Quantum Mechanics (International Pure & Applied Physics Series)

Rating:
Summary: a very good text book
Review: It is very difficult to find a better book than Schiff's for a student studying physics. I always think, different kind of book has different goal, even they deal with the similar problem. Dirac's "principle"is a very good expert's book; Landau's "QM" is a reference for a better understand of QM after a good understand; Schiff's gives you the enough knowlege to do further whatever you are interested in, and the knowlege is shown by Schiff in a lucid and concise way, the second edition has only 417 pages, anyone else will write over 600 pages if he wants to cover the same material. From this book you can get the necessary knowlege without trying so hard as you do from Dirac or Landau's, for me I think I learnt more from Schiff than the sum from the Dirac and Landau. Yes, Schiff can't make you an expert in any field(nobody can except youself), but he leads you the first step. If you are a student, is it just what you need?

Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece
Review: One must have mastered the material in this book to be well
educated in applied quantum mechanics.It is a classic,and
the material is clearly presented.It must be kept available.Amore
specialized classic is Bethe and Salpeter's Quantum Mechanics
of One and Two Electron Atoms which also should be mastered by
those interested in applied quantum mechanics.The mathematics
of both volumes is clear.Schiff could include some more physical
insight,and of course both volumes need to be updated. I have
taught with Schiff in my graduate course for over 10 years.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best quantum books around
Review: This is definitely my favorite quantum mechanics book. It's clear, concise, and Schiff has an uncanny way of making an entire difficult concept clear in only 1-2 sentences. I've sometimes spent hours struggling over a topic in another book, and then opened Schiff and been amazed to have all my confusion cleared up in a single sentence. In my opinion, the strongest part of this book is not so much in explaining *how* do to something (most decent books cover this -- it's mostly just math, anyway), but is in allowing one to see the logic behind everything that's going on.

Rating:
Summary: Much better than Merzbacher
Review: When I studied quantum mechanics I found this to be a much better book than Merzbacher. It is short and to the point without leaving out too much. Just the essentials. However, I do believe there are better books out there today and there are gaps in the treatment in this book. For instance it is not as strong on the Dirac representation as it should be. I have come to the realization that it is best if the various representations are presented in depth in the first quantum mechanics course rather that being scattered thoughout graduate study or not even covered. Nevertheless, when I wanted a good solid treatment of a subject that was vague or glossed over in the other books this is where I came. Next was the literature.

Rating:
Summary: Much better than Merzbacher
Review: When I studied quantum mechanics I found this to be a much better book than Merzbacher. It is short and to the point without leaving out too much. Just the essentials. However, I do believe there are better books out there today and there are gaps in the treatment in this book. For instance it is not as strong on the Dirac representation as it should be. I have come to the realization that it is best if the various representations are presented in depth in the first quantum mechanics course rather that being scattered thoughout graduate study or not even covered. Nevertheless, when I wanted a good solid treatment of a subject that was vague or glossed over in the other books this is where I came. Next was the literature.