Principles Of Quantum Mechanics Book

Those who follow the pack waste days wrinkling their foreheads at the long, winding, historical path through quantum mechanics that David Griffiths leads his unsuspecting followers on. Those who know better skip the foreplay and face the glorious intellectual burden that are the axioms of quantum mechanics in just the second chapter of Shankar.

Shankar's introductory chapter on the mathematics of quantum theory is the best out there. It was my saving grace after getting bogged down in a quantum information book for which I went in unprepared. If you too have lept into papers or books only to be baffled by the mysterious dances of Dirac brackets and quantum operators, let Shankar be your guide.

Shankar is also great for the independent learner. He embeds problems within the text so if you're reading on your own, you can feel as though you're engaged in the development of the theory (but don't kid yourself, you're not that smart).

I don't see why this book isn't far more popular. It's not only clear enough for undergrads (and, more specifically, clearer than Griffiths historical tour), but it covers many of the topics you'd want to see in any introductory grad level course too.