Addison-Wesley / Prentice Hall

Physics & Astronomy

Browse available resources for Physics & Astronomy:



Mathematica® for Physics, 2/E
Robert L. Zimmerman, University of Oregon
Fredrick I. Olness, Southern Methodist University

ISBN-10: 0805387005
ISBN-13: 9780805387001

Publisher: Addison-Wesley
Copyright: 2003
Format: Paper; 645 pp
Published: 07/31/2002

Suggested retail price: $101.00
Buy from myPearsonStore

Mathematica® for Physics, Second Edition is tailored for advanced undergraduate and graduate physics students taking core courses in the physics curriculum. In this book, Robert L. Zimmerman and Fredrick Olness show students how to use Mathematica® to solve standard problems in physics. Because they cover the canonical problems from the core courses, students can practice with the solutions they provide, then modify these solutions to solve additional problems. Students can focus on the physics and leave the algebraic complications to Mathematica® .

Zimmerman and Olness take the reader beyond the “textbook” solutions. They challenge students to cross-check their results using the wide variety of Mathematica's analytical, numerical, and graphical tools.

  • Mathematica® for Physics, Second Edition provides Mathematica® solutions for the canonical problems in the physics curriculum.
  • The book uses Mathematica® to develop the students' use of visualization in problem solving.
  • The graphical capability of Mathematica® is emphasized to enhance student intuition for the physics behind a given problem.

  • Two new chapters on Nonlinear Oscillating Systems and Discrete Dynamical Systems have been added to bring the book up to date.
  • Content from First Edition Chapter 6 has been expanded into a new Chapter 7 — Orbiting Bodies — improving the flow of topics and providing more flexibility in content.
  • A large number of exercises have been added to broaden the range of difficulty of the problem sets. This further enhances the utility of the book for a wide variety of student abilities and different courses (from first to fourth year).



 1. Getting Started.


 2. General Physics.


 3. Oscillating Systems.


 4. NonLinear Oscillating Systems.


 5. Discrete Dynamical Systems.


 6. Lagrangians and Hamiltonians.


 7. Orbiting Bodies.


 8. Electrostatics.


 9. Quantum Mechanics.


10. Relativity and Cosmology.

Fredrick Olness received his B.S. from Duke University (1980), his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin (1982,1985). Continuing his work-across-America tour, he took postdocs at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago (1985-88) and the University of Oregon in Eugene (1988-91), before joining Southern Methodist University in 1991 where he is now an Associate Professor of Physics. He is spending the 1997-98 academic year on sabbatical with the Theoretical Physics Group at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

His research is in theoretical elementary particle physics phenomenology, at the interface between theory and experiment. Specifically, he studies Quantum Chromodynamics (the fundamental force that binds nuclei) to help answer the questions: What are the fundamental building blocks of nature, and what holds them together?

Fredrick initiated the DOE theory grant at SMU in 1992, was awarded an SSC Fellowship in 1993, and is an active member CTEQ collaboration—a novel collaboration of theorists and experimentalists.

He has written over 50 research articles, served as a moderator for international workshops and conferences, and has been an invited speaker for international conferences and summer schools.


View a Sample Chapter PDF:

Pearson Higher Education offers special pricing when you choose to package your text with other student resources. If you're interested in creating a cost-saving package for your students, contact your Pearson Higher Education representative for pricing and ordering information.

Pearson Higher Education offers special pricing when you choose to package your text with other student resources. If you're interested in creating a cost-saving package for your students contact your Pearson Higher Education representative.


Copyright ©2008 Pearson Education. All rights reserved. Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Permissions