Book Description

Considered to be one of the best electricity books on the market, the authors have provided a clear understanding of how electricity is produced, measured, controlled and used.A minimum of mathematics is used for direct explanations of primary cells, magnetism, Ohms Law, capacitance, transformers, DC generators, and AC motors.Other essential topics covered include conductance, current flow, electromagnetism and meters. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Perfect for any beginner!
Absolutely the best book I've found to explain electricity, in the most simplictic form. I'm a person who learns through visual diagrams and this book is chaulked full of easy to understand drawings. Each chapter ends with a review section to reiterate what you've learned and a self-test that follows. Excellent book!

It's all here....
After 30 years of doing "other things" I decided to refresh my knowledge of electrical principles learned in the military. This book is excellent because it starts at the very beginning and builds, one concept on another, with ample photos and illustrations, to allow you to truly understand what you are reading. If you want to learn about electricity and don't want to go take a course to do it, this is the book...even if you don't know anything at all about the subject!

Foundation for the study and application of electical theory
I first read volumes 1-5 ten years ago when I started working as an elevator technician. My copies are third time hand-me-downs of the original 1954 publication. These are without a doubt the most helpful books I have ever read on basic electrical theory. Each topic is clearly and concisely explained and forms a building block for further topics in the series. These books form the foundation of knowledge I use in everyday real world applications. The authors explain each principle with reference to real world examples to allow the reader to relate what they have read to what they have seen.

The "bible" on electricty-electronics for any beginner.
This book is better than all the other selfteach manuals presently on the market.It is not hypermath or over-simplistic.It saved me over $2000 in trying to learn electronics from a correspondence school.If you want to travel on a journey through electronics, this book is your first step!

Excellent coverage of all aspects of basic DC and AC.
Great self-study guide for adults who need a thorough understanding of DC and AC. Originally published for the Navy in 1954 (the excellent drawings and illustrations all have the the campy look of that era), this is still one of the best texts I've ever seen on basic electricity. Highly recommended! ... Read more

Book Description

Ionospheres provides a comprehensive description of the physical, plasma and chemical processes controlling the behavior of ionospheres. The relevant transport equations and related coefficients are derived in detail and their applicability and limitations are described. Relevant wave processes are outlined and important ion chemical processes and reaction rates are presented. The various energy deposition and transfer mechanisms are described in some detail, and a chapter is devoted to the various processes controlling the upper atmosphere and exosphere. The second half of the book presents our current understanding of the structure, chemistry, dynamics and energetics of the terrestrial ionosphere, and other solar system bodies. The final chapter describes ionospheric measurement techniques. The book will form a comprehensive and lasting reference for scientists interested in ionospheres, and it will also prove an ideal textbook for graduate students. It contains extensive student problem sets, and an answer book is available for instructors. ... Read more

Book Description

This book is a simple and entertaining introduction to solar electric. It is also a statement for clean energy and for environmentally healthy lifestyle. The reader will be introduced - through humor and analogies - to the basic electrical terms and the components of a solar system. Practical tips, including names and numbers, will give the reader some idea about reliable products and manufacturers. This expanded second edition is complete with index, glossary and charts. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Nonfiction from the Heart
I red this book in Germany where I live, and, even though some aspects of this book are based on conditions in the USA, I highly recommend this book to everybody on this planet. One can tell the author's love of the subject and his skill to write just from the heart on a very technical subject. The stories and jokes in the book helped me to understand the subject and, even if I could not follow some technical detail, the point he tried to make still came across. I now know more about the subject of solar energy and - what is equally important - I look at the world and its resources with a different eye. This is truely and "Easy Guide". Keep cracking Adi,
thanks for this wonderful book.
Sonja Baumann, Berlin Germany

Great Entry Level Book
I am not technically inclined and was long waiting to hear about some book that explains solar energy in simple language. I finally found it. And even though it is technically not a How To book it is in a sence that once you understand the concept of solar electric you can use common sense to figure out the practical side of things. Besides this book is more important in a sense that it promotes Solar Energy. With only 50 years of oil reserve left and the rising prices on oil and gas it opens up this alternative energy to many people. The author explains well why it is so important for us and future generations to go solar. I highly recommand this book to everybody. It is an eye opener. Thank you Adi Pieper

Non-technical, entry-level solar electric book for beginners
I'm a technically-oriented, DIY person and I was looking for a solar electric book to help me with my small-scale, residential installation. I already have most of the background on photovoltaic systems and needed more of a "Here's-how-you-do-it" book. Although amusing and easily read, I found this book useful for someone who is starting to think about solar power and needs a light hand to make them feel more at ease about what a system will and will not do. This is not a book for someone needing a DIY guide or a "How-to" manual. It's not a bad book - just not useful for my needs.

good book for interface solar cells with auxilary equip
good book for understanding specifying wiring, inverters, batteries, etc., but limited in regards to information about solar cells themselves--only about 2 pages out of 200 plus one page listing addresses and phone #'s of solar distributors.

Excellent Introducion
I am a builder and owner of the Natural House. I reviewed Mr. Piepers book and found it an excellent introduction for entry level solar customers. My electrician says: "finally a book not clutterd with useless and too detailed information". Personally I like the humor in this book and give the book as a present to every home owner I build a house for. Thank you Mr. Pieper for the excellent work! ... Read more

Book Description

Ongoing developments in nanofabrication technology and the availability of novel materials have led to the emergence and evolution of new topics for mesoscopic research, including scanning-tunnelling microscopic studies of few-atom metallic clusters, discrete energy level spectroscopy, the prediction of Kondo-type physics in the transport properties of quantum dots, time dependent effects, and the properties of interacting systems, e.g. of Luttinger liquids. The overall understanding of each of these areas is still incomplete; nevertheless, with the foundations laid by studies in the more traditional systems there is no doubt that these new areas will advance mesoscopic electron transport to a new phenomenological level, both experimentally and theoretically.Mesoscopic Electron Transport highlights selected areas in the field, provides a comprehensive review of such systems, and also serves as an introduction to the new and developing areas of mesoscopic electron transport. ... Read more

Book Description

SchaumÕs Outline of Electromagnetics is the perfect study aidÑloaded with solved problems and thorough descriptions of electromagnetics concepts, in plain English. Used along with your textbook, it helps you prepare for classroom exams, broadens your level of comprehension, and develops your intuitive problem-solving ability. Featuring hundreds of completely solved problemsÑworked out step by stepÑthis popular SchaumÕs Outline shows you how to solve the kinds of problems you will find on your tests. So complete it can be used alone as an independent study course, itÕs also compatible with any course text. For better grades in courses covering electromagneticsÑyou canÕt do better than this SchaumÕs Outline! ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Great source for worked probs
This book does what my class book (Hayt) doesn't--give a plethera of worked problems. I sit in class and watch my prof prove theorems, read Hyat's book that discusses the "why", and had difficulties pulling it all together. I NEEDED EXAMPLE PROBS! Schaum's proved extremely beneficial to me and I will probably not take any more EE courses without it as a supplement. If you need to look at detailed example problems to study and do your homework, this book is a no brainer if you want to pass this difficult topic.

Very helpful while taking an undergraduate EMag course
Schaum's Outlines are generally a little bit better in explaining theory on the subject the book is about. In this book, that might be lacking. So, by all means, this book is NOT a substitute for a textbook...BUT it has tons of worked problems and that really helps in a class like this one. For me, this book was very helpful. I still give it a thumbs up for that reason.

"Every undergraduate in the country" does not use Griffiths.
EVERY undergraduate in the country does not use Griffiths for E&M.

Mediocre
This is not up-to-par with some of the other Schaum's Outlines I've read, but it's definitely worth a try. You definitely need to have a course textbook to supplement this outline. On the whole, it is useful and provides a convenient way to reinforce the materials of a university course.

...
Every undergraduate in the country uses Griffiths for E&M and this book compliments it poorly. It's written by a damn engineer so all the examples have real world numbers, which is nice if a number-crunching engineer, but pedagogical poor for anyone trying to actual understand the material. Derivations are few, numbers in 10^-9 coulumbs all to common. Don't buy it. ... Read more

Book Description

"You can immediately have the power to perform electromagnetic simulation. If you have a fundamental understanding of electromagnetic theory and the knowledge of at least one high-level computer language, you can begin writing simple electromagnetic simulation programs after reading the first chapter of this book.

Electromagnetic Simulation Using the FDTD Method describes the power and flexibility of the finite-difference time-domain method as a direct simulation of Maxwells equations. The FDTD method takes advantage of todays advanced computing power because its computational requirements increase linearly with the size of the simulation problem.

This book begins with a simple one-dimensional simulation and progresses to a three-dimensional simulation. Each chapter contains a concise explanation of an essential concept and instruction on its implementation into computer code. Projects that increase in complexity are included, ranging from simulations in free space to propagation in dispersive media. Peripheral topics that are pertinent to time-domain simulation, such as Z-transforms and the discrete Fourier transform, are also covered.

Electromagnetic Simulation Using the FDTD Method is written for anyone who would like to learn electromagnetic simulation using the finite-difference time-domain method. Appropriate as both a textbook and for self-study, this tutorial-style book will provide all the background you will need to begin research or other practical work in electromagnetic simulation." ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Very thin and there are mistakes
Yes, this book could have been a contender. The field of FDTD has now reached a level of maturity so that it is both useful (very) and the literature no longer explains the details to a beginner. This book is good in that it does talk to the novice; however it has several problems.
First, there are a number of mistakes, and although they are obvious, they are also inexcusable. For example on page 6, eqns 1.14 and 1.15 there are numerous sign errors in the sub/superscripts. The second C program, which is a modification of the first, will not work as written! He forgot to initialize two of the new variables. Careless. For $115 the author and editor could have done a much better job. The book is only 165 pages long; so the editing/proofing should not have taken too long.
Second, the English is inexcusably poor. It sounds a lot like a direct translation of a conversation two graduate students might have at the board.
Third, the book gives very little other than what is needed to gain a limited understanding of the included C code.
All that said, it will get you off square-zero in a fairly short time. I strongly suggest that you check the book out from the library rather than making this expensive purchase.
After you spend a couple of days with this book you will be ready to tackle the class act of E&M FDTD books - Taflove & Hagness - this book has a whopping $135 price tag, but at least it weighs in at 850+ pages and gives a lot of detail.

Excellent book but with mistakes
Generally the book of Dennis M.Sullivan is a book that is a value for money.It really helps someone who would like to learn electromagnetic simulation with the FDTD method step by step.
The 1st chapter introduces you in 1D-FDTD and helps you understand the basics of 1D-FDTD in free space,simple ABCs,propagation in a dielectric and lossy dielectric medium.
The 2nd chapter continues with more complicated issues of 1-D FDTD such as simulation in frequency-dependent media and calculating the frequency dependent media with Fourier Transform.
The 3rd chapter introduces 2-D FDTD,implementation of the PML ABCs and propagation of a plane wave.
The 4th chapter learns you the 3-D FDTD and implementation of the PML in 3D which is really wonderful.
The 5th chapter gives 2 applications with FDTD(Simulation of microstrip antenna and calculation of the far field of an aperture antenna) and the 6th some other types of simulation.
The problem with the book is that the programs have some mistakes and you must spend a lot of time to find them.Personally i have developed all of them except for the patch antenna.If someone has found the mistakes in it and has the right program please send it tome in the email .......My advice is to buy this book!!!

Practical, but not detail explanation
This book is very good for the people who already have knowledge of FDTD and C language somehow. In other words, beginners will feel difficulty to read this book keeping what the auther is really try to talk about. The last two example cases are very useful. However, readers should find the way to present the data files that can be calculated using the sample codes such as MatLab. If you are a beginner, then use the book written by Hagness & Taflove for deep understanding of FDTD, and use this book for the practice before your specific application.

It could have been a contender!
This book could have filled an important niche in the FDTD literature by providing a short, readable introduction to this important computational technique. The book is almost crippled by typographical errors, particularly in the code listings at the end of each chapter. I came upon this book after having read several other books and written a number of FDTD codes from scratch, so I was able to catch most of the errors in the code listings and get them working without too much trouble. It's not clear to me whether or not a neophyte (the presumed target of this book) would be able to catch these errors as easily as I did. A tenacious reader might be able to catch most of them, given enough time and effort. With the elimination of these errors (hopefully there will be a corrected second edition), I would easily give this book a 5 star rating. ... Read more

Book Description

Electromagnetic surface modes are present at all surfaces and interfaces between material of different dielectric properties. These modes have very important effects on numerous physical quantities: adhesion, capillary force, step formation and crystal growth, the Casimir effect etc. They cause surface tension and wetting and they give rise to forces which are important e.g. for the stability of colloids.
This book is a useful and elegant approach to the topic, showing how the concept of electromagnetic modes can be developed as a unifying theme for a range of condensed matter physics. The author concentrates in finding out the basic origin of the force and how they are developed from the collective excitations of the solids. Different materials are treated, e.g. metals, semiconductors, plasmas, liquids and gases all with different collective modes. In close relation to the theoretical background, the reader is served with a broad field of applications. The book servesreaders who are concerned with applications to real world problems with a deep knowledge on surface modes, and inspires new developments of the field.
... Read more

Book Description

This book addresses the problem of treating interior responses of complex electronic enclosures or systems, and presents a probabilistic approach.Relationships for determining the statistics of the driving fields to apply to a circuit analysis code representing part of an enclosed system's writing are worked out.Also addressed are limited spatial and frequency coherence essential to a statistically based field drive model.This text gives examples, different modeling, and describes how to make, interchange, and optimize models. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

A Must Have for every scientific enquirer !!!
This is an easy read and very thought provoking fact book, not only on magnets but on numerous other related topics as well. Anyone with a high school education will understand and definitely benefit. This is not a kid's book !!! Every engineer needs this book. No calculations, just pure enjoyment! I guarantee you'll want to read further using Livingston's references. A very good and technically simple to understand treatise of magnetism and it's applications. Read this book 1st before jumping into equations and math. I hope Livingston will continue to write more understandable introductory yet thorough texts as this one. You'll remain a dumber person without having read this book. Well worth the few bucks it costs, buy it !!

The title has triple meaning
The author starts this book by the story of Albert Einstein at the age of four or five, when his father showed him a compass needle. The behavior of the needle gave a deep and lasting impression on young Einstein. Then the author describes ten facts about the magnetic force in earlier chapters. Using these facts, he gives detailed explanations on the workings of various magnetic devices and the modern technologies of magnets in plain words. The topics covered includes superconducting magnets, magnets in motors, speakers, TVs, toys, fiction, magic and weapons, magnetic recording, magnets in medicine, biomagnetism, and so on, namely everything about magnets. The book is also interspersed with humorous comments. In the last chapter the author goes back again to young Einstein's wondering at a compass needle. The reader notices here that the title of the book has the triple meaning. This is one of the most educational and well written books I have ever read in the genre of science for laypersons.

Great Book, very informative.
This is a wonderful book. It is full of information, but Livingston made it very understandable. Full of info on the many uses of magnets and their importance to technology today. Explained the physics of magnetics very well.

I recommend this book for anyone interested in magnets at all. Very much worth the money!

Great Book; Educational, Interesting and Fun
This is the best book I have ever read on the subject of magnets and magnetism. It is very up to date and includes current technology of magnets and many applications that most people take for granted. Also, the manner in which this book is written makes it suitable for a wide range of age groups. For the most part it is not real technical or mathematical and can be enjoyed by all. If you have an ounce of curiosity about magnets, magnetism or science you will love this book. I am on my third reading and it won't be my last.

One of the most interesting chapters in this book explained the connection between magnets and Einstein's theory of relativity. This is explained very simply and easy to understand and even has a one page cartoon to illustrate this.

Also explains dozens of applications of magnets in our lives, our homes, our cars, our hospitals, our defense systems etc. I thought I was pretty aware of most applications of magnets and magetism but this book was a real and amazing eye opener.

Read it and enjoy it!

I wish I had written it
Please see my review of this book, "Fields of Influence," in Nature, Vol. 380, 25 April 1996, p. 679. I wish it had been around when I was in high school...or even years later as a graduate student in physics. ... Read more

Book Description

Described as THE classic text on magnetism, FERROMAGNETISM covers the basics of magnetics, as well as in-depth coverage of magnetic materials. IEEE Press has now brought this important cornerstone of magnetics research back into print. Recognized for its breadth of coverage, this book includes information on magnetic phenomenon and theories, magnetic materials, basic magnetization and domain theory, as well as many fundamental expressions, and useful technical data on many materials. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Very useful magnetic data book
This book gives a huge amount of magnetic properties data (saturation field density, permeability, magnetisation etc) for metals such as Iron and nickel, but more importantly, a vast magnetic data for a wide range of Fe-Ni alloys and Fe-Co-Ni. Also it shows the effect of heat treatment and mechanical work on these properties.

If I recall right, this book first published in 1951. ... Read more

Book Description

The revision of this highly acclaimed text is designed for use in advanced physics courses--intermediate level juniors or first year graduates. Basic knowledge of vector calculus and Fourier analysis is assumed. In this edition, a very accessible macroscopic view of classical electromagnetics is presented with emphasis on integrating electromagnetic theory with physical optics. The presentation follows the historical development of physics, culminating in the final chapter, which uses four-vector relativity to fully integrate electricity with magnetism. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Excellent book for beginning graduate students
This book covers many important topics in electromagnetic theory including many areas in Optics, like diffraction,..etc. It fills a gap between the undergrad text books and the more advance graduate EM texts (like Jackson's,.. etc). The materials are easy to follow and understand with no lack of mathematical rigors.
Execllent text for beginning graduate students.

The former review is for the wrong book.
Hi folks I just wrote this to caution you that the former reviewer is inadverently reviewing the MECHANICS book by the same author. To be short I would give this book four stars. It does a little bit of static phenomena and boundary value problems and jumps to radiation justifying the title. The level of the book is in between a grad course and an undergrad course. I think it is ideal for self study for grad students.

Challenging but well worth the effort for motivated students
An excellent textbook on classical dynamics for the 'grown-up' student who wants mathematical rigor along with physical insights. Working through this book requires considerable effort and thought on the student's part, but is well worth the time spent. Highly recommended for the serious student who is not afraid of hard work. ... Read more

Book Description

Laser cooling allows one to slow atoms to roughly the speed of a mosquito and to control their motions with unprecedented precision. This elegant technique, whereby atoms, molecules, and even microscopic beads of glass, can be trapped in small regions of free space by beams of light and subsequently moved at will using other beams, has revolutionized many areas of physics. In particular, it provides a useful research tool for the study of individual atoms, for investigating the details of chemical reactions, and even for the study of atomic motion in the quantum domain. This text begins with a review of the relevant aspects of quantum mechanics; it then turns to the electromagnetic interactions involved in slowing and trapping atoms, in both magnetic and optical traps. The concluding chapters discuss a broad range of applications, including atomic clocks, studies of ultra-cold collision processes, diffraction and interference of atomic beams, optical lattices, and Bose-Einstein condensation. The book is intended for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students who have some basic knowledge of optics and quantum mechanics. An extensive bibliography provides access to the current research literature.

FROM THE REVIEWS

THE PHYSICIST "A strong recommendation for any book in one's own field is to see it written the way you would have written it. This is certainly the case here. If you are a researcher or a teacher in laser cooling and trapping or a related field of atomic, molecular, and optical physics, then this is a "must buy" text for your bookshelf. Any buy one for your students too, because your copy will inevitably disappear."

PHYSICS TODAY "...for its intended use, which is to guide newcomers into the field of laser cooling and trapping, the book does a superb job...The book is will placed to evolve with the filed for many years to come." ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great book to get a good understanding of laser cooling.
Laser cooling and trapping techniques have given researchers new tools to explore the atom's dynamics and control. The book gives a good introduction to the forces that arise when an atom interacts with a light (laser) field, and puts a lot of emphasis on giving the reader an excellent idea of what's going on when atoms and photons interact.

Rather than giving all the details of the mathematical and quantum mechanics background that is needed to understand the subject the authors concentrate on giving a clearer picture of the real physics involved.

The book starts with a review of the quantum mechanics principles used to understand laser cooling and trapping, which serves as a good remainder for a person who already has a basic grasp of it.

Although all the mathematical analysis that shows how the formulas and mathematical expressions are derived is not done in the book, the presentation is sufficient to guide the readers interested in it do the work by themselves.

The book also has an excellent reference guide that an interested person can use to get all the mathematical and experimental details on the field. ... Read more

Book Description

Absorption and Scattering of Light by Small Particles
Treating absorption and scattering in equal measure, this self-contained, interdisciplinary study examines and illustrates how small particles absorb and scatter light. The authors emphasize that any discussion of the optical behavior of small particles is inseparable from a full understanding of the optical behavior of the parent material-bulk matter. To divorce one concept from the other is to render any study on scattering theory seriously incomplete.
Special features and important topics covered in this book include:
* Classical theories of optical properties based on idealized models
* Measurements for three representative materials: magnesium oxide, aluminum, and water
* An extensive discussion of electromagnetic theory
* Numerous exact and approximate solutions to various scattering problems
* Examples and applications from physics, astrophysics, atmospheric physics, and biophysics
* Some 500 references emphasizing work done since Kerker's 1969 work on scattering theory
* Computer programs for calculating scattering by spheres, coated spheres, and infinite cylinders ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Excellent
Very good choice of topics. Clear presentation. Caters to a wide variety of audiences.

I'd give it a 5 if it included a chapter devoted practical aspects of experimental light scattering measurements, techniques, and instrumentation.

Very well written exposition, 1st-rate content.
The authors' lively and `user-friendly' style of presentation help bring material of an advanced nature within the reach of a larger number of readers than most books that deal with the subject at this level. I highly recommend this classic reference.

Excellent resource for motivated student or expert
I have found this to be a very useful reference for calculations of light-scattering properties of particles of various sizes and shapes. Discussions of subjects ranging from geometrical optics to Mie theory appear clear and complete. The book also includes computer algorithms for computing scattering properties of homogeneous spheres, coated spheres and cylinders.

One of the best books on light scattering.
This book must be on the table of every researcher in light scattering field. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A handful of useful formulas only
The theory at the start of the book will only be understood by those who already know the theory. Many self- and mutual inductance formulas, which could come in handy, although most are for such odd wire/coil configurations, I can't imagine a practical application. Some formulas are based on articles from 1912, which makes it difficult to verify the basis on which they were derived. Descriptions of conductor shapes are unclear, e.g. "Return Circuit of Two Tubular Conductors One Inside the Other. The radii of the tubes arranged in order of decreasing magnitude are p1, p2, p3, and p4". I assume this refers to the inner and outer radii of the two tubes. A drawing would have been better.

Inductance Calculations by Grover-Review
This old book (originally written in the '40s), is considered the bible of inductance calculations. For the modern user, however, it lacks many critical topics; for example spiral inductors (which is used extensively in integrated and planar modern circuits.) Also missing is calculations of inductor quality factor. Due to unavailibility of electronic computing at the time of publication, the book has many look-up tables. These tables are sometimes overly precise, for example, there is an extensive look-up table where essentially all numbers are between 0.99 and 1!. In engineering computations this type of accuracy is irrelevant, since other errors are more important. In the same computation the thickness of wires that make up the coil is not considered as a parameter, which is much bigger of an error than pendantic repetition of 0.9997 and 0.9998.

Authoritative work on inductor design.
This book enables the inductor engineer to confidently design an inductor with little effort. It is an authoritative piece, including examples of any imaginable configuration for inductor design. A resource every electrical engineer should have. ... Read more

Book Description

After a brief outline of magnetohydrodynamic theory, this introductory book discusses the macroscopic aspects of MHD turbulence, and covers the small-scale scaling properties.Applications are provided for astrophysical and laboratory systems. Magnetic turbulence is the natural state of most astrophysical systems, such as stellar convection zones, stellar winds or accretion discs. It is also found in laboratory devices, most notably in the reversed field pinch. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Not to be used as a reference or self study
I'm writing this review to bolster the review written by glires. I believe that glires's review is very accurate. This book assumes the reader already has a working knowledge of electromagnetism.

This is not a book for self-study. If you want a self study book (or a light reference), I would recommend using David J. Griffiths book or some other book for introductory EMAG. (The book I originally learned from is no longer in print so I can't really recommend it).

That being said, once you get into chapter 3, the book is excellent. This book also uses the paradigm that solving problems is how you learn the theory. So, as glires noted, much of the proofing is left for you to do in the problems at the end of each chapter.

Also as glires noted, this is not a useful reference. There is no single location where all constants and formulas are listed.

Detailed, but not thorough
This text covers several topics that other books tend to overlook, making it a frequent choice for undergraduate courses. However, the effectiveness of the book is dependent primarily on the quality of the counterpart teacher, as the book is quite difficult to understand on its own.
Many of the proofs in the book omit the most difficult and complicated steps, which are above the level of an undergraduate to be able to work on their own. Also, the book chooses to rigorously prove certain Electromagnetic properties while completely omitting other while still assuming that the reader has a full knowledge of both.
As a reference, this book also falls short in that, in the fourth edition at least, most of the important constants and equations are left scattered throughout the text and not included in the summaries. Also, many of the fundamental mathematical tools are not presented in their entirety and instead rely on the completion of the problems at the end of the chapters. While this is good in that it motivates the student to do the calculations themselves, it offers no recourse to a student who has made a mistake in any problem or who lacks a preexisting intuitive knowledge of the material.

Tough to describe fairly...an Undergrad's views...
If its important to you I am a rising Senior in the study of physics at UCONN. I wanted at first to give this 3 stars, 3.5 is not available so I rounded up for on reason: I feel that my understanding of E&M is rather well developed, and I learned from this book. My professor was also quite good and he supplemented from the Griffiths text, which I have not read myself, but these may have influenced my view of the quality of this book. The probems sets I believe to be challenging and reasonable, the actual text is not in any way PHYSICAL though. The math is extensive, a pro and con simultaeneously. Everyone using this book will probably be at the appropriate level of skill therein, but a certain proficiency in READING math, feeling it in a way is necassary here. My teacher was the source of most of the education I recieved in E&M but the problem sets in the RMC played a nearly equal role. I will say that the treatment of the Dirac Delta function was foggy at best, otherwise it was fine with the porper mathematical background

Fine and clear treatment of electrodynamics
RMC is a clear textbook about electrodynamics. You don't have to have much previos knowledge about the subject to follow the theory, but you should be familiar with the basics of vector analysis. There are quite many examples and the problems are reasonably difficult (answers are provided).As a whole this book covers the theory well and some of the applications too.

Great book for Mathematical proof of Physical Phenomena
The book clearly explains (mathematically) the existence of physical phenomena. Proof of experimental facts can be described through physical laws and proven by mathematics. One had to be mathematically proficient to verify the validity of the arguments presented. Vector algebra and calculus with some knowlege of differential equations will greatly help in keeping up with the material. ... Read more

Book Description

As the availability of powerful computer resources has grown over the last three decades, the art of computation of electromagnetic (EM) problems has also grown - exponentially. Despite this dramatic growth, however, the EM community lacked a comprehensive text on the computational techniques used to solve EM problems. The first edition of Numerical Techniques in Electromagnetics filled that gap and became the reference of choice for thousands of engineers, researchers, and students.The Second Edition of this bestselling text reflects the continuing increase in awareness and use of numerical techniques and incorporates advances and refinements made in recent years. Most notable among these are the improvements made to the standard algorithm for the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method and treatment of absorbing boundary conditions in FDTD, finite element, and transmission-line-matrix methods. The author also added a chapter on the method of lines.Numerical Techniques in Electromagnetics continues to teach readers how to pose, numerically analyze, and solve EM problems, give them the ability to expand their problem-solving skills using a variety of methods, and prepare them for research in electromagnetism. Now the Second Edition goes even further toward providing a comprehensive resource that addresses all of the most useful computation methods for EM problems. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

good book
this book is nice....there are so many
things covered there....that it is not
possible for the author to go too deep into
solution of the wave equation itself...i would
have loved a better introduction to the field
equations...something i found surprisin given
that it is a book in EM.

But, even if you can catch up and apply a
few of the concepts that he lays out for you
in the book you have learnt something. and the
book is a worthy buy.

Nice book I like it. Just Buy it!
Nice book I like it. Just Buy it! ... Read more

Book Description

Magnetic phenomena and materials are everywhere. Our understanding of magnetic behavior, once thought to be mature, has enjoyed new impetus from contributions ranging from molecular chemistry, materials chemistry and sciences to solid state physics. New phenomena are explored that open promising perspectives for commercial applications in future - carrying out chemical reactions in magnetic fields is just one of those. The spectrum spans molecule-based - organic, (bio)inorganic, and hybrid - compounds, metallic materials as well as their oxides forming thin films, nanoparticles, wires etc.
Reflecting contemporary knowledge, this open series of volumes provides a much-needed comprehensive overview of this growing interdisciplinary field. Topical reviews written by foremost scientists explain the trends and latest advances in a clear and detailed way. By maintaining the balance between theory and experiment, the book provides a guide for both advanced students and specialists to this research area. It will help evaluate their own experimental observations and serve as a basis for the design of new magnetic materials. A unique reference work, indispensable for everyone concerned with the phenomena of magnetism! ... Read more