Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Physical Principles and Sequence Design

Rating:
Summary: An excellent intro for readers with some math background
Review: This book is a welcome introduction for readers who are comfortable with basic differential equations and vector calculus. As an applied mathematician interested in learning the fundamentals of MRI, I had grown quite frustrated with the simplified literature on one hand ("MRI for technologists", "MRI for medical people", "MRI for dummies"...) and the professional literature on the other, which is directed at people already immersed in the study of MR technology. In contrast, this book is an excellent introduction to the subject for applied mathematicians (though this may not have been the intended audience), as it makes no assumptions regarding reader's science background and thus explains thoroughly all relevant E+M, physics and signal processing. But most importantly, it does so without cutting mathematical corners. This results in a far more lucid and logical exposition than books which try to protect the reader for his/her own good.

Rating:
Summary: the most complete book so far
Review: This is probably the most complete textbook on MRI so far, covering many of the recent topics. The prerequisite is an undergraduate engineering or physics degree, but nothing fancy, the math is completely trivial, and all of the necessary background is included in the book. So it's quite comprehensive in that regard, you won't need to use other books, it's all in there. And if it's not in there, I find the list of references at the end of sections to be excellent. They really refer you to the relevant literature so you don't have to worry about missing important details. I don't give 5 stars for books like this, because I just see it as a decent book. It is not "extraordinary" (5 stars), it is just the best book on MRI out there, but essentially because there are no decent alternative out there that cover such a broad range of topics. I suspect there will be subsequent editions of this book to cover newer topics, but the bulk of the book will remain the same, since it covers mostly very basic topics (a good choice of topics too).