Remembering J. D. Jackson: A Tribute to a Physics Legend

[Telemachus]

Sad day for science. I've used Jackson's Classical Electrodynamics as an undergraduate student. I had the feeling that it was kind of poetry, the whole composition of that book.

Here it is: https://telescoper.wordpress.com/2016/05/23/r-i-p-john-david-jackson-1925-2016/

 

[jedishrfu]

Yes, this is sad. We didn't use his book when I took physics instead we used our profs book which was very good with problems that weren't as difficult as Jackson's to our regret.

I think because Jackson was considered a graduate level book when it first came out. However, Jackson's book was and still is the gold standard.

 

[Ben Niehoff]

In my graduate-level E&M course, we were assigned eight Jackson problems a week. Fun times!

 

[Choppy]

It's very sad to hear this. I think his textbook is one of the most influential textbooks in physics - a cornerstone of a physicist's education. It seems to me that in a lot of graduate programs, Jackson's E&M is a required course, regardless of the subfield that you choose. That really says something about how important it is.

He's one of those giants whose shoulders we all get to stand on - if we're fortunate enough.