Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I divide "popular science" books into four categories: 1. The kind you can read on a plane, by itself, and enjoy the ride. 2. The kind you need to read with Wikipedia or a math encyclopedia (or "maths" as these British authors would say) handy. 3. The kind you need to read with at least two other major books, and possibly more. (The authors agree with me here, saying most good books require at least one other to augment them). 4. The kind you can't read at all-- it has to be STUDIED, with painstaking work. I'd classify this gem as between 3 and 4. You really do have to know Fourier transforms, and a high level of undergrad relativity, or you'll miss a lot. That said, how can this be for an "amateur" at all? Well, the authors use an ingenious trick: they put the easier and more popular intuitive concepts in bigger type, and numerous smaller worked, mathematical examples in smaller type. So, you can, in a sense, read/study at your own level. I also find that ethical authors and publishers, especially with a book of this high cost, are generous with the look inside feature, because they care more about you not being disappointed than making an inappropriate sale. Hats off, the look inside is excellent, please do peruse it carefully before deciding. Since any one aspect (eg. gauge theory) can occupy a dozen texts on its own, how do the authors cover the entire field? Again, VERY WELL DONE-- they give a concept, a little diagram in the margin, an easy example, a hard example, an exercise, and very detailed further reading, with references that are up to date. This makes this wonderful text an awesome "reference guide" to further study, especially for those going on in physics. Now for the bad part. This book "really" isn't for amateurs in the way most of us mortals think of them. An amateur can fix your railing with a 2 x 4 but can't build you a cabinet. In the authors' minds, an amateur can build you the cabinet, but not the entire study/library. In other words, "amateurs" are pretty mature physicists, with at least undergrad and IMO grad level math and physics, who haven't yet tackled the toughest subject, mathematically, at all. I frankly believe the target IS GIFTED undergrads, and if you are rusty on your math, or haven't taken recent advanced linear algebra and calculus, you'll get lost quickly. On the "amateur" side of instant confusion, physicists are NOTORIOUS for "leaving out" variables like Planck's constant, the speed of light, certain duals and inversions/ inverses of transforms, etc. They justify this by setting them to 1 anyway, so they are close in value, or drop out. Doing so will confuse anyone without the "insider" knowledge of what they are doing. These authors do the same thing, but have the courtesy to show us when, where, why and how, which is helpful in reading ANY other book, bravo! There are many other, particularly Dover books that are a better "intro," to QFT, but they are not up to date and not nearly as advanced as this wonderful new option. This book fills an absolutely unmet need-- requiring an intro or companion below, yet mapping those above in ways not yet done by any other text. So, here is the bottom line: worth it IF: a. You've finished the intro and are ready for the next step, or b. You're into the advanced and flailing, or c. You are willing to do the hard work of reading other books along with this, to study it rather than just read it. Even with rusty math ("maths"), you'll get a LOT that way. (I'm not teasing the British as one of their more successful colonies, but I am American, and do say math!). If you're a new grad or undergrad IN the field, it is a must! Otherwise, please do check out the look inside feature before committing-- I believe it is clearly worth the price, but it also is not cheap, and times are tough for many of us, particularly students. BTW, speaking of cost, I found many of the question sets similar to the exercises here free on Preptorial dot org, which offers free exercises in many fields of Physics, in preparation for tests and exams. Enjoy! Highly recommended for the right level reader.