own struggles to enter the world of research in the "wonder years" when modern quantum theory developed.

This is one of my favourite physics books. I have always had difficulties understanding the nature of spin and this book explains it with unsurpassable style. There are so many aspects to spin that it requires the brilliant exposition of someone like Tomonaga to unpack all its subtleties: spin is not simply the self-rotation of the electron, it is also a subtle property of isotropic space. As well, spin is at the heart of particle statistics in quantum field theory. In nuclear physics, the concept of spin was also coopted into a description of iso-tropic space! Not only does Tomonaga describe the theoretical aspects of spin, but he patiently recounts the breakthough (now obscure) experiments that measured it. Some of the highlights of the book include an discussion of the nature of vectors and tensors and an immensely readable history of second quantisation that leads to quantum field theory.

It is interesting to contrast Tomanaga's style with the other 2 physicists who shared the Nobel prize in electrodynamics with him. From the folksy iconoclasm of Richard Feynman to the brutal formalistic abstraction of Julian Schwinger (who broke the back of Physical Review with his third paper on electrodynamics which is one of the most equation heavy paper ever written). Then there is Tomonaga, who epitomises simplicity and clarity, with a clear-eyed reverence for the rich history of physics. He is above all, a sympathetic teacher - he tells you when something is difficult - for instance, explaining how Dirac stumbled on second quantisation "Why must you quantize it once more as the name second quantization suggests? We mortals stand bewildered here. Howerver, there is no use being bewildered, so let us try to discover why we feel bewildered." It's no wonder that Freeman Dyson said that it was only with the framework of Tomonaga, could he weave Feynman and Schwinger together into a comprehensible whole.

However, this book is not just a text-book on spin, in its pages, there is a superb history of quantum mechanics. Tomonaga gives a blow-by-blow account of the development of quantum mechanics, quantum field theory and nuclear physics, as it relates to spin. Through the recreation of the arguments and counter-arguments of the old masters of quantum mechanics, he has brought to life these characters that so dominated physics in the golden era of the 20's and 30's.

This is a series of twelve lectures of the physics of the spin angular momentum, and essentially quantum mechanical notion allied only metaphorically to the macroscopic world. Not, perhaps, in all its implications-the theory of ferromagnetism gets short shrift- but in its essential physical aspects.

The topics include spectroscopy, Thomas precession (which one of my undergraduate professors could never fully believe), relativistic quantum mechanics, and statistical physics. It's all very rewarding.

Expounding on "the wide range of physics with varying degrees of difficulty" that understanding spin requires, the translator's preface quotes the Feynman Lectures, "It appears to be one of the few places in physics where there is a rule which can be stated very simply, but for which no one has found a simple and easy explanation. The explanation is deep down in relativistic quantum mechanics. This probably means that we do not have a complete understanding of the fundamental principle involved." The translator, Takeshi Oka, is a professor at the Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago, and the introduction is from 1996. We can trust his assessment of the situation and conjecture that it probably hasn't changed much since then.

The approach is collegial rather than academic and to anyone with a modest physics or mathematics background (e.g., someone with physics minor or an elementary understanding of vectors and differential equations), the treatments should be sufficiently accessible to use as an introduction. For an educated reader with no mathematical background, I think only lectures 9 and 11 will be a total wash, although another six will be rough going (but. I'd hope, rewarding).

Although the lectures aren't overly mathematical, at least in the sense that a physicist would use the term, the lectures contain mathematics. Some equations are shown, others swiftly derived and one or two proofs are introduced. Many times, Tomonaga introduces ideas to explain why a particular aspect of the mathematics, i.e., spinors, was needed or created. The intuitive descriptions of the mathematics and intimate explanations of how ideas were derived are invaluable for understanding the nature of spin.

A story about the hardships involved in the beginning of the 1900s with the birth of Quantum Mechanics. As a physicist one only hears about the great physicists in text books with theory's, experiments, and equations named after them. One even wonders if these scientists were humans or superhumans because colleagues speak of them so 'godly'. Tomonaga brings these great physicists 'down' to earth and describes the atmosphere at the time of incredible struggle. He brings to the forefront the pains the scientists went through, the frictions between mentor and apprentice, the battle to look for a pattern in the data, and the incredible enlightenment accompanied by the resolution of a problem.

This story is not simply of spin. It is also about LIFE, finding meaning in the struggle. Tomonaga spells out for you the hardships involved for every scientist working on problems; thinking outside the box, the everlasting obstacle. But it is in this where nature speaks truth as Tomonaga describes.

For scientists and laypeople alike, this story is about people trying to figure out nature, quantum nature. The scientists are not superhumans, filled with the spirits or god(s). Real people who really struggled, who cried and cursed to find a solution.

A great book about the great human stuggle written by one who solved a great problem.

What a beautiful book! It's derived from a collection of Tomonaga's lectures, and his love of simple statements and clear style really make them flow. I came away from this book understanding much more about field quantization, isospin, and the Thomas theory than I ever had before.

Oka's translation is clear and colloquial -- a justified act of love. And as a renowned physicist in his own right, he ensured that the physics was not mangled in translation -- the prose about the physics is clear and correct (at least to my understanding). I don't know if he had to clean up any equations, but I didn't notice any typos in them either. Also, this may be a minor point, but I thought the equation numbering scheme with the subscripts was really helpful.

This book is not intended for general audiences; if the reader isn't familiar with Hamiltonians or quantum mechanics he will gain relatively little from it.

Textbooks necessarily present the laws of physics as a fait accompli, placing the primary emphasis on mathematical formalism, with only a few carefully selected experiments as empirical touchstones. Sin-itiro Tomonaga, who along with Richard Feynman and Julian Schwinger won the 1965 Nobel Prize in physics for his work in quantum electrodynamics, recounts the evolution of the concept of spin in much greater detail that a textbook could ever afford to--and on a human scale. Central to Tomonaga's story is the limit of human imagination and daring--even among the most brilliant theoretical physicists. He begins his story with the early years of quantum theory and its attempt to model atomic spectra. Only after earlier models proved unable to explain the details of atomic spectroscopy did the idea of electron spin acquire the impetus to move it forward--which occurs in the person of Wolfgang Pauli.

Tomonaga next introduces Pauli's addition of a spin term to the Schrodinger equation, a formulation that was soon followed by that of Paul Dirac's fully relativistic equation. The formulation of Pauli was published in 1927, while that of Dirac was published in 1928, with Dirac's work mirroring Pauli's work in many important respects--the inclusion of the Pauli matrices in particular. In addition to Pauli's significant influence on Dirac's work, the author observes that Pauli, in turn, was astonished at Dirac's achievement--praising Dirac's thought processes as "acrobatic". Despite the magnitude of his achievement however, Dirac appeared somewhat reticent to fully exploit his discovery, demurring from applying his newfound formulation to the hydrogen atom for fear that it might fall short. Tomonaga observed with regard to Dirac that:

"Because of his immense confidence in the correctness of his theory, even a 1 percent fear that his expectation might be crushed would perhaps also have been very frightening. This sentiment is as illogical as that of a sick person who does not want to consult a doctor for fear of being told he has cancer. However, even theoretical physicists often become prisoners of such irrationally twisted sentiment."

These and other keen observations on the evolution and substance of spin await the reader of Tomonaga's insightful book!

Mr. Tomonaga deserves that expression more than others because of his sensitivity and sweetness (if such things can be said about physicists ;) .. the book speaks for itself and is a 'must read' for anyone interested in physics or the history of physics :) enuf said ;)

Although you can find the same story in other sources, this one is definitely a time-saving reading. The informal style is a plus for those who are not familiar with quantum theory.