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Pauli Lectures
If you take a look, then you will see that
"Pauli Lectures on Physics"
should
remind you something.
Landau&Lifshits!
Exactly!
So my opinion is that the Landau books are written
in a tight relationship with Pauli lectures.
But everybody is aware of that obvious things
for Landau are not so clear for a graduate student.
So Pauli lectures fill "Landau' "obviously" " gaps
Perfectly!
My advice to graduate students who
are struggling with Landau - open
Pauli lectures and very soon it will
be obvious for you ;)

A great master teaches electrodynamics
Pauli, who was rated by Born to be as good as Einstein, taught theoretical physics for many years at Technische Hochschule at Zurich. This book is labored on notes taken by students from his lectures on Electrodynamics. This is the book I consult when I am not happy with the explanations in the usual books. If it happens that Pauli touches the subject, I always get what I looked for: conceptual clarity and very good algorithms. Yes, because Pauli, one of the most profound physicists ever, believed that a physicist must calculate. He even "practiced" in his spare time! I especially like, in this book, the derivation of the laws for RLC circuits, rigorously in the field theory way, and absolutely clear and elegant. This is not an introduction to electricity. It is a rather sophisticated introduction to that part of theoretical physics called electrodynamics. In this role, it is certainly among the very best. ... Read more

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The extraordinary story of psychoanalystCarl Jung and physicist Wolfgang Pauli and their struggle to quantify the unconscious.In 1932, the groundbreaking physicist WolfgangPauli met the famous psychoanalyst Carl Jung.Pauli was fascinated by the inner reaches of his own psyche and not afraid to dabble in theoccult, while Jung looked to science for answers to the psychological questions that tormentedhim. Their rich friendship led them, in Jung’swords, into “the no-man’s land between physicsand the psychology of the unconscious . . . themost fascinating yet the darkest hunting groundof our times.” Both were obsessed with thefar-reaching significance of the number “137”—aprimal number that seemed to hint at the origins of the universe itself. Their quest to solve itsenigma led them on a lifelong journey into theancient secrets of alchemy, the work of Johannes Kepler, and the Chinese Book of Changes. This isthe captivating story of an extraordinary andfruitful collaboration between two of thegreatest thinkers of the twentieth century.

66 illustrations ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Of use to historical scholarship
This is more about Pauli than Jung, but a useful juxtaposition nonetheless. Unfortunately there are too many loose strings here for my taste: I'd like to see less physics and more psyche and perhaps some links to Yogacara Buddhist and Advaita Vedanta "consciousness only" insights. There's an important book in this subject, but we probably don't know enough for it to be written yet. This seems to be a good rough draft and will be useful to specialists who want to take it further.

Fascinating Friendship
The relationship between Wolfgang Pauli, the Nobel Prize winning scientist and influential person in the discovery of Quantum Physics, and C.G. Jung, famed psychologist, and founder of analytical psychology, has fascinated many people.The correspondence between the two men has been published, and there are now at least three books which deal with their relationship.The author has written several books on famed scientists, and he knows that field well.However, his knowledge and sensitivity to the work of Jung is not so deep.As I am a Jungian analystI see that he really does not "get" Jung.So I found the part about Pauli more interesting, and I tended to skip the part on Jung, because I knew that history from my own study. Nevertheless, the book is well written, well researched, and I think it adds to the lore about these two men's relationship.The fact that these two men came from such different backgrounds and fields and yet forged a close relationship makes for a fascinating story.

A Strange Bio of a Strange Man
A very interesting read, though the number doesn't play as big a part in the book as the title and some reviewers make it sound like. More the biography of a rather strange physicist before, after, and during WWII. Jung comes off as far more wacky than I realized he was. A good read, but only if you are into the off-beat and physics .

A fascinating read - and enlightening too
I bought this book because I was intrigued by the title.As a non-scientist I love books which elucidate science for the ordinary reader - the lay person - and which inspire me to see the world in a different way and this is certainly one of those.It's a fascinating read about two seminal and intriguing personalities - Wolfgang Pauli, a major figure in the development of quantum physics, and Jung, one of the founders of psychoanalysis.Pauli was a very atypical scientist.While other scientists were very competitive and obsessed with their work, he was a more rounded personality.He spent time in the bar districts of Hamburg, had relationships with cabaret singers and eventually went too far and ended up on Jung's couch.This marked the beginning of a very fruitful relationship for both Jung and Pauli.As well as science and psychoanlysis, the book ranges across alchemy, the I Ching, mandalas and other areas which were of interest to Jung and also became of interest to Pauli, who realised that science alone was not enough to give a full description of the universe.Miller tells this fascinating story lucidly and brilliantly.

Get the coffee; it is time for history class
Miller chronicles the life of Wolfgang Pauli, a brilliant physicist who was a founding father of quantum mechanics, and his relationship with Psychologist Carl Jung. During the first half of the 20th century, the most brilliant minds in the world tackled the problem of defining the atom. Although Pauli won the Noble Prize for his work on defining the atom, it had a devastating affect on his mental health. Pauli sought the help of Carl Jung, a rival of Sigmund Freud. Their relationship last for decades as they explored Pauli's dreams and the obsession with the number of 137. They corresponded until Pauli's death in hospital room 137.

If you have an interest in quantum mechanics or chemistry, Miller provides many interesting facts about the relationships of the leading physicists of the era. However those facts are mired in complicated mathematics and theory. Miller spends too much time getting the science right, rather than explaining the complex relationship Pauli had with mentors, colleges, and Jung. The Pauli and Jung relationship isn't explored until the second half of the book. The cosmic number isn't discussed until the last 30 pages of the book. Although the intended subject of the book is underdeveloped, Miller's history of the difficulty of defining the atom is entertaining to those with a science background.

Reviewed by Mike Scott ... Read more

Product Description
These lectures covering topics basic to classical and modern physics were given by Wolfgang Pauli at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. The lectures on optics serve as a concise and rewarding introduction to the topic.From the introduction by Victor Weisskopf:"Pauli's way of presenting physics is never out of date. . . .The reason for this remarkable fact lies in Pauli's style, which is commensurate to the greatness of its subject in its clarity and impact. Style in scientific writing is a quality that today is on the point of vanishing. The pressure of fast publication is so great that people rush into print with hurriedly written papers and books that show little concern for careful formulation of ideas. Mathematical and instrumental techniques have become complicated and difficult; most of the effort of writing and learning is devoted to the acquisition of these techniques instead of insight into important concepts. Essential ideas of physics are often lost in the dense forest of mathematical reasoning. This situation need not be so. Pauli's lectures show how physical ideas can be presented clearly and in good mathematical form, without being hidden in formalistic expertise." ... Read more

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Pauli has a good time with optics
This is a very short book on optics. It has only some 170 pages!
Still, it's a great fun! Pauli starts witn the Fermat principle and soon finds out the Hamilon-Jacobi equation connected to this variational principle: it's the eikonal equation. He proceeds to get a lot of general results in geometrical optics. After that come interference and diffraction; optics from Maxwell theory,crystal and molecular optics. You'll find fresh perspectives, surprising connections, everywhere. This is the ideal book to review your optical expertise: you'll have lots of fun seeing things you are familiar with, much better done! ... Read more

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Important text represents a concise course on the subject, centering on the historic development of the basic ideals and the logical structure of the theory, with particular emphasis on Brownian motion and quantum statistics. Alone or as part of the complete set, this volume represents a peerless resource that will be invaluable to individuals, as well as to libraries and other institutions.
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A good introduction to statistical mechanics
Wolfgang Pauli really is an expert in explaining the not-so-simple subject of physics to not-so-bright students of the subject. This book is another proof of that. His unique style of using not too clumsy notation and of getting directly to the point (a feat that is hard to achieve in statistical mechanics that must be studied with lots of mathematical prerequisites) could magnetize even the ordinary physics student to read further the text. Studying statistical mechanics, like other fields in physics and mathematics, bears fruit only when reading is accompanied with papers and pen for tracing the computations in the text. But with Pauli's statmech book, calculations with papers and pen can be minimal. In fact, mental calculations can simultaneously go with reading. The reader is properly introduced to the subject because of the simplistic arguments found in the introductory parts, especially the specific topics of billiard ball problems and central forces. The whole chapter under Brownian Motion makes the book independent and the subject very well understood. Historically, ideas in statistical physics was formed due to the inability of classical mechanics to explain the irregularity of motion of dust particles suspended in air or water. The only, but only slightly, "dirty" character of the book is the too early introduction of the subject of quantum statistics due to inadequate presentation of various experimental indications leading to the subject. The book would be a perfect one had Pauli discussed first experiments around the topic. But as an introductory book that inadequacy could be ignored. Generally, the book is good. ... Read more

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Focuses on wave functions of force-free particles, description of a particle in a box and in free space, particle in a field of force, more than one particle, eigenvalue problems, collision processes, approximate methods for solving the wave equation, matrices and operators, perturbation theory, angular momentum and spin, and identical particles with spin. Exercises included in a peerless resource that can be used alone or as part of the complete set.
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Never knew these lectures were SO good
Ok - so I'd seen these books during my physics graduate school career - but for some reason never picked them up (too short, too concise...not sure what my problem was)!
If I wanted good lectures - I referred to Feynman - and a few other odds and ends.
Recently - I got my hands on the 'Wave Mechanics' lectures by Pauli. Two things struck me about this wonderful exposition
1) Concise clarity - unlike any other book (and I am including Feynman lectures - what Feynman takes 50 pages to convey - Pauli conveys in 5).
2) Mathematical formalism that is easy to understand. Again - unlike Feynman who leaves out bulk of the mathematics for the 'physical understanding'. This is not a critique of Feynman - just that Pauli's lectures excel in BOTH areas - the mathematical as well as the physical formalism.

Lectures by a great master
Pauli was one of the great physicists of the 20th century. He invented neutrinos, for instance. The Pauli principle explains the Periodic Table and the rigidity of matter. These lectures on quantum mechanics are not the famous Handbuch article which was, for many years, a main reference on QM. These are notes taken by his students (and carefully edited by senior physicists, such as Charles Enz)at his classes. They are much more accessible, being meant for students. Being quite compact, I woulnd't say they are adequate for standard beginning students. They are, however, perfect for clarifying subtle points and have an exquisite elegance, in their simplicity. A friend of mine, an eminent experimentalist, considered it "his bible". An interesting exercise in style is comparing these lectures with the analogous ones by Fermi, in his Chicago lectures. Who wins? My favorite is Fermi's. But it is a close match. ... Read more

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Relevant text examines basic concepts and the First Law, the Second Law, equilibria, Nerst’s Heat Theorem, and the kinetic theory of gases. As does each book in this series, Vol. 3 includes an index and a wealth of helpful figures. It can also be read independently by those who wish to focus on a particular topic. Alone or as part of the complete set, the work is a peerless resource that will be invaluable to individuals as well as to libraries and other institutions.
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Not for the faint hearted
OK, having said that, here's a caveat. It says lectures. Don't expect WP to "teach" you physics. These books are stuffed with equations and WP begins his lectures without preamble and starts to write equations. You ought to have had a great deal of calculus to wade through his backyard. Its not easy but when you start to read it, you also notice that this guy makes precise his lectures. No wishy washy way of telling you of physical reality. It is there, Pauli sees it and tells you the equation for it and takes it from there.

I do not agree with the other person who thinks WP is not as good as Einstein. Einstein once answered to someone that he thought that W. Pauli is the only one he can think of as his succesor. Besides do not forget that if Sommerfeld felt that Pauli was not VERY good, he would not have had him contribute to the Mathematical Encylopedia at age 20! He wrote a full blown account of the Special and General theories for Goettingen's Math encyclopedia in 1920! This account is still considered contemporary and a best seller. A mere 4 years after it was invented when most physicists could not even figure out what it was all about. That in itself speaks volumes. He also had the courage to tell anyone, including Einstein that they were wrong when they were wrong (or not even wrong). In my humble opinion, Pauli was probably as good as Einstein and about as good as Heisenberg or Dirac.

Lectures by a great master.
Max Born, who knew both, rated Pauli as good as Einstein. I don't agree, but, OK, it's a nice compliment! Anyway, Pauli was really great, and a great writer, in this case far surpassing Einstein. These are his lectures (mostly) on Thermodynamics at the ETH, Zurich, which, by the way, was Einstein's alma mater.
Pauli lectured on all of theoretical phyisics there, for several years. He was revered, and the students carefully took notes of whatever he said and write. These notes were then carefully edited by senior colleagues, like Charles Enz. The result was a slim, compact, wonderful text of Carnot-cycle thermodynamics which has even some originality: the master deemed it necessary to reformulate the treatment of chemical equilibrium (using van't Hoof boxes)to reach his standards of excellence.
This is not a text-book on thermodynamics for beginners: it is a
exquisite booklet to polish your understanding and reveal the great elegance and depth of the thermodynamical formalism and, most importantly, ideas. ... Read more

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Comprehensive, clearly presented work considers such subjects as quantization of the electron-positron field, response to an external field, quantization of free field, quantum electrodynamics, interacting fields, Heisenberg representation, the S-matrix, and Feynman’s approach to quantum electrodynamics. An excellent resource for individuals as well as libraries and other institutions.
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A master teaches the basics of quantum field theory
These are notes taken from the Pauli lectures on field quantization at Zurich, where he taught for many years. They are magnificent in their clarity and succint as only Pauli could be. Basically they explain how to quantize the basic free fields and introduce in a beautiful way the Dyson method of introducing (perturbative) interactions, renormalization comprised. Fine points, like the Gupta-Bleuler method, get a critical and clear treatment. The language is surprisingly modern, with emphasis in vacuum expectation values, kernels, etc. The last chapter treats the Feynman method of path integrals. This must have been one of the very first published reviews of this method: it is done, of course, quite originally. One should read every scrap of paper left by Pauli, a deep and original thinker who expressed himself with unsurpassed clarity, let alone this lovingly produced book. ... Read more

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In 1932, Wolfgang Pauli was a world-renowned physicist and had already done the work that would win him the 1945 Nobel Prize. He was also in pain. His mother had poisoned herself after his father's involvement in an affair. Emerging from a brief marriage with a cabaret performer, Pauli drank heavily, quarreled frequently and sometimes publicly, and was disturbed by powerful dreams. He turned for help to C. G. Jung, setting a standing appointment for Mondays at noon. Thus bloomed an extraordinary intellectual conjunction not just between a physicist and a psychologist but between physics and psychology. Eighty letters, written over twenty-six years, record that friendship. This artful translation presents them in English for the first time.

Though Jung never analyzed Pauli formally, he interpreted more than 400 of his dreams--work that bore fruit later in Psychology and Alchemy and The Analysis of Dreams. As their acquaintance developed, Jung and Pauli exchanged views on the content of their work and the ideas of the day. They discussed the nature of dreams and their relation to reality, finding surprising common ground between depth psychology and quantum physics. Their collaboration resulted in the combined publication of Jung's treatise on synchronicity and Pauli's essay on archetypal ideas influencing Kepler's writings in The Interpretation of Nature and the Psyche. Over time, their correspondence shaped and reshaped their understanding of the principle they called synchronicity, a term Jung had suggested earlier.

Through the association of these two pioneering thinkers, developments in physics profoundly influenced the evolution of Jungian psychology. And many of Jung's abiding themes shaped how Pauli--and, through him, other physicists--understood the physical world. Of clear appeal to historians of science and anyone investigating the life and work of Pauli or Jung, this portrait of an incredible friendship will also draw readers interested in human creativity as well as those who merely like to be present when great minds meet. ... Read more

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This book retraces the life of the physicist Wolfgang Pauli, analyses his scientific work, and describes the evolution of his thinking. Pauli spent 30 years as a professor at the Federal Institute of Technology ETH in Zurich, which occupies a central place in this biography. It would be incomplete, however, without a rendering of Pauli's sarcastic wit and, most importantly, of the world of his dreams. It is through the latter that quite a different aspect of Pauli's life comes in, namely his association with the psychology of C.G. Jung and his school. ... Read more

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Enjoyable read
Fans of modern physics are well acquainted with Pauli. A Nobel Laureate (1945), who is best remembered for the Pauli Exclusion Principle. Enz takes us through Pauli's life. Most notably the crucial years at the Gottingen school of quantum mechanics in the 1920s, where quantum mechanics was born.

The book takes us into his research. But it also conveys some of the intellectual ferment and excitement of those times. And across the pages appear many other august notables in physics. Einstein, Born, Bohr...

Enz also tries to give some insight into Pauli's personality and his dealings with his family.

An enjoyable read. ... Read more

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The Austrian physicist Wolfgang Pauli (1900-1958) was often called the conscience of physics. He was famous for his sharp and critical mind which made him a central figure among the founders of quantum physics. He also was an outstanding philosopher, especially interested in finding a new conception of reality and of causality. A careful study of the original sources of the past culminated in his study of Kepler and of medieval symbolism, a concept that played a central role in his discussion with Carl Jung on what they called the psycho-physical problem. Pauli considered the sharp distinctions between knowledge and faith and between spirit and matter as dangerous. He thought they should complement each other in our comprehension of reality. Professor Laurikainen here for the first time describes Pauli's ideas in detail. His book is based on the large and as yet unpublished correspondence between Pauli and M. Fierz. Its careful analysis adds depth and clarity to the few publications by Pauli on philosophical problems and explains why Pauli grasped the meaning of atomic theory more deeply than even Niels Bohr himself. The book should interest both philosophers and physicists and should encourage further studies on Pauli the humanist and his contribution to our understanding of reality. ... Read more

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Like Bohr, Einstein and Heisenberg, Wolfgang Pauli was notonly a Nobel laureate and one of the creators of modernphysics, but also an eminent philosopher of modern science.This is the first book in English to include all his famousarticles on physics and epistemology. They wereactuallytranslated during Pauli's lifetime by R. Schlapp and are nowedited and annotated by Pauli's former assistant Ch. Enz.Pauli writes about the philosophical significance ofcomplementarity, about space,time and causality, symmetryand the exclusion principle, but also about therole of theunconscious in modern science. His famous article onKepleris included as well as many historical essays on Bohr,Ehrenfest,and Einstein as well as on the influence of theunconscious on scientific theories.The book addresses not only physicists, philosophersandhistorians of science, but also the general public. ... Read more

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Wonderfully Interesting
This book is a wonderfully interesting series of philosophical writings by one of the foremost quantum physicists.Wolfgang Pauli, one of the originators of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics, provides incredibly interesting, if sometimes overly pedantic, philosophical perspectives on a number of issues.One of the more marginalized selections is concerning archetypes and reveals the strong connections that Pauli had with one of the foremost thinkers in the field of psychology: Carl Jung.I highly recommend this book for those interested in gaining greater perspective in the depth of thought that was involved in the development of perhaps the most original and groundbreaking theories of physics. ... Read more

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Wolfgang Pauli was not only one of the most influential physicists of the 20th century: His huge correspondence and unpublished manuscripts also demonstrate his deep interest in questions beyond physics.

This volume explores the relevance of Pauli's visionary ideas with respect to several topics in science and philosophy that are of great contemporary interest: the role of symmetries in theoretical science; dual-aspect approaches to the mind-brain problem; the tension between psychological and physical time; the nature of creative activity and the origin of mathematical insight; and adaptive mutations and epigenetics in biology. Today we are in a position to appreciate how relevant Pauli's work and speculations have turned out to be. This book, authored by a team of internationally renowned experts, provides material and suggests directions for future studies of a variety of deep-seated and open problems, in particular concerning the relation between mind and matter.

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Volume discussing the work of such scientists as Albert Einstein, written in German. Includes some material in English and Italian. ... Read more

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Inhaltsübersicht: Das Jahr 1930: Die Neutrinohypothese. - Das Jahr 1931: Erste Kernphysik-Kongresse und Amerikareise. Das Jahr 1932. Die Entdeckung des Neutrons. - Das Jahr 1933: Substraktionsphysik und Löchertheorie Faksimile des Briefes ;&kÄ;314;&kü; Pauli an Heisenberg. - Das Jahr 1934: Die Pauli-Weisskopf-Theorie. - Das Jahr 1935: Die zweite Amerikareise. - Das Jahr 1936: Gitterwelt und Theorie der kosmischen Strahlung. - Das Jahr 1937: Kosmische Strahlung. - Das Jahr 1938: Kernkräfte und Yukonen. - Das Jahr 1939: Die Theorie der Mesonenfelder. - Nachtrag zu Band I, 1919-1929. - Anhang. ... Read more

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This book aims to make broadly accessible an understandable proof of the infamous spin-statistics theorem. This widely known but little-understood theorem is intended to explain the fact that electrons obey the Pauli exclusion principle. This fact, in turn, explains the periodic table of the elements and their chemical properties. Therefore, this simply-stated fact is responsible for many of the principal features of our universe, from chemistry to solid state physics to nuclear physics to the life cycle of stars. In spite of its fundamental importance, it is only a slight exaggeration to say that "everyone knows the spin-statistics theorem, but no-one understands it". This book simplifies and clarifies the formal statements of the theorem, and also corrects the invariably flawed intuitive explanations which are frequently put forward. The book should be of interest to many practising physicists in all fields who have long been frustrated by the impenetrable discussions on the subject which have been available until now.It should also be acessible to students at an advanced undergraduate level as an introduction to modern physics based directly on the classical writings of the founders, including Pauli, Dirac, Heisenberg, Einstein and many others. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (6)

Physics and Psychology
Most people would have trouble thinking of two academic disciplines more diverse than physics and psychology. This book describes the relationships between two of the greatest exponents of each field. They were close personal friends and great students of each others work. They each saw similarities between the two fields. Now I know more about psychology than Pauli did and more about physics than Jung did. I would say that the things they said were correct as far as they went but they did not go very far. The relationships between physics and psychology are best described by studying the relationships between the work of two neighbors, Jung and Einstein. They probably knew of each other but did not know each other, nor did they study each others writings. On a theoretical levels the writings of these two, i have read the works of both of them very extensively, are in many ways identical. I know of no one who is well versed in the works of both of these two great scholars.

A shot in the arm for a physics PhD candidate
This book is a detailed, faithful chronicle of the correspondence between Wolfgang Pauli, father of quantum mechanics, and Carl Jung, father of modern psychology.The product of their correspondence is as profound as one could imagine.Thank you, Dr. Lindorff, for telling this story.I started reading it at a time when I was feeling overwhelmed and out of my element in my research.This book has helped me find enthusiasm and wonder for the scientific process again.This is a fascinating book, and well worth reading for those of us who ask fundamental questions about human perception and the universe around us.

Much better scholarship than I expected
I wasn't expecting the author to have the expertise in physics and psychology to do a decent job of writing about these two men. I also feared that the writing would be dull and plodding. Wrong on both counts. Lindorff's writing and scholarship are impressive.

A fascinating portrait of stellar minds
Wolfgang Pauli and Carl Jung were among a handful of geniuses who transformed the physical and psychological landscapes of the 20th century. Their thoughts about the nature of mind and matter, and the dark side of Western science's "will to power," are especially meaningful today given the material and psychosocial challenges of the 21st century.

I found especially interesting Pauli and Jung's interests in parapsychology and the mind-matter interface. When intellectual giants seriously entertain controversial topics that confuse lesser minds, I pay close attention.

Lindorff's recitals of Pauli's dreams, and Pauli and Jung's symbolic analysis of them, will probably not appeal to readers expecting ordinary biographies. But for those of us who are interested in rational, intuitive, and symbolic ways of knowing, this is a magnificent book.

Response to Dr Russell Rohrde's review.
This is a response by the author to a review of Dr. Rohrde, who apparently formed a judgement of my book without attempting to digest its contents.Pauli was a serious thinker who happened to believe in the collective unconscious.With Jung's help, he sought to understand his dreams, which he saw as opening his mind to the relationship between psyche and matter.Pauli saw this as having far reaching importance to him personally as well as to the future of scientific exploration. ... Read more