Lectures on Theoretical Physics: Difference between revisions

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{{Italic title}}

{{Infobox book series

| name = ''Lectures on Theoretical Physics''

| image = <!-- Example.jpg -->

| image_caption =

| author = [[Arnold Sommerfeld]]

| title_orig = ''Vorlesungen über Theoretische Physik''

| translator =

| country = Germany

| language = German

| discipline = Physics

| publisher = [[Academic Press]]

| pub_date = 1943–1952

| english_pub_date = 1949–1964

| media_type = Print

| number_of_books = 6

| list_books = =

}}

[[File:Sommerfeld1897.gif|thumb|Photo of Sommerfeld in 1897]]

'''''Lectures on Theoretical Physics''''' is a six -volume series of physics textbooks translated from [[Arnold Sommerfeld]]'s classic German texts '''''Vorlesungen über Theoretische Physik'''''. The series includes the volumes ''Mechanics'', ''Mechanics of deformableDeformable bodiesBodies'', ''Electrodynamics'', ''Optics'', ''Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics'', and ''Partial Differential Equations in Physics''. Sommerfeld wrote all six textbooks in German based on his three-year lecture series given at the [[University of Munich]].

== Background ==

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=== ''Mechanics'' ===

'''''Mechanik''''', the first volume of Sommerfeld's '''Vorlesungen über Theoretische Physik'', was published in 1947 by Akademische Verlagegesellschaft Becker und Erler and subsequently translated into English by [[Martin O. Stern]] and published as '''''Mechanics''''' in 1953 by the [[Academic Press]]. [[Paul Peter Ewald]] wrote a foreword for the English edition where he attempts to summarize Sommerfeld's lecture style and use the information to explain why all Sommerfeld had so many successful students.<ref name=Lindsay /> The book was reviewed by [[Robert Bruce Lindsay]],<ref name=Lindsay>{{Cite journal|last=Lindsay|first=R. B.|author-link=Robert Bruce Lindsay|date=February 1954|title=Mechanics. Lectures on Theoretical Physics, Volume I|url=http://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.3061512|journal=Physics Today|language=en|volume=7|issue=2|pages=18–19|doi=10.1063/1.3061512|issn=0031-9228}}</ref> [[Rudolf Peierls]],<ref name=PeierlsMulti /><ref name=PeierlsOne>{{Cite journal|last=Peierls|first=R. E.|author-link=Rudolf Peierls|date=May 1954|title=[Short Reviews]|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/173932d0|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=173|issue=4411|pages=932–932|doi=10.1038/173932d0|issn=1476-4687}}</ref> [[William V. Houston]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Houston|first=W. V.|author-link=William V. Houston|date=May 1953|title=Mechanics, Lectures on Theoretical Physics|url=http://aapt.scitation.org/doi/10.1119/1.1933476|journal=American Journal of Physics|language=en|volume=21|issue=5|pages=399–399|doi=10.1119/1.1933476|issn=0002-9505}}</ref> and several others.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Byers|first=A. C.|date=April 1953|title=Mechanics. Lectures on theoretical physics, Volume I|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0016003253904116|journal=Journal of the Franklin Institute|language=en|volume=255|issue=4|pages=354–355|doi=10.1016/0016-0032(53)90411-6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Leggett|first=D. M. A.|date=1953|title=Review of Mechanics. Lectures on Theoretical Physics, Vol. 1|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43415023|journal=Science Progress (1933- )|volume=41|issue=163|pages=515–516|issn=0036-8504}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Prager|first=W.|date=1953|title=Review of Mechanics|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43634072|journal=Quarterly of Applied Mathematics|volume=11|issue=3|pages=373–373|issn=0033-569X}}</ref> In his 1954 review of the volume, Lindsay wrote that Sommerfeld's "clarity is indeed remarkably well exemplified" by the mechanics textbook and he praised the book for its "many ingenious comments to help the learner over the rough spots".<ref name=Lindsay /> Lindsay noted regret for the lack of an extended discussion of mass and force in physics before going on to write that the "book can be heartily recommended to all students of physics on the undergraduate senior and elementary graduate levels in American universities".<ref name=Lindsay />

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=== ''Optics'' ===

The series' fourth volume, '''''Optics''''', was published in 1964 by [[Academic Press]] after being translated from the German textbook '''''Optik''''' by [[Otto Laporte]] and [[Peter A. Moldauer]]. The book was reviewed by [[Karl Meissner]],<ref name=Meissner>{{Cite journal|last=Meissner|first=K. W.|author-link=Karl Meissner|date=October 1955|title=Optics. Lectures on Theoretical Physics, Vol. IV|url=http://aapt.scitation.org/doi/10.1119/1.1934064|journal=American Journal of Physics|language=en|volume=23|issue=7|pages=477–478|doi=10.1119/1.1934064|issn=0002-9505}}</ref> [[Rudolf Peierls]],<ref name=PeierlsFour>{{Cite journal|last=Peierls|first=R. E.|author-link=Rudolf Peierls|date=November 1955|title=[Book Reviews]|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/176850d0|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=176|issue=4488|pages=850–850|doi=10.1038/176850d0|issn=1476-4687}}</ref> and several others.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Domenicali|first=C.A.|date=March 1955|title=Optics. Lectures on theoretical physics, Vol. IV|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0016003255908553|journal=Journal of the Franklin Institute|language=en|volume=259|issue=3|pages=265|doi=10.1016/0016-0032(55)90855-3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|date=March 1955|title=Optics: Vol. 5 of Lectures on Theoretical Physics|url=http://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.3061948|journal=Physics Today|language=en|volume=8|issue=3|pages=16–16|doi=10.1063/1.3061948|issn=0031-9228}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|date=14 January 2009|title=Optics: Vol. 5 of Lectures on Theoretical Physics|url=https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1063/1.3061948|journal=Physics Today|language=en|volume=8|issue=3|pages=16|doi=10.1063/1.3061948|issn=0031-9228}}</ref> Max Born wrote in 1952 that the book gives "a very elegant outline" of [[TcherenkovCherenkov radiation]].<ref>{{harvnb|Born|1952|pages=280}}</ref> In his 195 review, [[Karl Meissner]] wrote that the book is characteristic of Sommerfeld's lectures, which he summarized as "[c]lear and vivid presentation[s] of the basic ideas" with an "elegance in language and of mathematical developments" and an "emphasis on physics"."<ref name=Meissner /> Peierls called the book "a very welcome addition to the literature" in his 1955 review and he praised the book, like the other lectures, for "the use of powerful mathematical techniques" that are "presented and applied without losing sight of the physical ideas behind them"."<ref name=PeierlsFour />

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=== ''Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics'' ===

'''''Thermodynamik und Statistik''''', the fifth volume of Sommerfeld's ''Lectures'', was edited by [[Fritz Bopp]] and [[Josef Meixner]] and published posthumously in 1952 by [[Dieterich'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung]]. The book was translated into the English volume '''''Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics''''' by [[Joseph Kestin]] and published in 1956 by [[Academic Press]]. The book was reviewed by [[Rudolf Peierls]]<ref name=PeierlsFive>{{Cite journal|last=Peierls|first=R. E.|author-link=Rudolf Peierls|date=August 1956|title=[Book Reviews]|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/178288b0|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=178|issue=4528|pages=288–288|doi=10.1038/178288b0|issn=1476-4687}}</ref> and several others.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Emmons|first=H.|date=1957|title=Review of Thermodynamics and statistical mechanics|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43634415|journal=Quarterly of Applied Mathematics|volume=15|issue=1|pages=64–64|issn=0033-569X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ross|first=A. W.|date=1956|title=Review of Lectures on Theoretical Physics. vol. V, Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1750843|journal=Science|volume=124|issue=3211|pages=84–84|issn=0036-8075}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=R.|first=G. S.|date=1957|title=Review of Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics. Academic Books|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43416382|journal=Science Progress (1933- )|volume=45|issue=178|pages=348–349|issn=0036-8504}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nachtrieb|first=Norman H.|date=August 1956|title=Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics. Vol. V|url=http://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.3060071|journal=Physics Today|language=en|volume=9|issue=8|pages=39–40|doi=10.1063/1.3060071|issn=0031-9228}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Silver|first=R S|date=August 1956|title=Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics by Arnold Sommerfeld|url=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0031-9112/7/8/005|journal=Physics Bulletin|volume=7|issue=8|pages=222–223|doi=10.1088/0031-9112/7/8/005|issn=0031-9112}}</ref> After summarizing the book's contents in his 1956 review of the volume, Peierls wrote:, "The book is a welcome addition to the text-books on this subject."<ref name=PeierlsFive />

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