Fundamentals of Physics II: Electromagnetism, Optics, and Quantum Mechanics (The Open Yale Courses Series) Expanded Edition

The nice thing about these books is that they have separate volumes for the Physics I (mechanics) and Physics 2 (E&M/Optics/Quantum Mechanics) modules. This makes portability of the books in a students backpack much easier than comprehensive books such as Halliday.Like the authors Yale lectures (viewable on YouTube), the narrative is very clear and well illustrated. Note that this is a calculus-based book, and may prove to be a bit too advanced for students taking an algebra-based course.I think the depth and rigor is a bit more advanced than Halliday, which reflects the authors strong background in mathematical physics. The only thig I don't like is that it is a soft-cover book, which not only makes it hard to remain static on an open page, it probably will be less durable over the years. For reference books (and I believe this could be one) then a hard-cover version should be at least available. The upside of the soft-cover version is that it is very affordable.

Why would they call this book "fundamentals". Every page requires extremely advanced calculus.It's not smart to sell a useless book under a misleading title.They were trying to show how smart they are.But failed utterly.If you don't have 5 years of calculus, this book is a doorstop.

Very clear and easy to folllow.

I've had some professors who have known their subject deeply but don't know how to teach it. Dr. Shankar has not only the gift of clearly teaching the subject matter but also unexpectedly throwing in tidbits of dry physics humor which students thrive on. (I'm a firm believer that a sense of dry physics humor is a sign of high intelligence! Not to brag, but as a former high school physics teacher I used it quite often myself!)For a person doing a self-study, FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICS BOOKS 1 AND 2 are awesome! Presentation is given in a conversational style that makes you feel as if you are in the classroom as a beginning undergraduate physics student in Dr. Shankar's class. The books cover a full range of topics in a rigorous way. The books presume students have completed a course in vector calculus. One more thing: The newer edition of book 2 contains a full set of problems at the end of each chapter complete with all the answers to not only the odd # problems but also the even # problems which is very important for a person working thru the book as a self-study! (Some authors do not provide answers to any of their problems!! Maybe they don't know how to do the problems themselves!!) Not only does Dr. Shankar give the answers but he also provides a complete set of solutions on a separate website.Topics for the 2 books are::FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICS-BOOK 1- MECHANICS, RELATIVITY, THERMODYNAMICS: Newton's Laws of Motion, Conservation of Energy, Kepler's Laws of Celestial Motion, Conservation of Momentum, Rotational Dynamics, Special Relativity, Mathematical Methods, Waves, Fluids, Heat, The 3 Laws of Thermodynamics.FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICS-BOOK 2- ELECTROMAGNETISM, OPTICS, QUANTUM MECHANICS: Coulomb's Law, Electric Fields, Gauss's Law-Theory and Application, Electric Potential, Conductors and Capacitors, Circuits and Currents, Lorentz Forces, Biot-Savart Law, Faraday and Lenz's Law, AC and LRC Circuits, E & M Waves and Relativity, Geometric Optics, Mirrors & Lenses, Quantum Mechanics, Wave & Particle Theory of Light, Wave Functions, Momentum and Energy States, Quantum Dynamics.

These books are amazing as a first pass at physics. However, they won't work by themselves, since they don't have enough exercises and problems. Supplement with a book of problems, such as the Physics for Scientists & Engineers books by Serway or Halliday & Resnick.Whenever anyone brings up the Feynman lectures, I point them to these books instead. They actually are what the FL's are often advertised as: a pedagogical marvel by a physics genius with "a-ha" insights on every page. Not only about physics but about many other things as well. And with lots of wonderful humorous comments thrown in.The difference is that these books are actually friendly for beginners. FL's are a must-read for those who already know the subject well and want deeper understanding.So read these Shankar books, and do lots of problems alongside. In fact, I would say the best way is to be working on problems much more often than you are reading through exposition. Only read enough exposition to get you over a hump in a problem, once you've tried very hard to get over the hump yourself. That's the only way to truly learn.Once you've done that for a whole book, only then go to Feynman and other sources.The only read drawback to these books: The figures are not very good. In fact the drawings Shankar provides in his video lectures are actually better than the ones given in the book. But they are good enough that at least they aren't actually confusing. And as he mentions, it keeps the books affordable.

What did you expect an Ivy League professor would impart to a STEM major University Course in Physics? I cannot believe that some people say it's an unless book. It is a lucid illuminating resource. It hits a home run where all others fall short. I can only compare another book of equal stature and that's the Berkeley Physics Course which although in a similar vein takes 5 volumes! This is for careful readers who savor every word, and contemplate its meaning before moving on to further their knowledge. I was simply blown away that the other textbooks of a similar ilk (Think Walker, Resnick & Halliday) talk endlessly and those books weigh 3 kilos and costs $150! I wish the second edition could have been $2-$5 more than the unexpanded edition (it's only exercises added). But believe me you, this is better bang for the buck and more instruction and meaning imparted for every cent of the book.

Information is good. I am relearning these new science subjects.