Basic Training in Mathematics: A Fitness Program for Science Students

Rating:
Summary: A Quick math methods book
Review: .If you enjoyed Klepner & Ramsay 's "Quick Calculus" as a school student for its engaging and dearly wished there was an undergrad math methods book in that style! The answer is this book. You may not find a work book type fromat like "Quick calculus" . But let me assure you despite the formal style and Prof Shankar's repute for being verbose you will find it like a rhaphsody and yet in coherent english. I only dearly wish Prof Shankar would kill some research time to write a Graduate level fitness programme. I think all the previous reviewers justly awarded 5 stars to this book. To those raters responisble for eating half a star , let me say there is no other engaging lively and painless math review than this. If you find this book painful I don't know what to say . But on the contrary of you thought the book was too easy then read the title it is a fitness programme not a discourse like Morse & Feshbach or Courant & Hilbert.

Rating:
Summary: Provides an excellent grounding in fundamentals
Review: The text presents in remarkably clear and concise fashion exactly those areas of mathematics required for the physical sciences, especially physics. The sections on linear algebra, vector spaces, Hilbert space, Fourier analysis and differential equations build and articulate elegantly to open a first window on the vistas of quantum mechanics. Problems are likewise chosen with care to assist the student in raising himself to the next level of understanding, section by section in a well-thought out sequence. The only problems are with visual layout of the text and occasional typographical errors (one in a complex differential equation that forms the basis of a problem). I have since gone back to this text many times as a refresher.

Rating:
Summary: A Quick math methods book
Review: This book covers the basic areas of math needed for physics. It is quite readable and useful for self-study. It covers the standard topics in a concise fashion, but in sufficient detail to be useful. I used it as a personal math refresher after being away from advanced physics for some years. It gave me what I needed.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent math review for physics
Review: This book covers the basic areas of math needed for physics. It is quite readable and useful for self-study. It covers the standard topics in a concise fashion, but in sufficient detail to be useful. I used it as a personal math refresher after being away from advanced physics for some years. It gave me what I needed.

Rating:
Summary: Kind of a last resort
Review: This book tries to cover pretty much all the mathematical methods you'd need in college-level physics if you haven't had much experience with them before. The trouble is that that is a LOT of math, and trying to cover that in a book this size is just asking for trouble.

If you don't know any of this stuff, this book is going to kill you. It covers multivariable and vector calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, functions of a complex variable, etc. That is maybe 4-5 different math courses. The idea is that physicists don't really need the rigor of theoretical math, they just need to learn the "tools" so they can do the practical, applied stuff.

This book is good if you already have a general idea of these concepts and just want to get the important parts.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent review or introduction to math methods for physics
Review: This is the best book I have found for explaining the math needed by physicists and others in the hard sciences. Shankar uses a very conceptual approach to the mathematics without dwelling on proofs - leaving the reader with an understanding of the mathematics involved. He also tackles difficult ideas like: why are complex numbers necessary and where do they come from? Most books simply assume these ideas and run off into the wild blue yonder with some proofs to give a veneer of completeness, whereas Shankar tries to give a conceptual underpinning that is invaluable when he tackles advanced topics (such as contour integration). His approach throughout is conceptual and pragmatic - giving you a solid understanding for the math you will actually use. Though it is designed for undergraduates, I would also recommend it to anyone either reviewing their math or (re)learning math they should have already known. I used this book to study for the math section of my physics PhD. qualifier and I only wish that I had stumbled across it sooner - it would have made many of my physics courses a lot easier.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent review or introduction to math methods for physics
Review: This is the best book I have found for explaining the math needed by physicists and others in the hard sciences. Shankar uses a very conceptual approach to the mathematics without dwelling on proofs - leaving the reader with an understanding of the mathematics involved. He also tackles difficult ideas like: why are complex numbers necessary and where do they come from? Most books simply assume these ideas and run off into the wild blue yonder with some proofs to give a veneer of completeness, whereas Shankar tries to give a conceptual underpinning that is invaluable when he tackles advanced topics (such as contour integration). His approach throughout is conceptual and pragmatic - giving you a solid understanding for the math you will actually use. Though it is designed for undergraduates, I would also recommend it to anyone either reviewing their math or (re)learning math they should have already known. I used this book to study for the math section of my physics PhD. qualifier and I only wish that I had stumbled across it sooner - it would have made many of my physics courses a lot easier.