Review by Choice Review
In this expanded version of the original German language edition, written to help students prepare for oral examinations for advanced degrees in physics, Povh (Max-Planck-Institut fur Kernphysik, Heidelberg) and Rosina (Univ. of Ljubljana, Slovenia) offer special features to aid students in understanding and explaining a wide range of topics in modern physics without tedious, detailed derivations; instead, they use analogies between the many quite different systems considered and general well-known physical principles and results. The authors use the familiar term "back of the envelope calculations" to describe their approach, but in many cases this requires a rather large envelope. The variety of topics considered is impressive, ranging from basic scattering calculations and other topics in quantum physics to chemical bonding and intermolecular forces, stars, planets and asteroids, elementary particles, and the early universe. A book for advanced students in physics will be most appropriate for graduate students and faculty who might find the approaches useful in their teaching. A list of references is included in each chapter, and there is a useful list of appropriate physical constants. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Graduate students through professionals. R. L. Stearns emeritus, Vassar College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
