Beautifully illustrated and engagingly written, Twelve Lectures in
Quantum Mechanics presents theoretical physics with a breathtaking array
of examples and anecdotes. Basdevant's style is clear and stimulating,
in the manner of a brisk classroom lecture that students can follow with
ease and enjoyment. Here is a sample of the book's style, from the
opening of Chapter 1: "If one were to ask a passer-by to quote a great
formula of physics, chances are that the answer would be 'E = mc2'. In
fact, of the three watershed years for physics toward the beginning of
the 20th century - 1905: the Special Relativity of Einstein, Lorentz and
Poincaré; 1915: the General Relativity of Einstein, with its
extraordinary reflections on gravitation, space and time; and 1925: the
development of Quantum Mechanics - it is surely the last which has the
most profound implications for the development of science and
technology. There is no way around it: all physics is quantum, from
elementary particles, to stellar physics and the Big Bang, not to
mention semiconductors and solar cells."
A graduate of the Ecole Normale Superieure, Jean-Louis Basdevant is
Professor and Chair of the Department of Physics at the Ecole
Polytechnique, and Director of Research for the CNRS. Specializing in
the theoretical physics of elementary particles, quantum field theory
and astrophysics, Prof. Basdevant works in the Leprince-Ringuet
Laboratory at the Ecole Polytechnique.