Nuclear and particle physics /

Williams provides an up-to-date survey of nuclear and particle physics at a distinctly higher level than the material found in most sophomore-level US texts on modern physics and is roughly at the same level as Kenneth S. Krane's Introductory Nuclear Physics (CH, Jun'88) but not nearly as extensive in its coverage of nuclear physics and related topics. The first eight chapters are devoted to what might be called ^D["traditional nuclear physics,^D]" while the last six cover particle physics, including its relationship to astrophysics and cosmology as well as discussion of the electromagnetic and weak interactions in nuclear physics. Williams writes for British students in their last year of study for the first degree in physics, but because of the book's rather unique level and its integration of nuclear and particle physics, it can serve as a very useful reference for any college or university library supporting undergraduate or graduate programs in physics.