Is Adrianus J. Dekker forgotten or irrelevant?

[Slimy0233]

I was previously thinking of buying Solid State Physics by Kittel, but it turns out it's not beginner friendly and neither is Ashcroft & Mermin. One book that is supposedly beginner friendly is AJ Dekker (1956) but it has received little discussion on this physics forum and on reddit (as a whole). I wonder why that is?

Also, I want to understand the basics of Solid State Physics and I want the information to be relevant and accurate. Is AJ Dekker what I should read? So, should I buy AJ Dekker and is there a different book on solid state physics which is not cryptic and can be easily understood by a beginner.

PS: I really want to buy Dekker, but the fact that the book has received no discussion on reddit and in here concerns me.

 

[Haborix]

What does beginner mean to you? What physics courses have you taken? I would regard Kittel as an introductory book for solid state and Ashcroft as a more advanced book. I'm not sure I would expect a decent textbook to be easily understood. Any textbook will have you grappling with ideas and calculations you haven't been exposed to before. Never heard of Dekker, so can't help there, sorry.

 

[Frabjous]

Physics Today reviewed it in 1957.
https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/article/10/11/38/952357/Solid-State-Physics

 

[Baluncore]

One book has never been enough for me.
There are cheap $20 to $40, new or second hand copies of both available.

Dekker is clearly old school and cheap, second hand or reprinted 2008.
https://www.bookfinder.com/search/?...=KJ5gumaVsN1YGWahLPYIXfbx6gU_1685574818_1:1:2

Kittel, in the 2018 edition, is more up to date.
https://www.bookfinder.com/search/?...e=introduction%20to%20solid%20state%20physics

At those prices, I could buy both, and a third, but I have electronic copies and a University library nearby.

 

[Slimy0233]

I'm not sure I would expect a decent textbook to be easily understood. Any textbook will have you grappling with ideas and calculations you haven't been exposed to before.

Sir/Madam, I have one answer to that, Introduction to Electrodynamics by DJ Griffiths.

And as for textbook with unknown ideas and calculations, I am ok with that.

Meanwhile, since English is not my native language, I need it to be relatively simple to understand.

 

[Slimy0233]

Physics Today reviewed it in 1957.
https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/article/10/11/38/952357/Solid-State-Physics

Well.... that paints a rosy picture. But there is now one fear that's stopping me from buying the book though, is it up to date. In the sense that, I just want to read the basics out of this book, so is the book accurate upto the basics?

 

[Slimy0233]

One book has never been enough for me.
There are cheap $20 to $40, new or second hand copies of both available.

Dekker is clearly old school and cheap, second hand or reprinted 2008.
https://www.bookfinder.com/search/?...=KJ5gumaVsN1YGWahLPYIXfbx6gU_1685574818_1:1:2

Kittel, in the 2018 edition, is more up to date.
https://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&ref=bf_s2_a1_t1_1&qi=s.Ga63WLa.2KmVGBFFxX,lbaoHs_1685575427_1:11:46&bq=author=charles%20kittel&title=introduction%20to%20solid%20state%20physics

At those prices, I could buy both, and a third, but I have electronic copies and a University library nearby.

Unfortunately as I am dealing with financial constraints, this has never been an option for me.

 

[DrJohn]

There is an online version of the Dekker book here
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015002003716&view=1up&seq=1

The book you are considering was first written when I was a child. If it hasn't been updated for a while, it could easily be missing modern ideas.

I once had to teach a university course on Solid State Chemistry, a subject I had only ever done a single term course on 20 years earlier. The book that was suggested to me by another lecturer had several interesting things I had never been taught at all. ( A R West, Solid State Chemistry, an updated version / title change of which is available from amazon, while an copy from 1999 is quite cheap.)