Classical Electrodynamics

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Summary: I describe the genesis of Classical Electrodynamics
Review: Classical Electrodynamics grew out of a graduate course that the late Julian Schwinger (Nobel Prize 1965) taught at UCLA in the late 1970s. Schwinger, along with Richard Feynman, was one of the inventors of renormalized quantum electrodynamics in the late 1940s, a development which in many ways hinged on his theoretical developments of the theory of radar during World War II. That classical theory eventually led to this book.

I was his student at Harvard, and then his postdoctoral research associate at UCLA in the 1970s. With my colleagues Lester DeRaad, Jr. and Wu-yang Tsai, we wrote a manuscript then, but Schwinger commenced a process of revision that never converged to a completed book. When I was asked to teach the subject five years ago, I decided to revive the manuscript. Schwinger died in the summer of 1994, but I had access to his later notes and revisions, and from those together with my own experience in teaching the course, the present book has emerged. It is about twice the length of the original manuscript, and contains many instructive problems and exercises. I believe it captures much of Schwinger's highly original lecturing style, and certainly much of his unique approach to physics. This book belongs in the library of every physicist, engineer, and mathematician.

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Summary: no title
Review: I have taken physics courses from one of the authors, Milton, and they were some of the best classes I have taken in physics. During the semester, first the foundation is laid then everything builds else builds from it. What comes next is built on what was was taught before. Everything is logical and is built up on what was lectured on previously. Take a few concepts and develop them really well, rather than a shotgun approach of more topics but less detail. This book is of the same style. I highly recommend it.

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Summary: no title
Review: I have taken physics courses from one of the authors, Milton, and they were some of the best classes I have taken in physics. During the semester, first the foundation is laid then everything builds else builds from it. What comes next is built on what was was taught before. Everything is logical and is built up on what was lectured on previously. Take a few concepts and develop them really well, rather than a shotgun approach of more topics but less detail. This book is of the same style. I highly recommend it.

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Summary: One of the best advanced books about electrodynamics
Review: Schwinger's book about electrodynamics is a book that in my opinion is better and also more advanced then Jackson's Electrodynamics. One may call Schwingers introduction of the magnetic charge an annoyance, but in my opinion, he is making an excellent point about how physics should be done: open-minded and always marking where gaps might be, that needs to be filled later. In this respect he is not just teaching electrodynamics but rather how to think like a physicist. It has the benefit that one starts to question the validity of every equation and concept presented to verify it upon its correctness. This approach is a very good one and unfortunately not seen to often in many books in physics. Schwinger is indeed an exception and his book on top of everything covers more then Jackson as well. So, it is a highly recommended book.

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Summary: The physics and mathematics of electrodynamics
Review: This is a concise, clear, and coherent account of advanced classical electrodynamics. The equation density is higher than in most books. Mostly this means that intermediate steps of the many illuminating calculations of the book are included. Many interesting topics not normally included in this type of book are included. A lot of the mathematics needed is developed in detail. I recommed it strongly to both teachers and advanced students of the subject.