The Quantum Theory of Fields: Modern Applications (Volume II)

Rating:
Summary: Delightfully insightful
Review: This book has some of the most exquisite expositions on the theoretical aspects of quantum field theory that you are ever likely to run into, i.e. Weinberg's name is literally stamped on every page for brilliance. There are topics treated here that are not likely to be found anywhere else, for instance Batalin-Vilkovisky Quantization. Weinberg's treatment of the proof of renormalizability is compact and yet very readable. And his chapter on anomalies is simply speaking the authortiative treatment. This book is a must have for anyone interested in the more theoretical aspects of Field Theory. Though I would recommed a few months with Peskin & Schroeder, and volume 1 of Weinberg to get the full flavour of Weinberg's treatment.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, despite some idiosyncracies
Review: This is another gem of a book by Weinberg. The discussion is fairly modern at places (for instance nice discussion of BRST, BV Formalism, RG and Anomalies), but could have been more modern and compact in certain other places (like chiral lagrangians, standard model etc.). However, even those parts are a pleasure to read. It is just that some other aspects could have been discussed (as I hope he does in the third volume), such as SUSY, especially QFT dualities. Anyway, an excellent book!