Reviews for Methods of Contemporary Gauge Theory

The average rating for Methods of Contemporary Gauge Theory based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-08-20 00:00:00 Carrie Leigh George Musser has written an excellent introduction to cutting-edge Planck-length scale speculative Physics with the publication of this book. I will conclude this post with my Amazon review. Before doing so, I wish to point out that another similarly-titled book has just been published: String Theory for Dummies, by Andrew Zimmerman Jones. Both are aimed at the Intelligent Layman, but are quite different. Musser, I feel, gives a better and more objective overview of current issues and alternatives to Strings; Jones book is more Strings-centric. I would recommend both books, but read Musser's first, which I give 5 stars to for the reasons I will soon state. Jones' book I give 4 stars to for it's obvious bias, but it makes a good followup. From Amazon: Five stars for this introductory book on Quantum Gravity. The name of this book as has been noted is quite misleading. This is an extremely balanced tome not only on String Theory, but on other notable alternative approaches on rational speculative theories as well, concerning what takes place at the level of fundamental particles and small length scales: notably LQG = Loop Quantum Gravity and CDT = Causal Dynamical Triangulations = "Buckyspace". I suspect it was originally submitted as "Quantum Gravity" but overruled at the Editorial level as "String Theory" for Marketing reasons, which may have been a wise decision but nevertheless would confuse those seeking the broader view this book expounds. One embarrassing consequence of leading QG research is the many "wars" going on among our world's top theoretical physicists, and Musser does a fine job explaining these differences in his chapter on "The String Theory Wars." Other books on this subject are informative yet one-sided; this book gives equal balance to all sides explaining the Pros and Cons of all parties. He eschews, for the most part, mentioning the particular scientists involved in the theories in favor of focusing on the theories themselves. This is a refreshing approach in its own right and makes the book as tight and concise as possible. His writing style is informative, interesting, entertaining, and lucid; one walks away from this book feeling a mastery of the issues at hand, and well prepared to read more detailed works on these subjects with an open-minded attitude to other authors' bias. As a science journalist, he has done this aspect of his job splendidly. As a researcher, he has also excelled. He has consulted the experts on all sides, notably String Theorist Keith Dienes, Loop Gravitationist co-founder Carlo Rovelli, CDT co-founder Renate Loll, and dozens of others in these fields such as Joe Polchinski and Ed Witten.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-12-03 00:00:00 Rachel Hausmann I really, really enjoyed this book. The author did a great job of incorporating humor throughout the book, and he had memorable analogies, anecdotes, and stories that I'll be able to use with my own students. This is an excellent, non-mathematical introduction to the topic. If you are looking for a great introduction to the topic of quantum physics and the questions swirling about the various models, I highly recommend this one to you.