Electromagnetic Wave Theory - Jin Kong

[cmos]

Anybody have any experience with this book? It seems to be the standard in several graduate E&M courses in the EE dept. at MIT; custom published by them too. Is it just bound lecture notes or does it serve as a stand alone textbook? How does it compare to the "standards" such as Jackson and Balanis?

 

[jasonRF]

I am merely acquainted with the book, but since no one else is posting I'll tell you what I know of it.

The first chapter or two are actually suitable for undergraduate engineering courses on EM waves (includes transmission lines), but after that the book is surely at a graduate level. Coverage is pretty broad, including relativity, propagation and scattering of waves, and radiation (antennas, Cerenkov, ...). But the book definitely has an engineering bent. Some of the problems are pretty challenging, and answers to some of the problems are in the book as well.

Overall, it is a little harder read than Balanis, and assumes more mathematical skill as well. Kong uses complex variable methods, including asymptotic expansions, and the "Watson Transform" (useful for investigating creeping waves that get excited when a wave scatters from a cylinder). Balanis seems better organized to me, however, and goes through example in each coordinate system in a very methodical manner. Kong assumes you can do some fo that for yourself. Kong is roughly on par with Jackson, but during the little time I spent with Kong, I found that I liked Jackson's writing better (although Kong covers a better set of topics for me). I must say that the ugly font in Kong's book may have influence my opinion!

If you are looking for another graduate engineering EM book, Kong is a good book to check out. But I don't think I would recommend it if it will be you only such book.

jason

 

[cmos]

Thanks for the info, Jason. I'm basically interested in looking for books that either have additional topics not usually covered in the standard texts or give some sort of idiosyncratic, but useful, discussion on specific topics. To give you an idea of what I mean, I've been recently perusing through the titles in the IEEE Series on EM Wave Theory.

Anybody else have anything to say about Kong's book?

 

[jasonRF]

Thanks for the info, Jason. I'm basically interested in looking for books that either have additional topics not usually covered in the standard texts or give some sort of idiosyncratic, but useful, discussion on specific topics. To give you an idea of what I mean, I've been recently perusing through the titles in the IEEE Series on EM Wave Theory.
QUOTE]

Then Kong's book probably fits the bill for you.

In the IEEE series, I really like Collin's "field theory of guided waves" if you are interested in such topics. It is a giant book, but covers a lot of ground that I haven't seen in other textbooks and has a wonderful chapter on Green's functions - the only Green's function discussion that I like better is the one in Dudley's "mathematcal foundations for electromagnetic theory". Elliot's antenna book in the series is also really good, and more "first-principles" than some of the standards.

good luck,

jason