Physics Book Reviews

 I t is often a struggle to justify to 1st year students how the physics we see in class is related to the phenomena we see day in, day out.  Undergraduates are often faced with overtly simplified or uninspired problems and examples (block on a ramp - I'm looking at you) to work through. This more often than not,  at least in my opinion,  takes the fun out of it, with students becoming  desensitised to that the fact the calculations they produce have any bearing on the physical world at all.  The Physics of Sound and Music thus is a welcomed antidote in this regard. The first volume covers the theory behind sound and the musical instruments that produces it. Not only is the text fluid, entertain and of course educational, it is extraordinarily cultural in its approach. Not only will you learn physics, you will also come to appreciate the relationship the subject has to the arts. Reflective of this, the text is filled with outstanding ...

The second edition of Probability and Statistics for Physical sciences remains a stalwart example of an introductory text for statistical methods.   A real highlight of this text is that it is never boring, contrived or difficult. The authors should be praised for the high degree of pedagogical literacy in this textbook. From the beginning, the reader is treated to a gentle, but quantitative introduction to the basics of statistical measurement, before delving into a very nice introduction of probability. The book explores various topics from sampling, estimators and hypothesis testing. Fundamentally, a refreshing aspect of this text is that it empowers the reader (from even a first read) to confidently apply the techniques within to problems that the reader may find in real life (be it as a part of a lecture course or research problem). To this end, the book is economical when it comes to the gritty theory which professional statisticians revere but remains comprehensive ...

General relativity for the Gifted Amateur is one of the most outstanding introductory texts on general relativity I have seen.  This text is not only comprehensive in its discussion of topics; covering many advanced subjects in gravity that otherwise are not covered in an introductory course (such as frames and differential forms), but is also extremely accessible.  Never have I seen a book on the subject take such care to illustrate meaningful examples to the reader in a way which is easy to follow and intuitive. Notably, I was extremely impressed with the examples used in the differential forms section of the book, which describe how to purposely do calculations from first principles. Furthermore, this text is chockablocked with figures, diagrams and illustrations through out. A notable feature of these images is that the meaning behind them is actually explained either within the attached  caption or in the main body. This is a feature that is often missing in oth...

Can art truly be innovative?  Is innovation the pathway to power? These questions form the grand backbone of this thoughtful and homely tale of murder, betrayal and one man's obsession to find the truth.  Inspector Imanishi Investigates immerses the reader into 1960s Japan, a country whose identity at this point in time remains in flux after the terrors of the Second World War.  As with most detective stories, we begin with the discovery of a body; a manhunt ensues - to no avail at first. But slowly and surely, the dark events that led to the initial gruesome deed, unravels into a murderous rampage, leaving our protagonist, Chief Inspector Eitaro Imanishi in hot pursuit.  Imanishi in many ways is your archetypal detective: a middle-aged family man placed at odds with his sense of duty to discover the truth behind the mysterious events. Nevertheless, despite the common caricature appended to him, what sets apart Imanishi is his relatability.  Matsumot...

208 years after her untimely death, Jane Austen has greatly out shadowed the general anonymity afforded to her in life.  Celebrated for her wit, charm and sense of character, Jane Austen gave a voice to those that otherwise would not have been heard, in a time where women's rights and thoughts were trampled. Of even more renown, Austen changed the landscape of British literature forever. Jane Austen's presence in the world of literature is titanous; even within her own lifespan and that of her contemporaries, Austen's work rightly had begun to be placed within the same ranking as Shakespeare and his ilk.  This complete collection of Jane Austen is an outstanding testament of her life's work. From a purely aesthetics point of view, the books in the collection are wonderfully cloth bound,  in addition to an excellent display jacket. In compliment , the scholarly notes provided through by Janet Todd aids in the reader's immersion into the world of Jane Austen; especial...

The name Weinberg within Quantum Field Theory circles is synonymous for many reasons.  Getting the obvious one out of the way first; Weinberg himself was a Nobel Laureate and a highly regarded researcher who advanced our knowledge of theoretical particle physics (along side Abdus Salem and Sheldon Glashow) with the unification of the weak nuclear and electromagnetic forces to form electroweak theory.  Secondly, Weinberg possessed a renown as an educator of theoretical physics within the community. Principally, Weinberg produced a three-volume series on Quantum Field Theory, that has remained a crowning compendium on Modern Quantum Field Theory.  The first in this series of books explored the foundations of Quantum Field Theory. First, beginning with a historical exploration of the field, before delving into the so-called basics: from canonical methods to the path integral approach of Quantum Field Theory. In succession, the 2nd volume deals with more advanced techniques (...