The study of

electromagnetism In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge. It is the second-strongest of the four fundamental interactions, after the strong force, and it is the dominant force in the interactions o ...

in higher education, as a fundamental part of both physics and engineering, is typically accompanied by textbooks devoted to the subject. The

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

and the

American Association of Physics Teachers The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) was founded in 1930 for the purpose of "dissemination of knowledge of physics, particularly by way of teaching." There are more than 10,000 members in over 30 countries. AAPT publications includ ...

recommend a full year of graduate study in electromagnetism for all physics graduate students. A joint task force by those organizations in 2006 found that in 76 of the 80 US physics departments surveyed, a course using John David Jackson's ''Classical Electrodynamics'' was required for all first year graduate students. For undergraduates, there are several widely used textbooks, including David Griffiths' ''Introduction to Electrodynamics'' and ''Electricity and Magnetism'' by Edward Mills Purcell and D. J. Morin. Also at an undergraduate level, Richard Feynman's classic ''The Feynman Lectures on Physics'' is available online to read for free.

Undergraduate

Front cover of Griffiths' Electrodynamics

There are several widely used undergraduate textbooks in electromagnetism, including David Griffiths' ''

Introduction to Electrodynamics ''Introduction to Electrodynamics'' is a textbook by the physicist David J. Griffiths. Generally regarded as a standard undergraduate text on the subject, it began as lecture notes that have been perfected over time.Greg BernhardtInterview with ...

'' as well as '' Electricity and Magnetism'' by

Edward Mills Purcell Edward Mills Purcell (August 30, 1912 – March 7, 1997) was an American physicist who shared the 1952 Nobel Prize for Physics for his independent discovery (published 1946) of nuclear magnetic resonance in liquids and in solids. Nuclear mag ...

and D. J. Morin. The ''

Feynman Lectures on Physics ''The Feynman Lectures on Physics'' is a physics textbook based on some lectures by Richard Feynman, a Nobel laureate who has sometimes been called "The Great Explainer". The lectures were presented before undergraduate students at the Californ ...

'' also include a volume on electromagnetism that is available to read online for free, through the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

Graduate

A 2006 report by a joint taskforce between the

and the

found that 76 of the 80 physics departments surveyed require a first-year graduate course in John David Jackson's ''

Classical Electrodynamics Classical electromagnetism or classical electrodynamics is a branch of theoretical physics that studies the interactions between electric charges and currents using an extension of the classical Newtonian model; It is, therefore, a classical fi ...

''. This made Jackson's book the most popular textbook in any field of graduate-level physics, with

Herbert Goldstein Herbert Goldstein (June 26, 1922 – January 12, 2005) was an American physicist and the author of the standard graduate textbook ''Classical Mechanics''. Life and work Goldstein, long recognized for his scholarship in classical mechanics and ...

's ''

Classical Mechanics Classical mechanics is a physical theory describing the motion of macroscopic objects, from projectiles to parts of machinery, and astronomical objects, such as spacecraft, planets, stars, and galaxies. For objects governed by classi ...

'' as the second most popular with adoption at 48 universities. In a 2015 review of Andrew Zangwill's ''Modern Electrodynamics'' in the

American Journal of Physics The ''American Journal of Physics'' is a monthly, peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Association of Physics Teachers and the American Institute of Physics. The editor-in-chief is Beth Parks of Colgate University."Current F ...

, James S. Russ claims Jackson's textbook has been " e classic electrodynamics text for the past four decades" and that it is "the book from which most current-generation physicists took their first course."

Engineering textbooks

According to a 2011 review of textbooks in electromagnetics and computational electromagnetics by David B. Davidson,

Julius Adams Stratton Julius Adams Stratton (May 18, 1901 – June 22, 1994) was a U.S. electrical engineer and university administrator. He attended the University of Washington for one year, where he was admitted to the Zeta Psi fraternity, then transferred to th ...

's ''Electromagnetic Theory'' remains the classic text in electromagnetics and is still regularly cited. Davidson goes on to point out that Constantine A. Balanis' ''Advanced Engineering Electromagnetics'' and Roger F. Harrington's ''Time-Harmonic Electromagnetic Fields'' are standard references at the post-graduate level.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxwell's Equations Electrodynamics Electromagnetism Equations of physics Lists of science textbooks Physics-related lists

Undergraduate

Graduate

Engineering textbooks

Further reading

See also

References