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Modern Quantum Mechanics (Revised Edition) By J. J. Sakurai ( Addison Wesley )
Release Date: 1993-09-10
Average Customer Rating:
List Price: $136.60
Price: $109.28
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Product Description
Revised edition includes discussions of fundamental topics and newer developments such as neutron interferometer experiments, Feynman path integrals, correlation measurements, and Bell's inequality. DLC: Quantum theory.
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 Lowest of the Low
This is the "primary" textbook for my current graduate QM course, and I have to say it is bad even by graduate text standards. All of the grad students and professors that I've spoken to about this book cringe at the thought of taking a course with it. I do not expect a textbook at the graduate level to hold my hand and spell everything out for me, but this book actually grabs you by the hand to hold you back. The notation is baffling, and seems to have been conceived of in its own little world. It does not even remotely resemble the fairly widely accepted notations most people would come to expect. For this reason primarily I do not use this textbook for the purposes of the course other than to do homework problems. The writing itself is in the typical fashion: "It is clear that", "It can be shown that", "It is left to the reader to verify" etc etc. I could live with this, except that the lack of overall detail makes it difficult to verify much of anything. Lots of equations, little to no explanation. The reason for all this: Sakurai died and his notes were adapted (poorly) into a textbook. The man didn't write the book, and it shows. Instead I use the Gasiorowicz book, terrible for undergrad work which is what I had it for, but now I can really appreciate it as one of the better texts on the graduate level. I would recommend it instead if you have a choice.
I suggest finding the lowest price possible on this book (i.e. $20 or so). Its not even useful as a reference due to the notation issues and the apparent lack of a useful index.
On the plus side, the solutions are readily available online and these can really help you learn through example.
Otherwise, pure garbage
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Excellent model on how to not write a textbook
Buy this book, if you are going to write a textbook and want to know how to not write a textbook. Otherwise don't waste your time trying to read this book.
There are only 2 possibilities:
1. Either you are already an expert in which case you don't need this.
2. Or for the vast majority who are trying to learn, this is totally useless without a teacher.
I am trying to read this book for 2 years. Everytime I try to read it, it leaves me with frusturation.
Many books on physics I bought after this, I am able to move forward. Examples: 1) Gravitation [MTW] 2) Road to reality [Roger penrose]
1. There is no motivation given for any of the chapters or sections. e.g. One chapter starts with Lippmann Schwinger eq. No explanation on why it is important, what it is solving etc.
2. Notation is horrible. e.g. x', x''' etc. and they are not derivatives!
3. Derivations skips steps liberally, reverses the left and right hand sides of the eq. suddenly. e.g. formal development of perturbation.
4. It just has no approach to presentation. Many results are arrived at by weak analogy to something else at best. At worst they just pop out, out of nowhere. e.g. why we use bra, ket in very first chapter! optical theorem.
5. There is no axiomatic approach or gives no clue as to why we are doing something in a particular way as opposed to some other way. e.g. perturbation theory
I at last came to my senses,and going to buy some other book on Quantum mechanics.
One lesson I learned, just because you bought some book, don't try to read it. if it doesn't feel right, change to a different book fast.
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good ( someguy2007 )
This book is an excellent resource for the graduate student in physics. It covers many of the advanced topics like path integrals, etc. In the downside, it barely skims over some of the most important topics like the hydrogen atom.
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 For better or worse, this is the standard text.
I should mention, first of all, that I'm a mathematician and not a physicist. As such, I'm mostly interested in the formalism and mathematical foundations of quantum mechanics and, while Sakurai's treatement of the physics is superb, the treatment of the mathematics is not. The notation is horrific, and the derivations of the important results are not always completely clear. I, of course, do not expect this to be a book on mathematics (there are some books out there that try not to sacrifice any mathematical rigor at all, and this detracts from the physics so much that those books are rendered useless), but there is a balance that can be struck out, and this book doesn't achieve it.
Despite the text's wholesale abuse of mathematics, the material presented in Sakurai's text should be mastered by anyone attempting any work in quantum mechanics (and if you choose this as your field, it isn't likely that you'll be given a choice about using Sakurai anyway). The exercises are extremely challenging and relevant, and the treatment of perturbation methods is excellent. It makes an excellent follow-up to an introductory course on quantum mechanics, particularly if you are actually a physicist.
I should add that I do agree with everyone else here: the typsetting is pretty ugly. While the book has its merits, I don't think it warrants the three digit price tag. Personally, I'd find a used copy.
[Edit, 02/13/07]: Bad binding jobs have become the bane of my existence. Since purchasing this book a year ago, it has seen regular (but extremely polite) use. Despite my care in my daily book handling, the first and last signatures of my copy have fallen out. If this is an indicator of the quality of this printing, it makes it all the more important to find a used copy for yourself.
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Overrated
Pretending to be rigurous, this book doesn't even mention Hilbert Spaces, Riesz Lemma, The Spectral Theorem... all of which are key to the formalism of Quantum Mechanics. Many decades have passed since the serious development of the mathematical tools (non-existent by the time Dirac published his book) needed for QM was made. This book totally snubs mathematics (as many physicists still do).
(And no, I'm NOT a mathematician).
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Addiction
