Book Description

Monte Carlo simulation has become an essential tool in the pricing of derivative securities and in risk management. These applications have, in turn, stimulated research into new Monte Carlo methods and renewed interest in some older techniques.

This book develops the use of Monte Carlo methods in finance and it also uses simulation as a vehicle for presenting models and ideas from financial engineering.It divides roughly into three parts. The first part develops the fundamentals of Monte Carlo methods, the foundations of derivatives pricing, and the implementation of several of the most important models used in financial engineering.The next part describes techniques for improving simulation accuracy and efficiency.The final third of the book addresses special topics: estimating price sensitivities, valuing American options, and measuring market risk and credit risk in financial portfolios.

The most important prerequisite is familiarity with the mathematical tools used to specify and analyze continuous-time models in finance, in particular the key ideas of stochastic calculus. Prior exposure to the basic principles of option pricing is useful but not essential.

The book is aimed at graduate students in financial engineering, researchers in Monte Carlo simulation, and practitioners implementing models in industry. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Mathematically disappointing book
Don't be fooled by the name of the Springer series where this book appeared: if you are looking for a nice list of examples and applications, then this book may be ok, but otherwise, this is not the place to look for proofs and rigorous results.

Excellent Read
Very well written book , all you need to know about MC Methods.
If you want to buy one book buy this one, if you have deep pockets then may be you should get the Peter Jaeckal book along with this. There is another introductory book on Simulation by Sheldon Ross.

a great buy
This is the best book I've read in the last year on mathematical finance. It is a tightly focussed text on Monte Carlo methods no more no less. So you won't find things like day count fracs because that's not what it's about.

Glasserman is a true expert on the topic. My highlight was the chapter on variance reduction where the vast amount of detailed knowledge taught me a lot, although I implement monte carlo pricing models on a day to day basis.

Compared to the best, this is average.
This book has a good explanation of Monte Carlo methods, but so do many others. Given that the focus of this book is interest rate models, I must compare it with the best in the field, and this book falls short. The definitive encyclopedia is "Interest Rate Modelling: Financial Engineering" by Jessica James and Nick Webber. Ms. James's Ph.D. in physics and on-line experience shows through in the sound explanation and application of theory.

Glasserman falls down in the actual applications, since some of the key real-world ingredients such as day counts and quirks of the market are missing.

"Interest Rate Modelling" covers these features and more. It also reviews hundreds of publications. All the methods for term structure modeling are clearly discussed, and the authors made improvements on some of the original works. "Interest Rate Modelling" still the standard for serious professionals, and while this book is good, compared to a superior work it only merits 2.5 stars.

Monte Carlo applications and much more!
I just got this book and start reading a few topics of interest like Risk Management. The book covers a lot of material in various financial products (heavy on interest rate products) and disciplines and does a fairly detailed job. It would have been great to have expanded the book to cover some areas more in depth (credit and operational risk), but otherwise this book is pretty comprehensive in terms of Monte Carlo applications. The book also has a nice appendix section that covers stochastic calculus and other topics. I took a course by Professor Glasserman at Columbia University ages ago and the book as well as the course delivers. This book is an excellent reference for any practitioner or academic alike (highly recommended). If you had to choose, I also think this book is better than the Peter Jaeckel's book on Monte Carlo. Enjoy... ... Read more

Book Description

Part of the Basic Skills in Electricity and Electronics Series, Electricity makes the introduction to this discipline easy to understand. The program assumes no previous training in the subject; only arithmetic and an introduction to algebra are used in explanations and problems. The text begins with a coverage of the fundamentals of direct current. This leads to a unified presentation of subject generally associated with alternating currents. Throughout the text, concepts build from one chapter to another. This important feature enables students to develop a unified understanding of electricity and the applications of electricity.

A dedication to student learning is evident throughout the text. Every page features a vertical color bar that focuses on key words. Many illustrations with a unique four-color design highlight the most important elements. Short self-tests (with answers provided) are presented throughout the text to offer immediate reinforcement and build students' confidence. Another valuable feature is the summary of key concepts found at the end of each chapter. This new edition also includes performance objectives and critical-thinking questions for every chapter.

The Activities Manual offers a wide variety of hands-on applications, including experiments that emphasize practical aspects of troubleshooting. It also includes pretests and posttests, research projects, and construction projects.

The Instructor's Manual is designed to help you present a unifed course. It contains answers to all problems in the text and representative data for all the experiments. New to this edition of the Instructor's Manual is a computerized test generator. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Electricity, Not Electronics
Electricity.
This is a subject that is often glossed over or dismissed in favor of Electronics.

A firm grasp of Electricity is needed before one can hope to master Electronics.

This remarkable book does just that. It is written in an intuitive manner allowing a novice to progress through the subject with ease.

For the those who practice Electricity for a living, it is a welcome refresher. Even the "Old Salt" who has been doing it for years: there are lots of "Ah Ha's," yet to be discovered.

This Book should not be underestimated or dismissed; it is worth exploring.

Horrible Stay Clear
This book is written for someone with a 6th grade education and no more. It talks about magamps for pete's sake. It dosen't even broach the subject of transistors. NO TRANSISTOR THEORY!! What in sakes is electronics if not transistors! The stupid objectives at the beginning of each chapter, and the even worst review problems at the end of each chapter are simply a waste of pages. I am a former nuke electrician from the navy and a current IC Fabrication Technician in the semiconductor industry. I purchased the book to just stay up on my studies, but this book fell way short. My fiancee's daughter has learned almost everything that is covered in this book, and she is only in the 7th grade. Be forewarned, a bad book indeed.

This is an excellent book for beginners in electricity.
This book is written in the standard format for a classroom environment, which makes it very easy to follow and find previously read topics you may have forgotten. However, some sections would be easier to learn with the aid of a teacher; although, it is still possible to learn the material without one. This book covers a wide range of topics for electricity, but not many applications of it. Over all, this book provides you with a strong foundation in the electrical field. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (2)

Very good book! Lots of interesting questions.
The book has lots of fun questions and the answers are very informative. The longer answers include a 2nd sidebar of info. Includes the basic questions that most space enthusiasts should know plus more in-depth questions. Some about the shuttle, the early Gemini and Mercury missions, Apollo and also planet-related questions. Worth reading and a good reference book, when you need to know the dimensions of the shuttle payload bay, for example (15 feet by 60 feet).

Lots of space facts
What a fun read! Lots of items that could be used either at a space party or indeed to educate kids. There are so many cool factoids and many excellent color photos. Bill Pogue should be congratulated for putting this excellent book together. I also like to see Apogee appealing to the armchair astronaut in us all without being too technical.
I would recommend this book, especially to any teachers that might consider it. ... Read more

Amazon.com

It's been said that before physics students can fly with Feynman they need to walk with Halliday and Resnick.Those of us who are still toddling along, however, need Larry Gonick.Gonick's characteristically quirky drawings are teamed with physicist Art Huffman's prose to produce lessons like this: picture Sir Isaac Newton driving a Mack truck labeled "Big Inertia." Ike is talking into a CB radio, saying: "Breaker one nine: force overcomes inertia and produces acceleration. Do you read?" As the jacket copy says, "If you think a negative charge is something that shows up on your credit-card bill--if you imagine that Ohm's law dictates how long to meditate--if you believe that Newtonian mechanics will fix your car," here's the book for you. --Mary Ellen Curtin ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Not as good as The Cartoon History of the Universe
I was delighted when some time ago I received two volumes of Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of the Universe as a present from a friend. It is absolutely hilarious! Being a physicist, I considered it a must to add Cartoon Guide to Physics to my Larry Gonick collection.

However, I was disappointed. The guide indeed tries to cover a significant amount of the usual high-school physics course - mechanics, electricity and magnetism (missing are thermodynamics and optics) - but it is not really as charmingly funny as the Cartoon History of the Universe. As a physicist, I can assure you that the problem does not lie in the simple fact that the history is more interesting topic than physics - physics is plenty interesting, thank you! But the desired blend between the textbook and the cartoon resulted in something that is not educational enough to actually learn something from it and too boring to make a good cartoon.

Trying to find some bright spot, I am happy to report I have not discovered any major flops in the science part of the book. Also, I believe the book actually becomes somewhat more interesting toward the end. But then again, if I would have to choose between, say, the chapter on relativity and Joseph Schwartz's Einstein for Beginners, I would probably opt for the latter.

Wonderful, fun way to learn a difficult subject.
If you haven't seen these Cartoon Guides before, you are in for a treat! They are a FABULOUS way to teach science. This book covers a broad range of physics from Mechanics to Electricity and Magnetism. But the whole book is a cartoon that creates most enjoyable reading. Whenever I get one of these books, my preteen asks to borrow it! (He's also learned genetics this way). Although it does not contain experiments as such, the presentations of scientific history and principles are great. Definitely a necessary book for older children, teachers and professionals...from The Science Spiders(TM) Newsletter

Truly Outstanding
It makes all the physics concepts and math in my high school physics class easy to understand. If I were on a textbook adoption commitee, I would buy class sets of these. Cartoon Guide cuts the nonsense and filler of your average high school physics and goes straight to the heart of the matter in a way that is accessible yet not at all dumbed down. Thank you Mr. Gonick for helping me get an "A" in physics! I was using a classroom copy. Now I will buy my own for when I go to college.

Learning with a light touch
The primary hurdle to overcome in learning the basics of physics is believing that it is indeed possible for you to learn them. Motion, electricity, magnetism, light and even relativity are all based on fundamental ideas that are well within the grasp of most people. Your reach and the strength of your grip will both be amplified by the contents of this book. Using simple diagrams and plain language, you are walked through a basic physics course, from the concept of linear motion to the most "bizarre" consequences of relativity.
Gonick it truly one of a kind when it comes to the explanation of complex phenomena using drawings and cartoon-like dialog. It is one of the rare literary creations, a book that educates in science that is also fun to read. There are no sharp edges of difficulty, it is much like one of those disciplinary paddles with a pillow on the end.

Gonick strikes again
This is my third Cartoon Guide, and was purchased after CG to Stats and CG to Genetics. I'm convinced now that I'll just have to buy every single one of Gonicks's guides.

Whenever possible, I have avoided physics classes--they scare me--which is difficult to do. But knowing this, I became obsessed with facing my fear and picked up this book (and a few others). I wasn't disappointed. Although it wasn't as easy to follow his other two books (perhaps because I'm more familiar with the subject of the other two books), it made physics more interesting, and less scary. I was able to reread sections and then cross reference them with a 'real' physics text until I got the point.

I'm still no physicist, and I never will be. But I've got a basic grasp now that I didn't have before, and can understand the simple physics of the world around me. However, the biggest kudo I can give to this book is this: I've enrolled in a physics course at the local university--a course I don't *have* to take but want to take. It's something I never would have done without this book easing my fears and taking the mystery out of the subject.

Bravo Gonick! Where's the Cartoon Guide to the Quantum Theory?! We're waiting.... ... Read more

Book Description

Michael Downing is obsessed with Daylight Saving, the loopy idea that became the most persistent political controversy in American history. Almost one hundred years after Congressmen and lawmakers in every state first debated, ridiculed, and then passionately embraced the possibility of saving an hour of daylight, no one can say for sure why we are required by law to change our clocks twice a year. Who first proposed the scheme? The most authoritative sources agree it was a Pittsburgh industrialist, Woodrow Wilson, a man on a horse in London, a Manhattan socialite, Benjamin Franklin, one of the Caesars, or the anonymous makers of ancient Chinese and Japanese water clocks.

Spring Forward is a portrait of public policy in the 20th century, a perennially boiling cauldron of unsubstantiated science, profiteering masked as piety, and mysteriously shifting time-zone boundaries. It is a true-to-life social comedy with Congress in the leading role, surrounded by a supporting cast of opportunistic ministers, movie moguls, stockbrokers, labor leaders, sports fanatics, and railroad execs. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A Book For All Seasons
I teach writing.I'm always telling my students that writers are curious and ask themselves questions. Real writers dig to find the answers to their questions.They're even willing to research to find the answers, I tell them.And I had the perfect book to illustrate my point-Michael Downing's latest book about the history of daylight savings time:Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Savings Time. I read the first several pages to my class and they were hooked.The intriguing details and humorous style generated a lively discussion that had students asking their own questions, willing to pursue the answers, and begging me to read more of Spring Forward before the bell rang.

Not bad, but...
As it happens, two very similar books came out only days apart, this one and David Prerau's "Seize the Daylight". If I didn't have Prerau's book to compare with this one, I might have rated this one higher; but Prerau's is so much better than this book that I cannot give a 5-star rating to this book.

Both books give some background history of timekeeping. Prerau's goes back to ancient days and covers the previous changes from temporal hours to equal hours, from apparent to mean time, and from mean local to standard time. Downing's book starts at a later point, and also devotes less space to the details, as well as putting this material in a flashback chapter, which makes for inferior organization.

In addition, I find this book is not written as well as Prerau's, which does a better job of holding my interest, and in addition, Downing makes a number of minor (but significant) errors such as writing "latitude" when he means "longitude" or "east" when he means "west." This causes a bit of difficulty on some occasions.

I cannot say I didn't enjoy this book, but I liked Prerau's better.

Be Prepared to Laugh
I looked on the back of this book and saw that one of the proponents of Daylight Saving Time was Richard Nixon. Then I saw that one of the opponents of Daylight Saving Time was Richard Nixon. Yep, I decided, this book has to make good sense. At least as good a sense as Daylight Saving Time does.

Then he said on the first page that he adjusted his clocks before he went to bed instead of at 2 AM. His neighbor told him that he was breaking Federal law.The neighbor then said that if the Feds came around he would lie for him and give him an alibi.

Then on Page 4 Britain's Royal Astronomer suggested that in addition to changing the clocks that the thermometer should be put up ten degrees in the winter so we would be warmer.

I was hooked.

The conclusions of the book: nobody knows why we have it, nobody can prove any savings (or cost).

My real conclusions on this book. Be prepared to laugh. (I also found it necessary to telephone people and read them parts of it.)

Fun for the curious...
This is one of those books that will appeal to thosewho always wonder why things are the way they are.Downing introduces his subject by listing all of the explanations he's heard for the existence of Daylight Saving Time and the various dates he's heard it was enacted.The stories are inconsistent and none of them make much sense.Dowling's curiosity about what the real story behind Daylight Saving Time was the impetus behind his writing this book and my reading the book.I wasn't disappointed.

Downing begins with the origination of the idea of Daylight Saving in England, takes you through its first implementation in Germany during WWI, quickly followed by Allied nations including the United States.The story is interesting in that the debate surrounding Daylight Savings has been more or less active from 1918 forward.The players usually don't come down on the side you've been led to believe by your parents and the media.

This is a great book for those who see what most people perceive as non-noteworthy occurences and feel the need to understand how they came to be.Highly recommended.

A Time of Confusion and Controversy
Around 1965 when my friends and I would go to the movies, along with the previews of coming attractions, we would be treated to a polemical short film designed to teach us the evils of Daylight Saving Time."Do you want to lose an hour of sleep every night?" boomed the self-important voice, as a cartoon illustration of a red-eyed man appeared on the screen."Do you want your children staying out after bedtime because it is still light?"My buddies and I thought it funny at the time to answer back "No!" to the first question and "Yes!" to the second.We did not know it at the time, but were doing our small part to continue a storm of controversy and puzzlement over clock-shifting.In _Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time_ (Shoemaker & Hoard), Michael Downing has given a sprightly history of a peculiarity in timekeeping that has pleased and bothered people ever since it was first seriously proposed for action.You might think that the only confusion that DST causes is for people who forget on the appointed night to change their clocks, or our surprise in the first week over how high the sun seems compared to the nights before the change.The truth is that there is much more confusion to go around on an issue that you probably thought was simple.

The US adopted DST in 1918, but repealed it just a year later; the repeal was sparked by protests by farmers, who were among the first, though certainly not the last, to insist on a return to what they viewed as "God's time."How God came to divide the day into twenty-four hours, however, they did not clarify.The influence of farmers, however, could not compete with that of Wall Street, which liked the idea since it meant that there would be a one hour window in the morning when both the New York Exchange and the London Exchange were open simultaneously, permitting exploitation of prices during those sixty minutes.In fact, the New York Exchange so missed the lucrative hour when DST was repealed that it put itself on DST just for trading hours.Exchanges in Boston and Philadelphia did not want to lose out, so they followed suit, small islands of anomalous time within the nation.The patchwork coverage of DST and the attempted legal patches to make it all sensible resulted in timely confusion.If you drove the 35 miles from Steubenville, Ohio, to Moundsville, West Virginia, and wanted your watch to keep the local time, you would have to change it seven times on the route.In St. Paul, Minnesota, there was an eighteen-story office building with nine floors on DST and nine floors not.

From time to time, like during wars, DST was promoted as the patriotic thing to do, since it saved energy, but this has not conclusively been shown.Some think there are good scientific reasons for DST, but there is no science behind it.What powers DST in a small way is emotion; most people simply like the long summer evenings (and Downing admits that he is one of these).I like it because it shows the arbitrary nature of timekeeping; we can shift hours just as we can (or could, if we wanted to) shift from feet to meters.The biggest force, though, is economic.Wall Street likes it, and that's important, but there were significant gains for specific industries.Sales of golf equipment and course fees go up in DST, and so do sales of barbecue equipment, and seeds and gardening supplies.Farmers still don't like it, but there are fewer and fewer of them to complain.Nonetheless, there are still plenty of people (and businesses like movie studios) that don't like it, and although we have relative standardization in its implementation now, there are still attempts to tinker with it.Falsifying clock time in America has become "the most sustained political controversy of the last 100 years," says Downing.His often hilarious book shows that the controversy isn't going to go away any time soon.
... Read more

Book Description

This widely used and highly regarded book is the ideal source for anyone interested in gaining insight into the fundamentals of thermodynamics.Stresses the fundamentals of thermodynamics and heat power, thoroughly covering the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics, the ideal gas, vapor and gas power cycles, refrigeration, and heat transfer.For engineers who want to learn more about the basics of thermodynamics or need a source for a thorough review of the discipline. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent book
I highly recommend this book. The text is clear and thorough, and the examples are excellent. It's a standard in the field and does not disappoint. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The third edition of Nightwatch continues its tradition of being the best handbook for the beginning astronomer. Terence Dickinson covers all the problems beginners face, starting with the fact that the night sky does not look the way a modern city-dweller expects. He discusses light pollution, how to choose binoculars and telescopes, how to pronounce the names of stars and constellations, telescope mounts, averted vision, and why the harvest moon looks especially bright. Most of the lovely photographs in the book were taken by amateurs, which gives the section on astrophotography a particularly inspirational gleam.

Dickinson's star charts are very handy, each covering a reasonable field of view and mapping the most interesting amateur objects. He gives good advice for planet watching, which he notes "is one of the few astronomical activities that can be conducted almost as well from the city as from dark rural locations."

Altogether, the watchword for Nightwatch is indeed "practical"--this is a book to be used, not just read. Spiral-bound to lie flat or to fold back undamaged, it's a field guide that pulls its own weight in the field. Author Timothy Ferris says, "Like a good night sky, Nightwatch is clear and wind-free. Try it and see for yourself." --Mary Ellen Curtin ... Read more

Reviews (47)

Beautiful, practical ...
This book was recommended to me by an avid backyard astronomer when I mentioned I was interested in learning more about astronomy. I was absolutely delighted with this book. The photos are beautiful, the diagrams are excellent. It makes star/planet identification easy, gives guidance on buying a telescope, has a nice introductory chapter on the universe, putting everything in perspective. The writing is clear, straightforward, understandable. I am extremely pleased with my purchase, as I feel that this single book contains everything I really want to know at this time. I would recommend it to anyone who wants an interesting, comprehensible introduction to the night sky.

One of the best beginner books
I got a beginner's telescope from Celestron (the FirstScope 114) as a gift, and was anxious to begin using it. I picked up a few books on beginning astronomy (but not NightWatch) and set to work using it. After fiddling with the telescope to align it correctly, and trying to use the star charts in the books I bought, I gave up. I had friend visitng from out of town who wanted to try the telescope again, so we dragged out the scope and the books and couldn't get anywhere once again.

Later, I received NightWatch as a gift, and its made a world of difference. The scheme for finding stars and other objects is much simpler than in other texts. Rather than use the celestial coordinate system (based on right ascension, R.A., and declination, Dec.), which requires that you align your telescope correctly, NightWatch uses a few key stars and constellations as pointers, and shows how to use your fingers and hand to measure celestial distances. From the reference points, you can easily navigate througout the sky.

If you don't already have a telescope, this is also a good book to purchase, as it has a discussion of different kinds of telescopes and their tradeoffs. NightWatch also has good information on using binoculars, which makes it easy to get started without plunking down much money, since most people own a pair.

Bottom line: Of the 4 beginner's books I have, NightWatch is by far the best.

Good but not great.
This is another one of Terence Dickinsons "backyard astronomy" books that is somewhat better than others of this particular "genre", but suffers by a somewhat superficial treatment of the practical aspects of the subject. The primary reason I purchased the book was for the 20 very good star charts contained. It was not until I started using these charts that I realized that many important Messier objects were not included!

Although the pictures are wonderful , and very attractive , I buy books of this type for information--not to "sell me" on being an amateur astronomer. I don't need "cheerleading". There are other books available that offer somewhat more information than this one--so 4 stars (more like 3.5 stars).

Perfect starter to the Astronomer's world
This book is greatly build up and covers every major aspect of Astronomy . In an understandable way and very plastic with supportive pictures you get to understand cohesions and basics about our solar system, the galaxies and the whole universe.
It puts emphasize on the star constellations and features great maps to navigate the sky. The ringbinding helps a lot to work with it in the field. And the paper is high quality and will take a lot of use.
This makes a great gift for anyone who is intersted in nature or wants to explore the night sky.
This is the absolute BEST BUY to start with!!! Nothing else.

An excellent book for new astronomers.
For the money you can't go wrong this is an excellent book for people just starting out in astronomy or who need a better understanding of the night sky and where to locate things. This book is packed full of info. and nice color photographs to go along with the many things you can see in a small telescope. I wouldnt really suggest this book though to those who allready know how to locate things and have a good understanding of astronomy. For the new person though theres tons of night time sky charts with details of nebulas and everything else in that part of the sky. Theres an excellent part that shows you how to measure the distances between stars & constellations to locate those harder to find subjects!! An excelent book that deserves a 5 star review. I forgot to mention that it's spiral bound so this makes it easy to lay flat and keep on a certain page. And don't forget take your time with the book to learn things the night sky isnt going anywhere! ... Read more

Book Description

Fundamentals of Semiconductor Devices provides a realistic and practical treatment of modern semiconductor devices. A solid understanding of the physical processes responsible for the electronic properties of semiconductor materials and devices is emphasized.With this emphasis, the reader will appreciate the underlying physics behind the equations derived and their range of applicability. The author’s clear writing style, comprehensive coverage of the core material, and attention to current topics are key strengths of this book. ... Read more

Book Description

Why everything we think about fundamental physical laws needs to change, and why the greatest mysteries of physics are not at the ends of the universe but as close as the nearest ice cube or grain of salt.

Not since Richard Feynman has a Nobel Prize-winning physicist written with as much panache as Robert Laughlin does in this revelatory and essential book. Laughlin proposes nothing less than a new way of understanding fundamental laws of science. In this age of superstring theories and Big-Bang cosmology, we're used to thinking of the unknown as being impossibly distant from our everyday lives. The edges of science, we're told, lie in the first nanofraction of a second of the Universe's existence, or else in realms so small that they can't be glimpsed even by the most sophisticated experimental techniques. But we haven't reached the end of science, Laughlin argues-only the end of reductionist thinking. If we consider the world of emergent properties instead, suddenly the deepest mysteries are as close as the nearest ice cube or grain of salt. And he goes farther: the most fundamental laws of physics-such as Newton's laws of motion and quantum mechanics -are in fact emergent. They are properties of large assemblages of matter, and when their exactness is examined too closely, it vanishes into nothing.

A Different Universe takes us into a universe where the vacuum of space has to be considered a kind of solid matter, where sound has quantized particles just like those of light, where there are many phases of matter, not just three, and where metal resembles a liquid while superfluid helium is more like a solid. It is a universe teeming with natural phenomena still to be discovered. This is a truly mind-altering book that shows readers a surprising, exquisitely beautiful and mysterious new world. ... Read more

Book Description

Accurate, authoritative and comprehensive, Optics, Fourth Edition has been revised to provide readers with the most up-to-date coverage of optics. The market leader for over a decade, this book provides a balance of theory and instrumentation, while also including the necessary classical background. The writing style is lively and accessible.For college instructors, students, or anyone interested in optics. ... Read more

Reviews (21)

Too much fancy Talk, Not enough Examples
As an undergraduate I find this book incredibly confusing. Hecht seems to take pleasure in using fancy words and hyped up sentences when simpler statements will do. Instead of deriving equations by first starting with intuiton, then using substitution of previous results etc, he prefers to talk his way into derivations using sometimes page long reasoning. Sometimes it's Ok to let the equations speak for themselves. If this is considered the standard in optics textbooks I am afraid of opening the mess that other textbooks must be.

Great intro to Optics!
This is a wonderful introduction to the field of optics for an undergraduate with some background in physics and vector calculus (ideally a student at least in his or her sophomore year). The book has been said to be somewhat on the longer side, but because of the organization of the book it is easy to skip a couple of chapters that may be better covered in labs (e.g. geometrical optics and modern optics). Hecht has a clear style, outlines the required vector calculus and the wave equation in early chapters, which prepares the student for the rest of the book. Great stuff!

bad book!!! wasting time!!!
it is difficult to learn from. NO examples are found and I often found myself reading a section several times and still not feeling confident that I understood it.

Clear
I like this book. It explains things well. It's very well written and easy to read. It has a lot of data, well organized.

However, I think students ought to be disturbed by the outrageous $108 price tag. I happened by accident to have purchased instead a brand-new version of the special "low cost" edition - intended for distribution only *outside* the US and Canada - that, even with the secondary dealer markup, cost me under thirty bucks - and still presumeably left them a profit.

Feeling ripped off yet?

A good book if you're not in a hurry...
The best thing about Hecht's book are the long and thorough discussions about every topic. This makes the book very adequate for self studying. On the other hand, it can be very incovenient if you're using to book to study for your exams (as I did). So I do recomend Hecht as a first reading in Optics, but be sure that you're not in a hurry... ... Read more

Book Description

Over the last few years, near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has rapidly developed into an important and extremely useful method of analysis. In fact, for certain research areas and applications, ranging from material science via chemistry to life sciences, it has become an indispensable tool because this fast and cost-effective type of spectroscopy provides qualitative and quantitative information not available from any other technique.
This book offers a balanced overview of the fundamental theory and instrumentation of NIR spectroscopy, introducing the material in a readily comprehensible manner. A considerable part of the text is dedicated to practical applications, including sample preparation and investigations of polymers, textiles, drugs, food and animal feed. However, special topics, such as two-dimensional correlation analysis, are also covered in separate chapters.
Written by eight experts in different fields, this book presents an introduction to the current state of developments and is valuable to spectroscopists and to practitioners applying NIR spectroscopy as a daily analytical tool.
... Read more

Book Description

Provides complete coverage of both the Lyapunov and Input-Output stability theories, ina readable, concise manner.
* Supplies an introduction to the popular backstepping approach to nonlinear control design
* Gives a thorough discussion of the concept of input-to-state stability
* Includes a discussion of the fundamentals of feedback linearization and related results.
* Details complete coverage of the fundamentals of dissipative system's theory and its application in the so-called L2gain control prooblem, for the first time in an introductory level textbook.
* Contains a thorough discussion of nonlinear observers, a very important problem, not commonly encountered in textbooksat this level. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Few writers distinguish themselves by their ability to write about complicated, even obscure topics clearly and engagingly. James Gleick, a former science writer for the New York Times, resides in this exclusive category. In Chaos, he takes on the job of depicting the first years of the study of chaos--the seemingly random patterns that characterize many natural phenomena.

This is not a purely technical book. Instead, it focuses as much on the scientists studying chaos as on the chaos itself. In the pages of Gleick's book, the reader meets dozens of extraordinary and eccentric people.For instance, Mitchell Feigenbaum, who constructed and regulated his life by a 26-hour clock and watched his waking hours come in and out of phase with those of his coworkers at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

As for chaos itself, Gleick does an outstanding job of explaining the thought processes and investigative techniques that researchers bring to bear on chaos problems. Rather than attempt to explain Julia sets, Lorenz attractors, and the Mandelbrot Set with gigantically complicated equations, Chaos relies on sketches, photographs, and Gleick's wonderful descriptive prose. ... Read more

Reviews (78)

Mathematical and philosophical thriller
Gleick's "Chaos" will change the way you look at the world. Not once, not twice, but three times, I found myself, jaw agape, staring through the text into infinity and pondering the immensity of what I had just read. This is as much a testament to Gleick's powerful prose as it is to the profound implications of chaos theory.

Gleick accomplishes an impressive feat in his chronicle of chaos' brief history. He skillfully interweaves the characters, their ideas, and the interactions among characters and ideas into a seamless story so as to give the reader an accurate sense of how chaos theory evolved over the course of a couple of decades.

While "Chaos" does not delve into the mathematics, it provides enough detail for readers with technical backgrounds to make the appropriate connections and develop a more complete understanding of chaos. Gleick also provides a thorough list of endnotes for additional reading.

Enjoy. This book will both entertain and astound you.

Excellent and exciting glimpse into chaos!
Chaos is a profound book. It provides you a new pair of glasses that changes completely how you look at this world. For anyone with even a little background in mathematics and physics, or rather a taste for science, this book provides a stimulating compilation on emergence of non-linear science. The story is written inbibing the usually unsung scientists as heroes of a vibrant saga of discovery, eccentricity and revolution of ideas!

Personally when I first read this book an year ago, I was able to comprehend that non-linear dynamics and chaos present a new set of tools to describe systems in all realms of science. The study of chaos contains key to understanding our nature better. Complexity is beautiful in form and patterns in chaos both awe and fascinate! An year later I am still trying to understand the technical details and mathematicals of chaos and nonlinear dynamics, but I feel an excitement for which I must thank Gleick! And not surprisingly, I have now moved to research with an open mind about possibilities in domains of nonlinearty.

Like I Ching said, "Before the beginning of great brilliance, there must be chaos". Maybe as Gleick claims, Chaos will be rated just below relativity and quantum mechanics as the key discoveries of last century!! Read it: it is fun!

an excellent introduction
First, the plusses. The book reads easily, and Gleick is careful to explain all the concepts he introduces so that a layman reader will understand. There is a lot of history in this book, where Gleick first explains the person who made the discovery before he explains the discovery itself. These sections can be tedious to a reader interested in the science, not Edward Lorenz' personal habits, but it works well to steady the pace of the book, and to give the non-scientific reader a breather before diving into more scientific concepts.

You can't always have the best of both worlds, though, and so at times, a more scientifically or mathematically reader will be frustrated with the lack of detail concerning some of the interesting concepts developed here. For example, Gleick mentions fractional dimensionality, but fails to really explain it well, probably assuming that it is beyond most of his readers. This is probably a safe bet for layman readers, but left me very frustrated in places. Also, Gleick's writing (praised as "novelistic") gets overly melodramatic in places, and the reader gets the distinct impression that he's trying too hard to make this book accessible.

But even despite these flaws, this is an excellent introduction to chaos theory, and worth reading for scientists and laymen alike. This book makes you want to learn more about chaos theory, and does a good job at making chaos accessible. It was written over fifteen years ago, though, so a more recent book on chaos would be a good supplement.

More history than science!
This book is more of an history book than a science book by volume. It drags on and on over the history of the scientists, however when it gets to explain the chaos characteristics it does so in a choppy way which might make the reader distracted and confused. Overall: MEDIOCRE.

Chaos is good
Chaos is a great book, however for an under-achiever (not passed calculus) person, it can and will be difficult in some chapters. The author does a pretty good job explaining Chaos Theory and gives excellent background information. ... Read more

Book Description

Careful and detailed explanations of challenging concepts, and comprehensive and up-to-date coverage in this best-selling quantum mechanics book, continue to set the standard in physics education.In this new edition, a new chapter on the revolutionary topic of of quantum computing (not currently covered in any other book at this level) and thorough updates to the rest of the book bring it up to date.For anyone interested physics or quantum mechanics. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Important
Before you attempt to study Quantum Mechanics, try taking classical mechanics first. If you don't understand operators and all that other mechanics stuff, don't bother trying to learn quantum mechanics yet. This book is certainly not for the beginning physics student who wants an "understanding" of quantum mechanics, no no, this is the real deal.
I feel that one major drawback of this book is that it is written in numbers rather than letters and that someone who considers themselves prone to reading words rather than equations should look for an easier text.
Although, if your taking, say an intermediate Quantum course, than you should consider this book.

Great for beginners
The first course in quantum mechanics that I took at Berkeley required only the Griffiths book. After realizing how terrible that book was, I picked up the Liboff book and was thoroughly satisfied. Although it is lacking in depth at some points, the subject matter is chosen very well and each section is reasonably self contained (as much as it can be in this subject). The mathematical level is just right for a second/third year physics major as it does a good job introducing new mathematics such as Airy functions, Legendre polynomials, spherical harmonics, and spherical Bessel and Neumann functions. It is also nice to see Liboff give a taste of more advanced topics such as path integration and relativistic quantum mechanics. The treatment of angular momenta and their addition (orbital and spin) is especially good for beginners. All undergraduates in physics would benefit from this text.

Good Book, but requires a supplement
Liboff goes into much more detail in his explanations than do many other undergraduate texts on quantum mechanics. Unfortunately, it is often necessary to look at another book before you begin trying to decifer this one. In my undergraduate quantum course I often read Griffiths first to give me a basic idea of what it was I needed to understand, and then I would follow through with Liboff in order to actually understand it. This book was definitely helpful with a first course in Quantum Mechanics.

Good for reading without a teacher.
First a little about myself. I was a math major when I went to school thirty years ago. I took a few elementary physics courses back then but remember very little. I read most of Principles of QM by P.A.M. Dirac before I read this book. However I have not read any other texts and so I cannot do a good job of comparing this book to others. I have the second printing of the fourth edition. This printing has hundreds of typos. I sent a bunch of e-mails to Professor Liboff informing him of the ones that I found and he indicated to me that in subsequent printings these typos would be fixed.

I found that I was able to understand most of it without access to a teacher to help me. My complaint with Dirac is that although it explains theory quite well, it doesn't privide problem solving techniques. Liboff's book is quite good for that. As for theory, although Dirac is more thorough, there were important gaps in my understanding after reading Dirac that were cleared up by Liboff. Liboff is easier to understand.

In the fourth edition there is a new chapter on Quantum Computing. In my opinion, this chapter is extremely weak. Shor's algorithm for factoring integers is a probabilistic one, but this fact is not mentioned in the text. A probabilistic algorithm, simply stated, is one that does not always work. For instance Shor's algorithm fails to factor the number 9, but Liboff uses 9 as an example. In fact there is a definition of probabilistic algorithms in the book, but it fails to bring out the features that make Shor's alorithm understandable. Fortunately, this one bad chapter does not ruin the book.

Terribly written and lacks explanation
The books dives into numerous topics without first giving thorough FOUNDATION or MOTIVATION. The examples are sparse, the explanations are few and far between, and the structure is overall bad. For those who need a book that teaches instead of a book that annoys and frustrates, get the Quantum Physics MIT introductory series book by AP French. It's a million times clearer, easier to read, and much more enriching. ... Read more

Book Description

• Greater number of solved examples than most competing texts.
• Good emphasis on practical problems, and 25% new homework problems.
• Early introduction of Bernoulli Equation.
• Each example problem is completely solved using a problem statement, detailed solution and often giving a brief discussion of related principles from real life situations. This practical problem solving methodology is used to promote students' reasoning skills.
• E-Text. Each new copy of the fourth edition includes a free CD-ROM containing the e-Text-the entire print component of the book in searchable PDF format, plus additional material not in the print version.
• Fluid Mechanics Phenomena brings fluid mechanics to life! A series of 80 short video segments on the CD illustrate various aspects of real-world fluid mechanics. The videos are linked within the e-Text directly to those sections and problems that will most benefit from these illustrations:
  • Many of the segments show how fluid motion relates to familiar devices and everyday experiences.
  • Each segment also clearly indicates the key fluid mechanics topic being demonstrated and provides a description of the content.
• Review Problems with Complete Solutions. Each chapter in the e-Text provides students with 10-20 review problems that link directly to complete detailed solutions for extra guidance in problem-solving. In addition, the review problems are identified by the basic principle they demonstrate, allowing students easy reference to areas they need to review.
• Lab Problems. The e-Text contains 30 extended laboratory problems that involve actual experimental data for simple experiments often found in introductory fluid mechanics labs. The data for these problems is provided in Excel format.
• Key Words and Topics. Each chapter contains a list of key words and topics. Within the e-Text, the key words and topics are linked directly to where those concepts are explained in the chapter. Great for studying-think flashcards!
• Summary sentences. A brief summary sentence on each page of the text.An effective reference and resource to students, these sentences help students locate discussions of important concepts.Used as a study tool, the summary sentences guide students to key concept that students need to understand and encourage them to read the text rather than relying on worked out examples.

Reviews (10)

Pretty good book for people who really want to learn theory
In my course of Fluid Mechanics at the University of Brasília (UnB) I've been studying this subject through McDonald and Fox's Introduction to Fluid Mechanics and I really think that Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics is the best choice for people who really want to learn the theory . Besides that Mcdonald and Fox's is better in terms of exercises

Say CD..eeeeee....
The best thing about this book is the in-depth soultions to extra problems found only in the CD. So be sure to ask for the CD that accompanies the book; on top of that you get a solid fluid mechanics book that will support you through your fluid classes. A foundational understanding in fluids will also help in classes like Heat Transfer where most of the information is building on information learned in fluids. Good book, good examples, I like a lot of one of the author's (Okiishi) stuff.

Dont rely only on this book
If you are cursed with a poor professor and are forced to use the book to teach yourself the material, you will be sorely dissapointed. First of all, the book is extremely wordy and very complicated to understand. You are given a ton of equations when they talk about a topic but you almost always find no use for the majority of them. I find the later chaptersespecially to be all math oriented and I found fewer and fewer real world problems to help study for the exams which had real world questions. In general, I was very dissapointed with the book.

The study guide that accompanes the book is actually fairly decent and succint if not too short and they sometimes dont show important equations

Excellent for the student of Mechanical Engineering
This book is excellent for the engineering student. I recommend it for the beginning student of fluid mechanics or for the advanced student wishing to refresh his/her knowledge of fluid mechanics. The collaborative effort by the authors produce a beautifully explained text. The material is clear and concise and the additional software included with the book is of great use for illustrating important concepts.

Highly recommended for Fluid engineering students
This is a highly recommended fluid textbook for students interested in pursuing Mechanical or Aeronautical Engineering. The inclusive of the CD-ROM which includes the e-text, videos and step by step solution to some review problems is an addition to what other fluid textbooks recommended by my university don't have.

The explanations of every topic is reader friendly and allows student to grasp the concept easily ... Read more

Book Description

Eagerly awaited by scientists and academics worldwide, the first of the complete recordings of Feynman's famous Lectures on Physics, now on CD.

Basic Books is proud to announce the first volumes of the complete audio CD collection of the recorded lectures delivered by the late Richard P. Feynman, lectures originally delivered to his physics students at Caltech and later fashioned by the author into his classic textbook Lectures on Physics. Ranging from the most basic principles of Newtonian physics to such formidable theories as Einstein's general relativity, superconductivity, and quantum mechanics, Fenyman's lectures stand as a monument of clear exposition and deep insight. ... Read more

Book Description

Principles of Optics is one of the classic science books of the twentieth century, and probably the most influential book in optics published in the past forty years. This edition has been thoroughly revised and updated, with new material covering the CAT scan, interference with broad-band light and the so-called Rayleigh-Sommerfeld diffraction theory. This edition also details scattering from inhomogeneous media and presents an account of the principles of diffraction tomography to which Emil Wolf has made a basic contribution. Several new appendices are also included. This new edition will be invaluable to advanced undergraduates, graduate students and researchers working in most areas of optics. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Good book
It is just a rare book on physical optics based on Maxwell equations. Rarely a book states the assumptions,the validity of the equations, the principles and how the equations arrived. Certainly, it is a great book for postgraduates and researchers in physical optics not so for undergraduate students who don't want to go through all the mathematics.

A Classic
This book is a classic with all problems associated. Half of the reference quoted have been written before the WWII. Very useful if you like to quote original papers. This book cover most topics of the classical optics but hardy cover modern topics.

However, it is hard to read and use a weird notation. Certainly not useful for rapid referencing. Like the bible, use it only when you have serious problem to deal with.

the reference.
It is of course the reference for optics, and is very complete
and rigorous. I didn't learn optics from it, I only use it
as a reference and I suppose that is its function.
It feels a bit oldfashioned (for example, I haven't found
speckel applications in the chapter on coherence) but I
suppose that that is due to the fact that it is a classic.
My other, personal, objection is that I hate Gaussian
units, I prefer by far SI units. Even Jackson finally
conceded to switch to SI units, but Wolf clings on this
Gaussian system.

Good professional reference book, but not for students.
Already for many years, this is a classic on optics. Almost any subject you can think of is covered in this book, in a fundamental way. That is its strength and its weakness: experienced scientists will find everything they need, but for students it is not a good book because it is far to detailed: they will get lost in all the mathematical details before they grasp the essence of the subject.

This problem also exists - to a lesser extent - for professionals who try to use the book to fill in a gap in their knowledge: they too will find themselves asking why they have to read so many (well thought-through) pages before the authors finally make their point.

My advice: use other books to study from, and use this book when you are already experienced and need a high-quality reference work.

A note for scienctists: please mention section numbers when referring to this book in your own publications.

excellent to study from
The Born and Wolf Principles of Optics text is, without a doubt, a classic. At first, it was hard for me to get into the text because I could not see a physics test without problems or exercises at the end of every chapter, but I realized, through this book, that there was a better way to study. Now I'm getting more out of all the texts and journals I study by internalizing the information through memorization and so on instead of learning just enough to work the problems. What I learn from Born and Wolf will take me a long way. ... Read more

Book Description

"The Quantum Brain is an adventure in the science of ideas. It is the first book on the brain that combines a grasp of the physics of the microcosm and the technologies of artificial intelligence, neural networks, and self-organizing systems, with a recognition of the transcendant properties that define the mind and differentiate it from matter. Although the subject is inherently difficult and novel, Jeffrey Satinover is an inspired guide through the fertile areas of convergence among the pivotal sciences of the age. From such insights will emerge both new technologies and new philosophies and theologies for the twenty-first century."
–George Gilder, Editor, Gilder Technology Report

"Many authors have written about one or two of the topics covered in The Quantum Brain. Jeffrey Satinover’s book is unique in trying to tie everything together."
–Michael E. Kellman, Professor of Theoretical Chemistry, University of Oregon

"Thoroughly researched . . . and told as a gripping tale, thanks to Dr. Satinover’s . . . gift for the narrative. A marvelous introduction to the most fascinating question the human brain can address: its own working."
–R. Shankar, Professor of Physics and Applied Physics, Yale University

"A thrilling journey through the world of brain research. The author has set new standards for popular science writing by making arcane topics . . . easy to follow. A tapestry of insights."
–Jack Tuszynski, Professor of Physics, University of Alberta

"I wish I had written this visionary book."
–Professor Hugo de Garis, Head, Starbrain Project, Starlab’s Artificial Brain Project ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Wonderful!
Jeffrey Satinover has written a wonderful book here. What I find so impressive is the book's scope and accessibility. Satinover covers a wide variety of complex topics and explains them in ways that the lay-reader can easily understand. Essentially, the book serves as a wonderful introduction to problems in quantum physics, neural nets, computing, cellular automata, genetic algorithms, artificial intelligence, and some of the basic philosophy of mind problems.

If these kinds of topics have always interested you but you didn't know where to begin, Satinover provides a fun to read and easy to understand introduction. Readers who are already well-versed in these areas may find Satinover's approach to be a little "light-weight", but I think they could perhaps appreciate the manner in which he explains these things.

In the end, I was left somehow feeling a little skeptical of the author's contention of the brain serving to amplify quantum phenemonon to produce free will. But Satinover is weaving a complex argument and attempting to connect a lot of dots. Each of these dots is well-explained and I'm inclined to think that the failure to connect is most likely my limitation and failure and not Satinover's.

So to summarize I'd say this is a wonderful introduction to the discoveries in a broad array of fields such as mathematics, cognition, physics, and biology from the last 100 years. It's a pleasure to read and highly acessible. The index and bibliography are both extensive, giving the reader ample opportunity to further investigate these topics.

Sweeping synthesis
It takes a psychiatrist trained in physics and well versed in modern
technology to understand the impact of quantum mechanics
and neural networks first on computation and then on the human condition.
Dr. Satinover reviews the history of perceptrons, the rise and
tribulations of symbolic artificial intelligence and
related subdisciplines of psychology and biology.
This is a sweeping book, broad in scope and
provocative in its thesis: quantum phenomena