A Students Guide to Maxwell's Equations (http://www.amazon.com/Students-Guide-Maxwells-Equations/dp/0521701473) by Daniel Fleish (2008) is by far the clearest and most consistent introductory material on Maxwell's Equations that I've ever read. In fact, I'd rate it higher than "Div, Grad, Curl, and all that" for its explanations of background mathematical concepts. Anyone approaching classical EM for the first time won't be wasting a cent in the purchase of this book! It makes an indispensable companion to Griffith or any other introductory text but is also a great stand-alone study.
Check it out...
jf
mal4mac
Aug28-08, 12:35 PM
A Students Guide to Maxwell's Equations (http://www.amazon.com/Students-Guide-Maxwells-Equations/dp/0521701473) by Daniel Fleish (2008) is by far the clearest and most consistent introductory material on Maxwell's Equations that I've ever read. In fact, I'd rate it higher than "Div, Grad, Curl, and all that" for its explanations of background mathematical concepts. Anyone approaching classical EM for the first time won't be wasting a cent in the purchase of this book! It makes an indispensable companion to Griffith or any other introductory text but is also a great stand-alone study.
Check it out...
jf
I just looked at his definition of an electric fiedl on p.3. He warbles on a lot about it all being very philosophical instead of giving us a concise definition. Then he gives us a bad definition. I'm not impressed. This is better:
"An electric field is a property of space. The electric field at a point is the force per unit charge which would be felt by a sufficiently small test charge at that point. "
http://www.people.vcu.edu/~rgowdy/mod/080/s.htm
Feynman's Lectures are also (of course) better, but you have to dig deep -- look up field and related terms in the index, put the reading & thinking cap on, and read & think hard.