Product Description

This advanced undergraduate-level text provides a formulation of the quantum theory in terms of qualitative and imaginative concepts outside classical theory. A broad range of specific applications follows, worked out in considerable mathematical detail. Also included: an examination of the relationship between quantum and classical concepts. Preface. Index.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39683 in Books
• Published on: 1989-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 655 pages

Customer Reviews

A Crystal-Clear Gem of a Book-- Lucid and Insightful
Don't let the original 1950's publication date fool you. This book is as relevant and important today as it was when it was first published.

In fact, Bohm's lucid, pointed three-page preface-- in which he outlines in simple English the three exact ways Quantum Mechanics differs from Classical Mechanics (which I had never seen done before and which few physics students ever really grasp)-- that ALONE is worth the price of this book.

Let me help you understand why, without reservation, I feel this book to be a masterpiece of clarity in exposition.

When I first learned Quantum Mechanics-- and, as I have come to learn, my experience was not atypical-- it was basically axiomatic: "Here are these mathematical techniques. If we do this and that and then that to this function, then we can predict certain things about experimental results." I found this a tremendously difficult-- not to mention frustrating-- way of learning things. Mathematically intense, but with little physical understanding.

I memorized the rules, and did OK in my courses, but what I really wanted to know was: WHY was I doing these things? Where did this stuff COME from? And, most importantly, what did this stuff MEAN?

I got bits and pieces-- only hints, really-- from several other textbooks. When I got to grad school, I was excited to finally learn what it all meant. Unfortunately, my grad course was more of the same type of calculation-- just calculating more difficult things! In fact, I had almost given up at really understanding what it all MEANT, and was ready to take my graduate Quantum professor's advice to "Just learn the techniques and use the stuff" when I came across David Bohm.

In a textbook that is more wordy than most novels-- and yet, in which not a single noun is extraneous or out of place-- Bohm takes us on a clear and exciting tour of WHERE Quantum Mechanics comes from, exactly HOW it developed from Classical Mechanics, exactly how it DIFFERS from Classical Mechanics, and, finally, what it all MEANS physically.

He does this by consistantly referring to experiment, by devloping mathematical techniques as necessary, and by discussing and explaining in clear prose what such concepts as the wave function actually MEAN.

It is difficult to overemphasize how comfortable one feels reading this book--- you feel that you are being guided with a firm yet gentle hand by one who truly understands what it means to truly EXPLAIN something. (For all the praise that is heaped on such texs as the Feynman Lectures and Landau and Lifshitz, they can't shake a stick at Bohm's abilities at lucidity in exposition.)

Finally, after developing the traditional calculational techniques, in the last sections of the book Bohm discusses such alternatives as the "hidden variable" theory in balanced yet intriguing ways, and leaves you wanting more.

If I am disappointed in anything, it would be only this:

Why didn't this Shakespeare of physics authors write more?

A thoughtful and very readable text
This is perhaps still the best way to enter quantum mechanics. This book was not written in haste: there is depth in almost every page. Yet, very little is assumed of the reader, but that he has a genuine interest in learning the subject, and patience to read it sequentially, calmly, and ponder about it. There is, then, no better guide.Do not think you will miss the computation techniques: they are all there. This is a complete book. It will teach you the orthodox view. Then, if you care, read the other books by Bohm, to learn of possible alternatives.

Quantum mechanics without the Dirac Bracket
The title page of this book lists Bohm as a professor emeritus at the University of London but this is actually a text developed at Princeton in the late 1940's. Not long after the book was written, Bohm had got himself in trouble for not revealing what left-wing activities he had got himself involved in with his mentor J.R. Oppenheimer. Princeton couldn't stand the political heat of having a suspected communist on its physics faculty and Bohm got booted out. He wandered off to Brazil and Israel before finally ending up in London. Ironically, Princeton had fired someone who had just written one of the greatest classics of the quantum mechanics literature. The book is outstanding for its extensive discussion of the philosophical foundations of quantum theory. Bohm at that time believed in the Copenhagen Interpretation of Niels Bohr. Only traditional mathematics, rather than the murky abstraction of the Dirac bracket, is used. Carefully selected problems are inserted into the text whenever important new material has been introduced. Although the book is a little dated, today's reader should still find the chapters on the WKB approximation, Heisenberg matrix mechanics, and perturbation theory edifying. In short, this is a book to be enjoyed.