Feynman Lectures on Physics  (English, Undefined, Feynman Richard P.)

This volume includes many exciting concepts of Physics, concentrating on the theory of quantum mechanics and presenting the central ideas in a comprehensible manner. 

 

 

Summary Of The Book

 

The Feynman Lectures on Physics (Volume 3) is a comprehensive physics textbook by Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, and Matthew Sands, based upon the lectures given by Feynman to undergraduate students at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) from 1961 to 1963, and also some lectures given to the sophomore class in May of 1964. This volume focuses primarily on quantum mechanics. The Feynman Lectures are considered to be one of the best and most sophisticated college level introductions to physics.

 

The book contains 21 chapters in all. Some of these are Quantum Behavior, The Hamiltonian Matrix, Probability Amplitudes, Angular Momentum, Symmetry and The Conservation Laws, Semiconductors, Operators, and The Schrödinger Equation. A wide array of concepts have been discussed within these chapters, ranging from the relatively simpler ones like principles of quantum mechanics, crystal diffraction, the exclusion principle, and probability amplitudes, to the more complicated topics like superconductivity, the Meissner effect, measuring a nuclear spin, and quantum mechanics of angular momentum. The book is replete with experiments and diagrams to explain the concepts. After 21 chapters, there is Feynman’s epilogue, followed by an Appendix and an Index.

 

Feynman's effective classroom style remains intact in this volume, a valuable work by a remarkable educator. The entire book has a great conversational tone and makes for an interesting and captivating read. Feynman provides excellent examples and thorough explanations, along with honest opinions when controversial issues arise.

 

When asked about the origins of his lectures, Richard Feynman believed that the whole thing was only an experiment. Evidently, Feynman’s experiment was hugely successful and was adapted into a book that has been credited as the best in its field for decades. For someone who wants to be acquainted with the basics of quantum mechanics and move on to the more complex systems like propagation of electrons in a crystal, Feynman’s lectures are an essential read.

 

 

About the Author

 

 

Richard Phillips Feynman (May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist. For his contributions to the development of quantum electrodynamics, Feynman received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965.

 

Other works by Feynman include Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From The Beaten Track, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character, QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter, The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen Scientist, and Feynman's Lost Lecture: The Motion of Planets Around the Sun.

 

He gained a reputation for taking great care when giving explanations to his students and for making it a moral duty to make the topic accessible.

 

Although born to and raised by Jewish parents, Feynman was not only an atheist, but declined to be labelled Jewish on supposedly ethnic grounds. He married thrice, to Arline Greenbaum, Mary Louise Bell, and Gweneth Howarth. He died of a final attempt at surgery for liposarcoma, a rare form of cancer.

 

 

Robert B. Leighton (September 10, 1919–March 9, 1997) was a prominent American experimental physicist who spent his professional career at Caltech.

 

His book, Principles of Modern Physics, published in 1959, was an influential and standard textbook.

 

His work over the years spanned solid state physics, cosmic ray physics, the beginnings of modern particle physics, solar physics, the planets, infrared astronomy, and millimeter and submillimeter wave astronomy.

 

 

Matthew Sands is an American physicist and educator. After earning a Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1948, Sands joined the MIT faculty. In 1950, he moved to Caltech. Sands was the first to show the importance of quantum effects in electron accelerators. He persuaded Richard Feynman to accept the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics even though Feynman was averse to such honors.