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Introduction to Quantum Mechanics

Introduction to Quantum Mechanics

List Price: $108.00
Your Price: $108.00
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Clear, concise writing. Pointlessly tedious problems.
Review: I would have given this book a higher rating, but the problems are often too tedious. Griffiths introduces too many important techniques and derivations in the problem sets instead of in the text--which is a shame, since he writes so well. Students may understand every word Griffiths has written, only to get stuck on any of a number of problems requiring special "math tricks." Since few examples and no solutions are provided, this can be very frustrating. Some good students in my undergraduate quantum class dropped, and those that stayed complained daily about the problems. Several felt the need to consult other textbooks.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great intro quantum text
Review: This is a great intro quantum book, perfect for a year long course at the junior/senior level. The text is wonderful to read, very helpful, and quite humorous. Some of the problems are definitely very repetitive, but I suppose they do serve a purpose (you'll never forget how to calculate commutators after Ch 4). My only complaint is the lack of mathematical theory (ie- Hilbert space!) but that's easily remedied with a few supplementary readings. Overall, a wonderful book, I highly recommend it!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great concepts! impossible problems
Review: I have always loved Griffith's humorous approach to the concepts. I dearly love the book, but I just don't like the problems. Instead of being concept oriented, they're "math-trick" oriented. His examples definitely enrich the concepts, but the problems are 1% concept; 97% math; and 2% obscure "math-tricks". He stated in the E$M book that he doesn't believe in giving answers. Well, I disagree. You have to have occassional answers to make sure you're on the right track. After all, WE are LEARNING; not TEACHING! THANX

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Invaluable
Review: This is definitely the best physics text I have used, with only Griffiths's own Classical Electrodynamics text comparing. The style is very readable, and the equations to words ratio is quite nice (not too verbose but enough explanation along with the equations). The problems are sometimes difficult and time consuming, but they are fairly thorough and serve their purpose well. I have found its coverage of topics to be quite good and it has been extremely helpful in my advanced quantum mechanics class.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Essential for *understanding* the QM model.
Review: Most QM books have the same material and present them in the same way: equations, equations, equations. What sets apart Griffith's book is his attempt to show the underlying concepts under the equations, in plain english. His review of probability, his philosophical discussions on what exactly some parts of QM mean, were incredibly helpful in understanding the equations and putting them in a larger context. Too many QM books lack this explanation; Griffith does it with style. Although you may need another QM book for breadth, this book is definately an useful and important addition to learning QM.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best physics textbooks
Review: It is well explained and written in a language that most university-level students are able to comprehend. There are plenty examples to illustrate problems and theories. Suitable for junior and senior physics or science studnets.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great text, lousy problems
Review: The text is clear and concise -- its very easy to follow, since it doesn't have tons of text in between the equations. My main complaint is the problems -- they focus too much on boring, repetitive calculations that are not very instructive (For example, one part of one problem in chapter 4 required me to take 63 derivatives). If a problem asks you to verify something as trivial as normalization, beware! But still, the text more than makes up for it. Plus, its a very nice size to carry around.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: excellent introduction to quantum mechanics
Review: Clear and concise. Teaches the novice the basics with a minimum of mathematical and formal gobledygook. Suitable for a year long undergraduate course. The Schrodinger equation is presented in the first page, unlike most books which feature tedious amounts of linear algebra that confuse the beginner rather than clarify the material. The only drawback is that the coverage is far from comprehensive. But that is not the aim of such a book; for you completists out there, go cuddle up with Cohen-Tannoudji

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best introductory QM text
Review: This is the best first course quantum mechanics text book by far. I used it as a text in first semester QM. How do I know it is the best? During first semester qm I spent many hours in the school library reading qm books. The library had a large section of qm books. I used to take 10 to 20 books home at a time. I was always looking for better explanations of particular expositions, and I found that often one book gave the clearest exposition in a particular area. Also, Ifound it helpful to read how several books described, for example, solution to the step function and others. But David Griffiths book is the best written book of all those others I read.

The Griffiths book is easy to understand. That is what makes it a good book for the beginning student of qm. Let me give an example of what I am saying: Fourty five years ago, when I first studied calculus, there was only one text book. It was the then venerable Calculus and Analytic Geometry by George Thomas, Jr. This book was not easy to study. It is not a well written book compared to modern calculus text books. But now there are many good calculus text books. Now calculus is a fairly easy subject because the text books are well written. They are student friendly. I think that most qm books are like the Thomas book in that they are not student friendly, and the Griffiths book is the first student friendly qm book in my view.

The one criticism that students might have of the Griffiths books is that the problems are long and time consuming. This is true if you do not use Mathematica or some other math program. If you use Mathematica, the problems can be worked in minutes.

The Griffiths book uses wave mechanics notation throughout, which every physicist must learn. To learn the Dirac notation, the best book I found (and the most elegant qm book I found) is Quantum Mechanics, by Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Bernard Diu, and Franck Laloe.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Dangerous!
Review: Griffiths spends very little time on the physics of quantum mechanics (at least in the first FIVE chapters). The whole point of learing quantum mechanics is that it explains a range of phenomena, and Griffiths seems to think he'll teach you quantum by simply making you integrate this and that. You will not develop ANY INTUITION for QM using this book, and this is what makes this book dangerous; when faced with understaing things like magnetism, or other topics in condensed matter or particle physics the student (who spent a whole semester 'doing' QM) will be dumbfounded to learn that there is more to QM than solving a Schroedinger equation. If you've a professor who takes his/her job seriously, they'll probably recommend a less limited book, like Townsend's 'Modern intro to QM' and provide some basic supplements for wave mechanics.


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