The Principles of Quantum Mechanics

WOW! Okay, first off if you do not have an advanced and more advanced degree in math and or physics this book will buffalo you! It is a reprint of Dirac's 1930 explanation of why we need the quantum theory and all of the computations justifying it. It is DEEP. I returned it because it was many fathoms beyond me. But you may give it a hack if you are one of the advanced few who can grasp what even Dirac himself couldn't fully grasp. The print format is lovely since it preserves the original type fonts and page size: it's a trip back in time!

Reading this master piece is an challenge to understand the one of the most great mind in Physics, Paul Dirac. With a serious introduction in the mathematical basis, and the following elemental applications, we can swimming in the gorgeous formalism of Quantum Mechanics.

The 1947 edition of Dirac's "Principles" was the first publication of the bra-ket idiom of representing quantum mechanics. As such, it is way above average for a person who is learning quantum mechanics, from a "bracket notation" point of view. The reason I do not give it five stars is that the descriptions of the bracket notation (and the Dirac delta function) are overly short, and they more-or-less assume that the reader is already familiar with other formulations of QM. Still, this is a "must have" for students of early quantum theory, or for those who are just trying to make sense of QM papers written prior to 1960.

Dirac’s Principles will always be a classic. Einstein took the book wherever he went and when he could not find it he would ask: “Where is my Dirac?” The discovery of the positron is illustrated clearly, later to be confirmed experimentally by Carl Anderson and leading to the 1933 Nobel for Dirac (shared with Schrödinger). Books like this, despite their age, are worth keeping in one’s library, as is John von Neumann’s Mathematical Foundation of Quantum Mechanics (also from the early 1930s, but timeless in its value).

Meet my expectations? How could it not? It is considered the "Bible" on the Theory. Furthermore, one of the best "popularized" books on Quantum Mechanics is the pocket sized "The Quantum World" which follows the topics in Dirac's "Quantum Mechanics" for laymen by Professor of Mathematical Physics, at Cambridge, J. C. Polkinghorne. He learned the subject attending PAM Dirac's classes from his own book. Professor PAM Dirac ended his days by retiring to a Professor Emeritus chair at Florida State University (right here) in Tallahassee, FL.

Slow going for me at times, but lucidly written.

The book was recommended as the best text on QM after all these years, and I wanted to learn QM, and so. far, so good.

great!!

benötigt vom Inhalt her keine Anmerkungen. Das Buch liegt hier in der 4. Auflage vor und beinhaltet somit auch den vom Autor seit der 3. Auflage benutzten Formalismus der Bra-Ket-Vektoren. Ich habe selten was verständlicheres zu diesem Thema gefunden, als in diesem Werk. Das Buch kommt ohne jede Grafik oder erläuternde Illustrationen aus und es scheint, als habe man eine ältere 4. Auflage abgescannt und hier neu abgedruckt. Der Text ist keinesfalls neu gesetzt worden, was der Lesbarkeit, gerade der Formelausdrücke, aber nicht schadet. Einen Stern Abzug gibt es für die Wahl des mangelhaften Papiers. Bei der Hervorhebung wichtiger Stellen mit Textmarker schlägt dessen Tinte durch, so dass man ungewollt auch die Rückseite mitmarkiert, was keinen Sinn macht und beim schnellen Nachschlagen erheblich nervt. Bei entsprechenden Vorkenntnissen sehr zum Selbststudium geeignet.

O que me surpreendeu neste livro é a sua didática e legibilidade. Escrito por um dos maiores físicos do século XX, Paul Dirac, o livro é razoavelmente "fácil" de entender. É claro que o "fácil" escrito acima deve ser visto dentro de um certo contexto. O leitor deve se sentir confortável com Álgebra Linear e Cálculo básico. Por outro lado este é um conhecimento de primeiro ano de graduação em qualquer curso de STEM. Além disso, é importante que o leitor sinta-se mais confortável em um ambiente "algébrico" do que "geométrico". O livro é famoso por não conter nenhum diagrama. Dito isso, recomendo a leitura para qualquer pessoa interessada em conhecer Mecânica Quântica a partir de princípios básicos os quais são simples de entender e aplicar (aceita-los é outra história...).

Dirac being one of the founders of Quantum Mechanics I bought this simply for knowing the pulse of the subject. Being only a novice on this subject I will not be able to review the book. I still feel this book should help a beginner for knowing the philosophy behind the development of the subject and some of the new functions introduced by the author, particularly the Dirac Delta Function, named after the author. I feel if some problems are added, it would be of great help to understand the mathematical contents fully. V Thyagarajan.

It is what it says it is however the text is comically small compared to the page size. Handy if you like taking notes in the margins I guess. Its the size and shape of a standard textbook however its incredibly featureless like it was printed off a pdf. That's likely just what textbooks of the past were like however.

“Dios es un matemático de alto nivel” - Paul Dirac.