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Course of Theoretical Physics

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Course of Theoretical Physics
Cover of the first volume, Mechanics (Russian Edition)
AuthorLev Landau (Vol. 1–3, 5–9)
Evgeny Lifshitz (Vol. 1–10)
Vladimir Berestetskii (Vol. 4)
Lev Pitaevskii (Vol. 4, 8–10)
LanguageRussian, English
SubjectPhysics
GenreTextbook
PublisherRussian: Fizmatgiz, Fizmatlit, Nauka
English: Addison-Wesley, Butterworth-Heinemann, Pergamon Press
Publication placeRussia

The Course of Theoretical Physics is a ten-volume series of books covering theoretical physics that was initiated by Lev Landau and written in collaboration with his student Evgeny Lifshitz starting in the late 1930s. It is said that Laudau composed much of the series in his head while in an NKVD prison in 1938-39.[1] However, almost all of the actual writing of the early volumes was done by Lifshitz, giving rise to the often repeated witticism, "not a word of Landau and not a thought of Lifshitz".[2] The first eight volumes were finished in the 1950s, written in the Russian language, and translated into English by the late 1950s. The last two volumes were written in the early 1980s. Vladimir Berestetskii and Lev Pitaevskii also contributed to the series. The series is often referred to as "Landau and Lifshitz", "Landafshitz" (rus. "Ландафшиц") in informal settings[3][4].

Impact

The books are well known for their concise, elegant and accurate formulation of the laws of physics. Generations of physicists, both in Russia and around the world, have been educated in physics through this series. The presentation of material is advanced, requires a foundation of physics, and is suitable for graduate-level study.

Russian editions

English editions

Note that reprints and revised editions are not listed.

Volume 1
  • L.D. Landau, E.M. Lifshitz (1960). Mechanics. Vol. Vol. 1 (1st ed.). Pergamon Press. ASIN B0006AWV88. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
Volume 6
Volume 7
Volume 8
Volume 9
Volume 10

Notes

  1. ^ Richard Rhodes (1995). Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb. Simon & Schuster. p. 33.
  2. ^ Anton Z. Capri (2007). "From Quanta to Quarks: More Anecdotal History of Physics". World Scientific: 112. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ [2]

External links