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Re: Recommended undergraduate quantum mechanics book?



Sorry for my last e-mail. I was busy trying to do some Extra Instruction
at the same time and simple read past the Quantum part of QM and saw only
the Mechanics.

For Quantum Mechanics, I have really liked the Griffiths book --- for
almost the same reasons as I mentioned when I thought we were looking for
a mechanics text. The general flow from topic to topic seems comfortable
and smooth.


On Tue, 24 Mar 1998, Henry S. Greenside wrote:


For my first time, I will be teaching Duke University's
undergraduate quantum mechanics course this fall (taken
mainly by juniors as their first formal exposure to qm)
and would be interested if people on this list have a
strong favorite to recommend for a textbook.

My leading choice is currently David Griffith's book
"Introduction to Quantum Mechanics". An older book
(1968) that I would have liked to use but is out of
print is David Saxon's "Elementary Quantum Mechanics".

My ideal book would tell a good story (provide clear
motivation for the flow of ideas), include experimental
details (e.g., many QM books talk about measurement but
almost no book talks about how measurements are
specifically carried out, e.g., how does one measure
experimentally the position or momentum of an electron,
how does one actually do a double slit expt with
electrons?), and have lots of problems. I also
personally prefer books that are not big and
encyclopedic (one reason I like Griffith).

Thanks,

Henry


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