Quantum First edition of Ballentine's Quantum Mechanics book

[marco21]

Hi. I just received a copy of Ballentine's "Quantum Mechanics: A Modern Development" ordered from Amazon, after I heard well of it in this site. I'm wondering what edition I've bought: the one I've got has a white hardcover, and its ISBN is 9789810227074.
Does someone ever used this edition? Why when I look at stores all the copies of this book come with a different cover and/or ISBN (for example: 978-9810241056)?

 

[jedishrfu]

Just from the isbn I’d say you’ve got an earlier edition. I think isbns are requested from some authority and the value always increases as time goes along.

Isn’t there some publishing on the flip side of the title page? You might find a year published.

 

[marco21]

The book was published in 1998, as the first (perhaps?) edition, but the author states in the preface that "This edition contains a considerable amount of new material". I got it at a very low price compared to the fancy-colored-cover edition (twenty euros vs. sixty plus something) and I was curious to know why. Maybe this printing has typos inside?

 

[jedishrfu]

Yes revisions are done as needed and often just published without saying that it’s a new edition as they deemed the changes small. When chapters are added, dropped or reorganized then it’s a new edition.

 

[kith]

In the preface of the 1998 edition of his book, Ballentine references an older 1990 edition of the book as "first edition". The current edition with the added "second edition" in the title is from 2014. So there are actually three editions which are referenced confusingly.

The differences between the 1990 and the 1998 editions seem to be substancial. The differences between the 1998 and the 2014 edition seem to be mostly the added chapter on quantum information. Here's a thread about the appearance of the current edition.

 

[marco21]

It seems that the edition I got is the hardcover edition published in may 1998. I find the book very well-written, and, at least the very first chapters, a very peaceful reading. Does buying the second edition worth the difference in price?