Synopses & Reviews
'This book sets out to demonstrate the purpose and critical approach that should be made to all experimental work in physics. It does not describe a systematic course in practical work. The present edition retains the basic outlook of earlier editions, but modifications have been madein response to important changes in computational and experimental methods in the past decade. The text is in three parts. The first deals with the statistical treatment of data, and here the text has been extensively revised to take account of the now widespread use of electronic calculators. The second deals with experimental methods, giving details of particular experiments that demonstrate the art and craft of the experimenter. The third part deals with such essential matters as keeping efficient records, accuracy in arithmetic, and writing good, scientific English.'
Review
'Dr Squires has made a very worthwhile contribution to the surprisingly small number of modern textbooks available on this subject.' New Scientist
Review
'I envy Squire's students! All other students should wish to own this book for the wealth of advice it gives them ...'. Contemporary Physics
Review
'This is a quite invaluable book for those at, or nearing, undergraduate level.' The Times Educational Supplement
Review
'... a distillation of the wisdom acquired through many years of undergraduate teaching and will surely establish itself as an integral feature of physics courses and associated teaching laboratories all over the world.' British Book News
Synopsis
New edition of classic textbook companion for any undergraduate course in practical experimental physics.
Synopsis
This book sets out to demonstrate the purpose and critical approach that should be made to all experimental work in physics. It does not describe a systematic course in practical work. The present edition retains the basic outlook of earlier editions, but modifications have been made in response to important changes in computational and experimental methods in the past decade. The text is in three parts. The first deals with the statistical treatment of data, and here the text has been extensively revised to take account of the now widespread use of electronic calculators. The second deals with experimental methods, giving details of particular experiments that demonstrate the art and craft of the experimenter. The third part deals with such essential matters as keeping efficient records, accuracy in arithmetic, and writing good, scientific English.
Synopsis
This classic companion to undergraduate experimental work in physics covers the statistical treatment of data, experimental methods, and gives advice on keeping efficient records, calculations, and scientific writing. It contains numerous examples and exercises. This new up-to-date edition includes further statistics, new experimental material, and worked examples based on spreadsheets.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [206]-208) and index.
About the Author
Gordon L Squires has been a Lecturer in Physics at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge since 1956. Since then he has been a Visiting Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1970) and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1977-78).
Table of Contents
Preface; 1. The object of practical physics; Part I. Statistical Treatment of Data: 2. Introduction to errors; 3. Treatment of a single variable; 4. Further topics in statistical theory; 5. Common sense in errors; Part II. Experimental Methods: 6. Some laboratory instruments and methods; 7. Some experimental techniques; 8. Experimental logic; 9. Common sense in experiments; Part III. Record and Calculations: 10. Record of the experiment; 11. Graphs; 12. Arithmetic; 13. Writing a paper; Appendices; Solutions to exercises; Some useful books; References; Index.