QED and the Men Who Made It

Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: Love it so far. Brilliant insight into not just the men behind the theories - but also physics itself.

Rating:
Summary: Superb overview of the development of QED...
Review: This book is a superb overview of the development of QED. The slant is geared towards the major personalities involved in it's development. The key players of course were: Feynman, Schwinger, Dyson, and Tomonaga. The text is quite detailed and is directed towards the academic community and assumes a cursory knowledge of quantum mechanics. That being the case, I got lost in much of the math. However, I kept at it and got much out of the book. If you are a physics major then this book will be a jewel to own. What an experience to "see" the human mind come up with ideas which at first glance seem impossible but later turn out to be perfectly true. The writing is quite turgid as is the case with books put out by Princeton, but the material is just fantastic. If the math overwhelms you, as it did me, just get the main idea down and forge on. Later, if time and patience permits re-visit the portion that got you lost and try again. I did this but still am lost in many areas. Nevertheless, a great read!!

Rating:
Summary: Thorough Coverage of the Pinaccle of 20th Century Physics
Review: This is a very technical and historical review of the creation of the 20th Centuries most accurate of all physics, QED. The work is very complete and besides the mathematics, it provides excellant yet terse backgrounds of the 4 major players: Tomonaga, Schwinger, Feynman and Dyson. The backgounds of these personalities is weaved into their astounding developments leading to QED. This book should not only serve as a historical timepiece, but I beleive it could serve very well as an adjunct to even graduate level physics.

Rating:
Summary: Thorough Coverage of the Pinaccle of 20th Century Physics
Review: This is a very technical and historical review of the creation of the 20th Centuries most accurate of all physics, QED. The work is very complete and besides the mathematics, it provides excellant yet terse backgrounds of the 4 major players: Tomonaga, Schwinger, Feynman and Dyson. The backgounds of these personalities is weaved into their astounding developments leading to QED. This book should not only serve as a historical timepiece, but I beleive it could serve very well as an adjunct to even graduate level physics.