physics

I read parts of Cohen Tannoudji as an undergraduate and found them helpful. However, I should warn potential buyers of several problems with this book, which is the reason why I'm writing this review: despite its huge size, Cohen Tannoudji omits many important topics which are crucial for graduates - I'm not just talking about, say, relativistic quantum mechanics and field quantization; I'm talking about the Wigner Eckhart theorem, spherical tensor operators, group theory, path integration, second order degenerate perturbation theory, fock spaces and a multitude of other topics, all quite important. That means that you're paying a lot of money for something which is only "half a book", since you will sooner or later have to go out and buy another reference for those topics. I agree that Cohen Tannoudji do give detailed explanations of the material they do cover, but there is a pay to pay, viz., this is not a comprehensive book.
I hope this will make you think twice before buying - not that I have anything against this book, on the contrary, I think it explains quite well the topics it does choose to cover.

After years of searching for a really good book on non-relativistic quantum mechanics, I found it in this book. The beginning student can easily understand it and it's comprehensiveness will appeal to the more advanced student. It's use of the Dirac notation makes for a clean and concise treatment. The book is FAR better than most other quantum mechanics books found in university libraries, in my opinion.

Most of what ought to have been said about this book has been said in previous reviews. It is missing a few crucial topics such as group theory, Lie algebras, and the Bell inequality, but it is extremely well-written, and the treatment of topics which are contained is nothing short of thorough. Reading this book is an illuminating experience.

Wiley & Sons (the publisher) fall short in their treatment of the book. This may read like a modern classic, but it is put together like a telephone book. The paper binding is extremely flimsy (given the size of the book, that is to be expected), and the covers are of such low quality that not only do they scuff, crease, and dent easily, but they stick to surfaces when only a bit of dampness is present, and are impossible to remove without damage.

For the price, one ought to expect more. A book like this deserves to be in a rounded, full-cloth, non-acid edition. At the very least, they could have put it in a textbook binding with sturdy cardboard covers. Timeless references ought to take more abuse than the Yellow Pages.