Foundations of Biomedical Ultrasound (Biomedical Engineering Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is fantastic, because it begins with the basic theory of acoustical physics, and it develops some chapters on ultrasound application. Great opportunity to learn with Dr. Cobbold!

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Foundations of Biomedical Ultrasound provides a thorough and detailed treatment of the underlying physics and engineering of medical ultrasound practices.It covers the fundamental engineering behind ultrasound equipment, properties of acoustic wave motion, the behavior of waves in various media, non-linear waves and the creation of images.The most comprehensive book on the subject, Foundations of Biomedical Ultrasound is an indispensable reference for any medical professional working with ultrasound imaging, and a comprehensive introduction to the subject for students.The author has been researching and teaching biomedical ultrasonics at the University of Toronto for the past 25 years.

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Electrodynamics from Ampère to Einstein Review

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(More customer reviews)The modern physicist learns about electromagnetism as a done deal; a very polished product centred about Maxwell's equations. But this book shows the long forgotten tribulations and controversies that got us to today's known state.
This text is rather specialised. You need to be thoroughly conversant with electromagnetism. On a par with Jackson's text, "Classical Electrodynamics". But presumably you also have an interest in the history of your field. Darrigol shows that the path was often obscure. Only in full hindsight, after Maxwell and also Einstein made their contributions, did it all come clear.
The scarcity of vector notation in the 19th century accounts can make reading some of the equations a little awkward. You have to perform some slight mental contortions to reinterpret what they're saying, in modern notation.

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Three quarters of a century elapsed between Ampère's definition of electrodynamics and Einstein's reform of the concepts of space and time. The two events occurred in utterly different worlds: the French Academy of Sciences of the 1820s seems very remote from the Bern patent office of the early 1900s, and the forces between two electric currents quite foreign to the optical synchronization of clocks. Yet Ampère's electrodynamics and Einstein's relativity are firmly connected through an historical chain involving German extensions of Ampère's work, competition with British field conceptions, Dutch synthesis, and fin de siècle criticism of the aether-matter connection. Darrigol's book retraces this intriguing evolution, with a physicist's attention to conceptual and instrumental developments, and with an historian's awareness of their cultural and material embeddings. This book exploits a wide range of sources, and incorporates the many important insights of other scholars. Thorough accounts are given of crucial episodes such as Faraday's redefinition of charge and current, the genesis of Maxwell's field equations, or Hertz' experiments on fast electric oscillations. Thus emerges a vivid picture of the intellectual and instrumental variety of nineteenth century physics. The most influential investigators worked at the crossroads between different disciplines and traditions: they did not separate theory from experiment, they frequently drew on competing traditions, and their scientific interests extended beyond physics into chemistry, mathematics, physiology, and other areas. By bringing out these important features, this book offers a tightly connected and yet sharply contrasted view of early electrodynamics.

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The Meaning of Quantum Theory: A Guide for Students of Chemistry and Physics (Oxford Science Publications) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have a fascination for books on the meaning of quantum theory. Many target the layman and dispense with mathematics. Others assume the reader is adept at applying both wave mechanics and matrix mechanics to quantum problems. Published by Oxford University Press, "The Meaning of Quantum Theory", strikes a good balance that is ideal for undergraduate students of physics and chemistry, and is especially useful as a companion for a formal text on quantum theory.
The author, Jim Baggott, combines his experience as a freelance science writer with his skill as a respected lecturer in physical chemistry. In 1989 he was awarded the Marlow Medal from the Faraday Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry for his research contributions in chemical kinetics and spectroscopy. Baggott is an exceptional writer and I enjoy reading sections at random. I have twice read his book and probably will do so again.
About quantum theory Baggott says, "For the first time, students are taught about a theory which they have to accept and which they have to learn how to apply, but which they cannot be expected to be told its meaning." Baggott argues that beneath the mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics, there exists an interpretation, and a philosophy, that warrants investigation.
The first chapter (40 pages) offers a historical overview of the early development of quantum theory that is probably familiar to many readers.
Chapter 2 (35 pages), titled "Putting it into Practice", differentiates Baggott's work from many others. We learn about operator algebra, and then we encounter experimental evidence that we must either use non-commuting matrices, or non-commuting operators, to describe position-momentum relationships in quantum physics.
Baggott then carefully introduces the underlying postulates of quantum physics (and the mathematical formulation) as described by John von Neumann. We learn about complementary observables, the Dirac bracket notation, state vectors and eigenfunctions, and the usefulness of projection amplitudes. A substantial section is devoted to the Pauli exclusion principal, the polarization properties of photons, measurement operators, and the collapse of the wave function, all topics that are discussed later in the context of experimental results.
After 75 pages of preparation, Baggott asks "What Does it Mean"?, the title of chapter 3. Chapter 4 is "Putting it to the Test", and Chapter 5 is "What are the Alternatives?". A reader that skimmed the mathematical discourse in chapter 2 would still find the last three chapters intriguing, although some sections might be heavy going.
"The Ghost in the Atom: A Discussion of the Mysteries of Quantum Physics" by Davies and Brown is non-mathematical, but offers, nevertheless, an insightful look at alternative interpretations of quantum theory - standard interpretation (Copenhagen interpretation), conscious observer, parallel universes, hidden variables, and a statistical view - that dovetails rather well with Baggott's more detailed and more in-depth analysis. As a precursor to Baggott's book, I also highly recommend Richard Feynman's brilliant lectures published under the title "QED".

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Why is quantum theory so difficult to understand?In this book, written for both undergraduate and graduate students of chemistry and physics, the author looks at the continuing debate about the meaning of quantum theory.The historical development of the theory is traced from the turn of the century through to the 1930s, and the famous debate between Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein.The book examines in detail the arguments that quantum theory is incomplete, as made by Einstein, Boris Podolsky, and Nathan Rosen; the development of Bell's theorem; and crucial experimental tests performed in the early 1980s.Alternative interpretations -- pilot waves, quantum gravity, consciousness, and many worlds -- are described in the closing chapter.

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Physics and the Art of Dance: Understanding Movement Review

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(More customer reviews)The question of how a knowledge of the science behind the movement of the human body helps students of dance learn to dance better is always discussed. Like the author, I too am both a physicist and a ballet dancer. I have found that the most important thing to learn in ballet is the imagery that works for you, and sometimes science can actually get in the way. Take walking for example: if we had to analyze ever movement in walking we would never be able to move. I should also point out that science still does not thoroughly understand walking, let alone dancing! Still, it is helpful in some places to understand, at least a little, what is happening in a movement or static pose. This book does a surprisingly fine job of covering most of the pertinent topics and some topics you would not have thought of asking about. I liked the fact that the author does not over simplify some topics, which is often done in elementary explanations. Science usually tries to abstract and simplify in order to explain phenomena, but this can lead to problems. Take, for example, the case of static balance on a point. If you approximate the human body as a rigid body, it is impossible to explain stable equilibrium on a point. Rigid bodies can only achieve unstable equilibrium over a point. But human beings are not rigid! In ballet, we can achieve stable balance over a point for an indefinite period of time(it is very difficult and rarely seen in performance but often in ballet class). This book actually mentions this and explains how it is done. It even includes a discussion of how much a cushioned floor will reduce shock to the dancer's joints. Many illustrations and photos are also included. This is the best book available on this subject, and for those who want to explore this topic further, this is the best place to start.

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Physics and the Art of Dance gives all who enjoy dance - whether as dancers, students, teachers, or fans - an opportunity to understand what happens when human bodies move in the remarkable ways we call dance.How, for instance, do dancers create the illusion of defying gravity?Or of starting to spin when in the air with no source of force to act on their bodies?You may observe some dancers using their arms in a way that allows some to jump higher than others. What is that technique, and why does it work?In this second edition, author Ken Laws - a physicist with years of professional dance training - teams with veteran dance instructor Arleen Sugano to provide new step-by-step experiments for dancers."What you see" sections describe the way physical principles form the framework within which some movements exist.The complementary "What you do" sections allow dancers to experience how those physical analyses can provide them a more efficient means of learning how to carry out those movements. Throughout, the book shows how movements are first artistic expressions, and secondly movements of the body within the framework of easy-to-understand physical principles. Dancers and dance instructors will find in this book an efficient means of improving technical proficiency and growing professional and aesthetic development.For physics and science teachers, the book provides a new and compelling way to draw people into the world of science. And observers and fans of dance will marvel over the beautiful time-stop photography by renowned dance photographers Martha Swope and Gene Schiavone.

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Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging: Inside Out (Biomedical Engineering) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is a good mix between overview physics for the clinicians and details for ultrasound researchers. It has been invaluable to me for teaching the residents the physics behind non-linear harmonic generation and contrast agents (Chapter 12 and 14) for example. It has good images and examples showing the advantages of harmonic imaging and imaging with contrast agents over standard fundamental imaging. It has also been good for research details with equations and has a comprehensive set of references -- helpful for doing research in the area. In summary it has a intuitive physics and detailed equations -- therefore works for a wide range of people.

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