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Three physicists (one theoretician; two experimentalists, one in biophysics) adopt an intuitive and practical style to present the fundamentals of soft matter physics. Make no mistake: the style is accessible and revealing, but the underlying science is profound. Brochard-Wyart (Sorbonne Univ.) was a collaborator and former student of the late Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (originator of soft matter physics, 1991 Nobel laureate in physics). The authors lay claim to the style of de Gennes (and reference their class notes) in their method of presentation, including its organization and range of topics. There are two broad groupings: chapters 1-7 cover definition and characterization of soft matter, then interfaces, phase transitions, liquid crystals, surfactants, and polymers, offering simple calculations (order of magnitude estimates) and scaling law arguments. Part 2 (chapters 8-10) covers a range of applications: self-cleaning surfaces, biomimetic adhesion, optical applications, and biological applications from DNA to tissue engineering. Many examples are based on everyday household phenomena. Each chapter provides a short bibliography. Any student (primarily in physics, biology, chemistry, and engineering) or researcher will enjoy reading this unique book. To benefit fully, readers need some background in electricity and magnetism, chemistry, fluid mechanics, statistical mechanics, and thermodynamics. This reader has rarely encountered a book so accessible, yet so thought provoking.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through professionals.

This slim volume bears a strong resemblance to a wolf in sheep's clothing. Its informal, readable style hides an enormous amount of physics and a fair share of history. About one-third of the material guides the reader through the thinking associated with the people and ideas that helped generate the theory of general relativity (GR). Einstein's gedankenexperiment, or thought experiment, emerges as key to catalyzing the equivalence principle, along with the idea of a curved space-time. The crucial Eddington observation, which made both scientific and journalistic history, paints a lively account of how fame came suddenly to Einstein. The GR tensor equation appears like magic, its function to illustrate that its solution is the foundation of modern cosmology. The text becomes increasingly dense in the discussions of quantum gravity and black holes, and there is a surprising amount of conjecture and detail in trying to explain the latest thinking relating quantum mechanics to GR. A collection of "Deeper Dive" inserts deals with issues that require more background or illustrations to enrich the storytelling, though the further reading section should be a useful supplement. This fine book should be in every library.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

This book is about particle physics with a particular emphasis on the Higgs boson. The discovery of the Higgs particle in 2012 provided the last piece of evidence needed to confirm the Standard Model of particle physics. Though there have been several popular books about particle physics and the 50-year search for the Higgs boson, this book stands out for its clear and engaging style. Author Van Vulpen (Univ. of Amsterdam) is a member of the ATLAS experiment at CERN, where the Higgs was discovered, and the translation is by the award-winning translator David McKay. The book begins with a description of the experimental tools of particle physics, then explains how more than a century of research culminated in the current understanding as represented in the Standard Model. The final chapter describes current research on what is known as Beyond Standard Model (BSM) physics, discussing dark energy, dark matter, and the possibility of extra dimensions. This is an outstanding book for college-level readers interested in science, containing a nice mix of history, theory, experiment, the workings of scientific discovery, and possible future discoveries. This reviewer recommends the book to both faculty and students and to any college library.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates. Faculty and professionals. General readers.

The 18th century witnessed two competing theories of light: the corpuscular (Newton) and the wave (Huygens, Descartes). Both explained every known phenomenon of light. In the present, two competing theories seek to solve the problem of linking gravitation and quantum mechanics in a unified theory: string theory and loop quantum gravity (LQG). String theory has been popular mostly because of its mathematical elegance but is far from reaching the goal. In this remarkably well-written text, the authors introduce readers gently to the conceptual bricks of LQG without using any mathematics (quite an achievement). The debate started with the discovery that the space-time geometry of general relativity can be written in terms of the electromagnetic field. This led to intersecting graphs called loops. Now known as spin networks, they are the foundations of LQG. This slender volume discusses applications of LQG to black holes and cosmology and introduces the notion of spin foam, acknowledging that as yet the theory, though elegant, has no experimental confirmation. Nevertheless, LQG is a fascinating theoretical sandbox where (to use Hossenfelder's title phrase) physics is Lost in Math (CH, Jan'19, 56-1990). This book offers a fascinating introduction to an esoteric realm otherwise accessible to only a fortunate few.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students and faculty researchers.

This 60th anniversary edition of "Born and Wolf," as the book is known in the optics, physics, and engineering communities, is essentially the seventh edition published twenty years ago, but with a foreword by Peter Knight outlining the complex history of the work, from its first appearance in 1959 to the previous edition of 2001. As Knight explains, many additions and changes distinguish the seventh from previous editions. The book remains one of the classics of 20th-century optics/physics, and is often referred to as the "Bible of Optics." Max Born became a Nobel laureate in 1954 for his contributions to quantum mechanics, and Emil Wolf (who passed away two years ago) became one of the founders of the discipline in the US after his 1959 arrival at Rochester, serving as president of the Optical Society of America during the 1970s. The book is really a graduate-level textbook, starting with the electromagnetic field description of optics, and ending with a chapter on the optics of metals and crystals. But undergraduates, too, may gain insight, for example from the discussion of image-forming instruments (chapter 6). Also noteworthy are the 12 appendixes, which add great utility to the volume. This jewel of 20th-century physical science belongs on every scientist's book shelf.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals.

This interesting anthology on selected topics from the rich history of quantum mechanics, especially during its glory days, will engross any reader who has even a modest acquaintance with quantum theory. From Einstein and Ehrenfest through Dirac and Schrodinger--including the story of the neutrino, involving aspects of the Manhattan Project and a "defector-physicist" who abandoned the West for the Soviet Union--the book offers a treasure chest of fascinating facts on a variety of topics related to quantum physics, from its genesis to the present. Composed of four parts ("Quanta," "Calculating," "Matter," and "Cosmos"), the text includes essays on the computer and on the Cold War nexus of politics and physics, as well as one titled "Zen and the Art of Textbook Publishing," where inevitably the names of Richard Feynman and David Bohm appear. This chapter explores the connections between quantum mechanics and Eastern mysticism, as popularized by Fritjof Capra, Gary Zukav, et al. Readers also learn about some aspects of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Drawing on voluminous sources including biographical literature and scientific papers, the text is enhanced by a number of little-known photographs. This book adds frosting to the cake of quantum physics, a must-buy for any library supporting physicists and students of physics.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty. General readers.

Almost 100 years after quantum mechanics' inception and refinement of a generally accepted methodology (the Copenhagen interpretation), a small but dedicated number of physicists are still attempting to demystify its well-known puzzles: "spooky action at a distance" and the related "collapse of the wave function," "entanglement," and "Schrodinger's cat," to name a few. Even a cursory search online or at one's favorite bookstore will reveal a plethora of attempts to explain these mysteries, but this author, a prolific writer of science books for curious laypeople and physics students alike (e.g., Beyond Measure, CH, Jul'04, 41-6588; The Quantum Story, CH, Oct'11, 49-0924; Higgs, CH, Apr'13, 50-4495; Origins, CH, Mar'16, 53-3058), tackles what other authors neglect. Not content to simply derive Bell's inequality in an original and easily understood way, after a brief primer on quantum mechanics, Baggott discusses the meaning of reality and, referencing classical and contemporary philosophers and physicists, carefully examines many quantum conundrums by leading readers through an exhaustive, but entertaining, review of the current thinking on them. The bibliography alone is worth the price of the book. Especially enlightening is Baggott's admission that metaphysics lies at the core of science: something that all physicists know in their hearts but are reluctant to admit.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students. Students enrolled in two-year technical programs. General readers.

Formal initiation into 20th-century physics occurs when one begins a systematic study of relativity and quantum mechanics. There are any number of standard texts and lecture notes on these two foundations of today's physics. Unlike the classic texts of Leonard Schiff, David Bohm, David Griffiths, and Albert Messiah, this volume offers a sturdy steppingstone to the grand edifice: it is well organized and clearly presented, with only brief introductory notes to the topics. Fischer-Cripps (formerly, Univ. of Technology, Sydney) presents the student with all the required mathematics in a succinct way. A brief discussion of vector space would have been a worthwhile addition. Those who have not previously seen scalars, vectors, and complex numbers need to do some serious work before venturing into this text, which only reviews these concepts. Readers with some acquaintance with the basics will learn the concepts, structure, and bases of the physics that is essential for an understanding of quantum field theory, leading to Feynman diagrams. This book can serve as an excellent text not only for students who plan to specialize eventually in high-powered theoretical physics, but also for those whose goal may be to work in nuclear physics, astrophysics, solid-state physics, and the like. All college libraries should own this work.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. Students enrolled in two-year technical programs.