Physics Book Reviews

 This special 50th anniversary republication of this famous monograph is well welcome addtion to the community.  This text helped lay the groundwork for gravitational research for the next 50 years; inspiring and educating generations of researchers.  I recommend this text to anyone who is interested in learning the foundation of gravitational research.  The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time: 50th Anniversary Edition (Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics)  By  Stephen W. Hawking and George F. R. Ellis ISBN: 978-1009253154 Price: £ 24.99

 As I have come to expect Michele Maggiore,  the subject of gravitational waves has been covered to perfection.  Over the last decade, these two volumes have instantly become the definitive source of information of gravitational waves.  For the theorist, there is a complete pedagogical description of the techniques and background needed to perform modern calculations for gravitational waves beyond that cited in the usual texts on gravity.  For the experimentalist, there are detailed descriptions of experiments, figures and tables, which help the less mathematically informed amongst us, to receive a solid education in the phenological grounds of their experiment.  I would recommend this text to anyone who is interested in gravitational waves.  Gravitational Waves, pack: Volumes 1 and 2 Volume 1: Theory and Experiment, Volume 2: Astrophysics and Cosmology  by Michele Maggiore  ISBN: 9780198755289

 Recent developments in condensed matter physics have necessitated the need to explore the effect of topology (the study of shapes under smooth deformation) to explore new and exciting phenomena. For the more experimental physicist, these new discoveries can be observed in the lab, with numerous research papers describing their efforts. However, for the theorist, there has remained for far too many years the lack of an accessible review of theoretical advances made.  This has now been remedied.  Professor Simon has built upon the success of his highly acclaimed text on undergraduate condensed matter physics, to deliver this excellent new text, providing for the first time, a pedological introduction to topological quantum field theories. A great strength of this book is the visual figures, which allow to the reader to digest the significance of the arguments presented.  The text begins with a nice historical prelude; before developing into introductory knot theory, b...

 The relationship between physicists and mathematicians is often held akin to that of cats and dogs.  The latter mainly focuses on obtaining results by any means necessary, often at the expense of so-called mathematical rigour and exactness. The physicist's view of the mathematical world is "if it works, it works".  A mathematician's claim is that physicist is sloppy in their work, and bulldoze through all calculations without the proper due care or diligence to ensure that their work is watertight.  No matter how you fall on the argument, what is clear is that there remains a great disagreement between the two groups. This has led to very little meaningful interaction between the two, especially where the work of physicists is seen to be far too laxidasical This book helps remedy the divide between physics and maths by providing a thorough introduction to one of the disagreements between the two: quantum field theory; which has been written by by a mathematician....

 This book provides an excellent introduction to the theoretical aspects of physical liquids in the 21st century, written by the foremost expert on the subject.  For too many years, much of the research into this field has been solely contained within the historical archives of Soviet Physics. This highlights the main selling point of this text where it features subjects seldom discussed in other texts. This book provides an easy conversational introduction to the topic, while preserving the theoretical rigour needed to have a solid footing in the subject. The Its conciseness is to its credit, allowing for easy navigation through the text. I was particularly enthused by the historical insight provided through the text, which gave context to the ideas presented in the text. In conclusion, I highly recommend this text to any condensed matter theorist (graduate level and above), who has some interest in the theoretical aspects of liquids.  Theory of Liquids From Excitations ...