The Six Core Theories of Modern Physics

by Dr Charles F Stevens

Charles Stevens, a prominent neurobiologist who originally trained as a biophysicist (with George Uhlenbeck and Mark Kac), wrote this book almost by accident. Each summer he found himself reviewing key areas of physics that he had once known and understood well, for use in his present biological research. Since there was no book, he created his own set of notes, which formed the basis for this brief, clear, and self-contained summary of the basic theoretical structures of classical mechanics, electricity and magnetism, quantum mechanics, statistical physics, special relativity, and quantum field theory. The Six Core Theories of Modern Physics can be used by advanced undergraduates or beginning graduate students as a supplement to the standard texts or for an uncluttered, succinct review of the key areas. Professionals in such quantitative sciences as chemistry, engineering, computer science, applied mathematics, and biophysics who need to brush up on the essentials of a particular area will find most of the required background material, including the mathematics.

Genres: Science, Physics

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Mi Lia]

Say you wake up from a comma 20 years after having graduated from your Physics school, and don't remember much. Pick this book for a fast refresher.

Contents : needed mathematics (vector analysis, linear operators on inner-product spaces, green's functions, calculus of variations, random walk, functional calculus, gaussian random processes, cartesian tensors), Classical mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism, Quantum Mechanics, Statistical physics, Special relativity, Quantum field theory.