General Books

Introduction to Electrodynamics (3rd Edition)

David J. Griffiths

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 105 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Griffiths EM 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I didn't really learn vector calculus until this book came along. It does in a few paragraphs that takes a whole section in a calc book to do and makes more sense.

A road map to Electricity and Magnetism 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book was a part of my favorite physics course ever, Electricity and Magnetism. The excersises are of great value to anyone taking entrance exams or the GRE subject test. Explanations may take a few tries to grasp fully but if you do the proper math reviews and take the time to become intimate with the material you will be rewarded with a superior understanding of the subject.

You need this book to understand the fundamentals of Electrodynamics 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I used the greek translation for my undergrad electrodynamics. I would agree with some reviewers that it might not be too mathematically advanced. But you need to read it to understand the fundamentals. It gives a very clear and crisp view of the fundamental theory of electromagnetism. If you want to go beyond that and use more advanced mathematics try Electricity and Magnetism (Berkeley Physics Course - Volume 2) which is an amazing book. I think with these two you are unbeatable.

Editorial Review:

Features a clear, accessible treatment of the fundamentals of electromagnetic theory. Its lean and focused approach employs numerous examples and problems. Carefully discusses subtle or difficult points. Contains numerous, relevant problems within the book in addition to end of each chapter problems and answers.

The Body Electric: Electromagnetism and the Foundation of Life

Robert Becker, Gary Selden

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Ahead of his time... 5 out of 5 stars.
11 of 14 people found this review helpful.

I'm not really one for science books, but this book has got to be the exception. If you have any chronic or 'incurable' disease, try to hold on - because fortunately there are at least a few doctors and researchers out there who are bright enough to think outside the box and challenge existing theories regarding the workings of the human body - in particular, the electricity of the human body and how it coincides with the universe.

The author walks the reader through his discoveries that not only is it feasible for the human body to regenerate (just like the salamander's), but most likely, this is what our bodies were designed to do from the get-go, until we surrounded ourselves with electromagnetic fields of pollution so powerful that our perfectly designed DNA, immune systems, cardiovascular systems, endocrine systems, neuromuscular systems became 'confused' by all the external commotion.

The author of this book represents what research 'should be' about, but for the most part isn't, and the reader cannot help but become a part of this researcher's emotion.

If I ever have a chance to meet the author of this book, I will be honored. Until then, I will recommend this book to anyone who values the perfectly amazing life God gave them and the perfectly synchronized universe He created to sustain that life. I only pray that there are more reseachers out there bravely willing to poke holes in the current theories that the human body is merely a collection of chemical reactions, unopposed by a higher force.

The author touches on this, and I am in agreement - I have to wonder if perhaps all the bad we see around us today - broken marriages, suicides, bombings, disease, pain, suffering, greed - is this merely a by-product of all the manmade electromagnetic distress surrounding each and every one of us on a daily basis? After reading this book, you will think twice about what we've sacrificed for the sake of 'technology' - everlasting life on earth.

Editorial Review:

The Body Electric tells the fascinating story of our bioelectric selves. Robert O. Becker, a pioneer in the filed of regeneration and its relationship to electrical currents in living things, challenges the established mechanistic understanding of the body. He found clues to the healing process in the long-discarded theory that electricity is vital to life. But as exciting as Becker's discoveries are, pointing to the day when human limbs, spinal cords, and organs may be regenerated after they have been damaged, equally fascinating is the story of Becker's struggle to do such original work. The Body Electric explores new pathways in our understanding of evolution, acupuncture, psychic phenomena, and healing.

Practical Photovoltaics: Electricity from Solar Cells

Richard J. Komp

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Richard Komp: physicist, historian, and social engineer 5 out of 5 stars.
109 of 112 people found this review helpful.

Practical Photovoltaics is one of the finest, most comprehensive guides to the world of solar energy. The book starts with a beginer's course in solid state physical devices (which taught even an Electrical Engineer such as myself new things) and leads into the history of solar cell materials and procedures over the years. Next comes an in-depth discussion of the various types of materials, and how they are suited for different applications. He makes logical predictions about the future of some of these materials, and hints around at what new techniques scientists are starting to look at today.
In the appendix, he even describes how to assemble your own array of solar cells for those who wish to try a hands-on approach to learning.
Oh, yeah, one more thing: he has a decent list of recomended readings at the end of each chapter, allowing you to select topics that interest you to continue your reading.

Editorial Review:

Practical Photovoltaics, the now-classic reference on solar electricity, offers a unique combination of technical discussion and practical advice. Physicist, lecturer, and solar-home dweller Richard Komp explains the "how" and the "how-to" of PV, while providing valuable information on the industry, new developments, and the future. The book is a comprehensive guide to the theory and reality of solar electricity, as well as a detailed installation and maintenance manual. A well-illustrated appendix offers step-by-step instructions for constructing your own solar module, a creative approach to demystifying the technology. Presented in a clear, concise, and understandable style, Dr. Komp's contribution to PV literature has been called the "best single reference available," "the easiest and most complete education on photovoltaics," "one of the best basic books on PV," and "the best of the books."

The Physics of Solar Cells (Properties of Semiconductor Materials) (Properties of Semiconductor Materials)

Jenny Nelson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Very good coverage 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book provides a well thought out introduction to the physics of photovoltaic cells and systems. The treatment provides mathematical details at a level that will be accessible to science and engineering graduates and upper class undergraduates. Some derivations are not as well explained as others. However, the working relationships are worth knowing and can serve as a lead into other references. The book is well worth its relatively modest cost.

Editorial Review:

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the physics of the photovoltaic cell. It is suitable for undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers new to the field. It covers: basic physics of semiconductors in photovoltaic devices; physical models of solar cell operation; characteristics and design of common types of solar cell; and approaches to increasing solar cell efficiency. The text explains the terms and concepts of solar cell device physics and shows the reader how to formulate and solve relevant physical problems. Exercises and worked solutions are included.

Contents: Photons In, Electrons Out: Basic Principles of PV; Electrons and Holes in Semiconductors; Generation and Recombination; Junctions; Analysis of the p n Junction; Monocrystalline Solar Cells; Thin Film Solar Cells; Managing Light; Over the Limit: Strategies for Higher Efficiency.

Classical Electrodynamics Third Edition

John David Jackson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 94 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Just Plain Mean 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

According to some other reviews this text makes an excellent reference for professionals. However, they've already taken the tests, and been through the classes. In short they already have their Phd. If you know the majority of readers of your book are coming to you to improve their understanding or learn entirely new material, why would you make difficult stuff even harder by intentionally omitting derivation steps in every section of every chapter. With the deadlines and time constraints associated with student life it's almost impossible to get through all the difficult derivations in the reading before even getting to the sometimes insane problems in a reasonable time. Either try to make the reading as clear as possible, and the problems challenging, or reduce the difficulty of the problems and have the reading challenging like it is now, but don't challenge the usually involuntary student readers with both difficulties. I may change my opinion later, but for now I feel that the level of difficulty and style of this text is based largely on the cruelty of the author.

Editorial Review:

A revision of the defining book covering the physics and classical mathematics necessary to understand electromagnetic fields in materials and at surfaces and interfaces. The third edition has been revised to address the changes in emphasis and applications that have occurred in the past twenty years.

Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World

Jill Jonnes

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Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Jill Jonnes's compelling Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World offers a multi-sided tale of America's turn-of-the-20th-century quest for cheap, reliable electrical power. Along the way, the book profiles key personalities in both the science and industry of electrification and dramatizes the transformation of American society that accompanied the technological revolution. As her sub-title suggests, Jonnes's focus is on the three great personalities behind the building of the electricity industry. But, as she makes clear, the electrification of America was much more than a pathbreaking scientific quest. The genius of such poet-scientists as Nikola Tesla depended on the more finely tuned business skills of George Westinghouse and the towering capital of J.P. Morgan to achieve actualization. And even Thomas Edison and Westinghouse--innovative industrial combatants in the war between AC and DC current--were victims of the far more powerful and conservative financial forces of Wall Street. Indeed, for Jonnes, the story of electricity is as much about the legions of patent attorneys and bankers who controlled the flow of industry as it is about the circulation of current. Her sophisticated portrait of Gilded Age science, business, and society brings new light to the forces that underlie technological revolutions. As she reveals, it is not so much the great public men of science who directed the destiny of America's eventual empire of light; rather, the path was solidified by those men behind the scenes who were wise enough (and perhaps ruthless enough) to impose their legal, financial, and political dominance onto the scientific innovation--a valuable message for all eras. --Patrick O’Kelley

Schaum's Outline of Electromagnetics

Joseph Edminister

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

A good source of problems, but a somewhat muddled narrative 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This is an excellent source of problems if you are an undergraduate electrical engineering student enrolled in a class concerned with electromagnetics, which is probably one of the toughest courses you'll face as an undergraduate. Although the selection of problems is excellent, there is something to be desired with the explanation sections of most chapters. The author makes numerous references in equations to vectors that he fails to identify either verbally, or with a diagram. Also, I thought there were insufficient diagrams to adequately convey the concepts being presented.

I also thought it was odd that the first chapter was dedicated to such an elementary concept as vector analysis when there are much more complex mathematical concepts such as multivariable calculus and partial differential equations being used throughout the book that are not given an explanation. If you are studying electromagnetics, the best textbook out there is "Engineering Electromagnetics" by Nathan Ida. Ida explains absolutely everything about electromagnetics, and the problems in this Schaum's outline complement both the material and the problems in that book very well. The last few chapters in this Schaum's are on antennas and waveguides. It is a nice overview, but it is a somewhat shallow treatment.

A good supplement for that material is a 1968 Schaum's outline that is now out of print - "Schaum's Outline on the Theory and Problems of Transmission Lines" (ISBN 0070107475). It contains complete treatments of impedance and admittance matching topics, Smith chart fundamentals, plus many good worked examples and practice problems. The only drawback of this older outline is that the techniques used don't incorporate more of the modern numerical methods that are now more prevalent.

Editorial Review:

SchaumOs Outline of Electromagnetics is the perfect study aidNloaded with solved problems and thorough descriptions of electromagnetics concepts, in plain English. Used along with your textbook, it helps you prepare for classroom exams, broadens your level of comprehension, and develops your intuitive problem-solving ability. Featuring hundreds of completely solved problemsNworked out step by stepNthis popular SchaumOs Outline shows you how to solve the kinds of problems you will find on your tests. So complete it can be used alone as an independent study course, itOs also compatible with any course text. For better grades in courses covering electromagneticsNyou canOt do better than this SchaumOs Outline!

Prodigal Genius: The Life of Nikola Tesla

John J. O'Neill

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Fascinating Book About the Amazing Life of Nikola Tesla 5 out of 5 stars.
11 of 13 people found this review helpful.

This book tells the fascinating story of an amazing Serbian boy, Nikola Tesla, who was born in 1856, in the area we now call Bosnia. The author explains how Tesla's accomplishments brought forth our modern electrical power era and provide the foundation for the industrial system on which the entire world is built.

Tesla's mother could repeat, without error or omission, thousands of verses of the national poetry of her country. Tesla shared her retentive memory. He had another ability that he only revealed to his mother. If Tesla thought of an object, it would appear before him exhibiting the appearance of solidity and massiveness. He used this ability to visualize the solution to creating the first alternating current generator.

The first time Tesla's ability to visualize helped him in his quest to develop an alternating current generator, occurred when he suggested to a college professor that alternating current would solve some of the problems with a piece of electrical equipment that could be used either to generate electricity or if supplied energy could operate as a motor. As his professor demonstrated the machine, the solution to the problem came to Tesla in such a vivid, illuminating flash of understanding that he knew his visualization contained the correct and practical answer. He saw both the equipment operating without the problems and doing so efficiently, however, he could not see the essential details of how this could be accomplished.

In Feb of 1882, Tesla took a walk in the city of Budapest with a former classmate. While a glorious sunset overspread the sky, Tesla engaged in one of his favorite hobbies-reciting poetry. The setting sun reminded Tesla of some of Goethe's beautiful lines:

The glow retreats, done is the day of toil;
It yonder hastes, new fields of life exploring;
Ah, that no wing can lift me from the soil,
Upon its track to follow, follow soaring...

Suddenly, Tesla snapped into a rigid pose as if he had fallen into a trance. "Watch me!" he said, "Watch me reverse it!"

Tesla's friend said, "I see nothing, are you ill?"

"You do not understand," said Tesla, "It is my alternating-current motor I am talking about. Can't you see it right here in front of me, running almost silently? It is the rotating magnetic field that does it. See how the magnetic field rotates and drags the armature around with it? Isn't it beautiful? I have solved the problem."

Tesla now had an electrical system utilizing alternating current, which was much more flexible and vastly more efficient than the direct-current system then being used. But now Tesla had another problem, convincing the rest of the world that his alternating-current power system was simpler, flexible and freed electricity to be sent long distances. The direct-current systems being used at that time were not able to send electricity long distances without major problems. The fact that our power system today uses alternating-current shows that Tesla was finally successful. The book, Prodigal Genius, provides all the fascinating details of this story

Editorial Review:

Tesla’s eccentric personality gives his life story the quality of the strangest romance. He made his first million before he was forty, yet gave up the royalties on his profitable invention as a gesture of friendship, and died almost in poverty. In this penetrating study of the life and inventions of a scientific superman, the life of Tesla is revealed.

Angels Don't Play This haarp: Advances in Tesla Technology

Nick Begich, Jeane Manning

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Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Fascinating and frightening! 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Man's desire to be god will eventually lead him to the unltimate self-destruction and the demolition of the planet he inhabits. "Angels don't play this HAARP" is a book that must be read by every citizen who cares about the condition of this planet. It will help the reader learn about man's manipulation of mother earth, and the possibility of rendering this gift into ruin....

Scary, Well Researched 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

HAARP is an innocuous research station designed only to help mankind. It's a radio transmitter probing the secrets of the ionosphere for our mutual benefit, right?--Wrong.

Dr. Nick Begich teamed with Jeanne Manning to write Angels Don't Play This Haarp, the book that exposes the potential dangers (and there are many!) of the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Project in Alaska.

Manning and Begich substantiate their theories and concerns with extensive research, documentation, interviews, and scientific facts. Some of the geopolitical and mega-corporate connections they have uncovered are as frightening as HAARP's possibly disastrous impact upon our planet and our lives.

The military has invested heavily in HAARP. Why? Begich and Manning have supplied some very scary answers.

HAARP's high-energy research system may very well have serious consequences for planet Earth. Its true purpose and actions must be revealed, and toward that end, Angels Don't Play This Haarp has fired a first and powerful salvo for "We, the People."

The Nikola Tesla Treasury

Nikola Tesla

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Here's the Tesla collection you've been waiting for: 214 figures; 668 pages; and 107 articles, letters to editors, and lectures. All the famous lectures and articles that you'd expect are here, such as A New System of Alternating Current Motors and Transformers; Experiments with Alternating Currents of High Frequency; Experiments with Alternate Currents of Very High Frequency and Their Application to Methods of Artificial Illumination; Experiments with Alternate Currents of High Potential and High Frequency; On Light and Other High Frequency Phenomena; The Problem of Increasing Human Energy, With Special References to the Harnessing of the Sun's Energy; and My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla! You'll also get his many letters to editors, commenting on Marconi, Edison, and many issues of the day. And if that wasn't enough you'll also get other articles that you've heard about but probably never seen, such as Famous Scientific Illusions; High Frequency Oscillators for Electro-Therapeutic and Other Purposes; The Disturbing Influence of Solar Radiation on the Wireless Transmission of Energy; The Wonder World to Be Created by Electricity; A Speech Delivered Before the American Institute of Electrical Engineers; and Electrical Oscillators. This is an amazing collection that will give you the most complete look into the mind of Nikola Tesla, who has been called the most important man of the 20th Century. Without Tesla's ground-breaking work we'd all be sitting in the dark without even a radio to listen to.