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Rating: 
Summary: Please read this book
Review: Before reading von Neumann or Akhiezer, go through this book first, PLEASE. It's not only a good introduction to QM, but also an interpretation or philosophy book. The contents are balanced and understandable for even a high-school student, which usually is not expected from a great thinker like Hughes. The book making is good as well -- cover design, editing, binding, etc. An interesting and decent treatment of quantum physics. Probability a must for any phys and math thinker. (I got the paperbound)
Rating:
Summary: Please read this book
Review: Before reading von Neumann or Akhiezer, go through this book first, PLEASE. It's not only a good introduction to QM, but also an interpretation or philosophy book. The contents are balanced and understandable for even a high-school student, which usually is not expected from a great thinker like Hughes. The book making is good as well -- cover design, editing, binding, etc. An interesting and decent treatment of quantum physics. Probability a must for any phys and math thinker. (I got the paperbound)
Rating:
Summary: Most Comprehensible of the Substantive Non-Specialist Books
Review: I used this text in a tutorial with a distinguished philosopher of science at Queens College, New York. It's outstanding. The mathematical formalism is difficult for non-specialists, but no so much as to be out of reach. Advice: be patient--the understanding will come. The part on the interpretation of QM is exceptionally valuable to anyone interested in understanding modern physics without falling for dishonest notions like "quantum healing", "quantum chi", and "quantum dieting". In short: if you're a serious student, this is probably the best book of its kind.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not great.
Review: This book was recommended to me as a very nice introduction to quantum mechanics for the mathematically-inclined. It looks like I'll be awaiting the publication of the new edition of Sudbery's text instead, because, at least for me, this book didn't quite end up filling the bill. It's true that, unlike so many popular introductions to quantum theory, Hughes' book doesn't shy away from mathematics. The mathematics for me was fine (although I wonder what a person who'd had "only high school algebra" would make of the derivatives and integrals that show up unannounced). It's in trying to make sense of what the mathematics is supposed to be modelling that I felt that this book lost a star. (How much of the problem is due to the author's exposition and how much is due to my shortcomings as a reader is something I'm not prepared to judge.)Again, this is a good book, but I have no idea where people are coming from when they write "this is not only the best book ever written, but also the best book that ever will be written".
Rating:
Summary: Great book on quantum theory for the ambitious reader
Review: This is a superb teaching book for taking your understanding of quantum mechanics to the next level. Much of the book is devoted to understanding a good deal of the underlying math and mathematical formalism, such as Hilbert spaces, Hermitians, eigenvalues and eigenvectors, Cantor's calculus of infinities, the analysis and representation of spin properties, and other very cool stuff which I didn't have a very good grasp of before. And yet the previous math required is minimal, really only high school algebra, and Hughes defines new concepts as he goes along. Actually, there is some calculus here and there, but not a whole lot, which is fine, as my advanced calculus is pretty rusty at this point. So Hughes keeps the advanced math to a minimum. This doesn't mean the book is easy reading, as the algebra of Hilbert spaces includes such things as the logical properties of inner products, spectral decomposition, vector projections, the analysis of different vector operators, and so on, and that's only one small section in the book, not to mention the fact that Cantor's ideas in number theory about the ordinality or sizes of inifinite series is pretty mind-boggling stuff. Basically, Cantor established the improbable and surprising fact that certain infinities are "bigger" than others. One way he did this was to show that some infinities are "countably infinite" and others are not. Fun stuff. All this is just preparation for understanding the quantum mechanics, however, and the author does a fine job of linking the mathematical concepts with the applied ideas in quantum theory. This is important, since quantum mechanics is basically a purely mathematical theory. Unlike Einstein's Special and General theories of Relativity, which, although pretty mind-boggling theories in themselves, can still be explained by using more or less intuitive and easy to understand spatial concepts and illustrations. You've probably encountered these in some of the books on the subject, such as doing the fun thought experiment of having two observers, with one travelling at the speed of light and the other stationary, to demonstrate the relativistic effects on space, time, and matter in the case of the Special Theory. But unfortunately those kinds of entertaining and informative thought experiments are difficult to do in quantum mechanics, which is why a book like this that explains the concepts at a relatively high level clearly and concisely is such a great find. Overall, this is an excellent "upgrade" book written by a gifted teacher on a very difficult subject. There are very few books like this that bridge the gap between the purely popular presentations of quantum theory and the very difficult technical quantum physics books.
Rating:
Summary: An essential
Review: Upon trying to learn Quantum Mechanics from Shaum's Outline, I found myself lost in the terminology. I picked up this book and immediately saw the connections I didn't see before. If you haven't taken Linear Algebra, buy this book. If you have taken Linear Algebra, BUY THIS BOOK! It is very clearly written, yet in depth enough to only serve to fill in the gaps. If you want to get beyond the "pop" version of Quantum Mechanics, this is the first book anyone should read.
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