“Fundamental University Physics” by Alonso and Finn - out of date?

[phish21]

Hi,
I was going through “Fundamental University Physics” by Alonso and Finn, and I’m wondering how much of it is out of date. Obviously the tone and style is from the 60s, but if I were to go through all 3 volumes in depth, how much of the info would be inaccurate/wrong based on what we know today? Thanks.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Newton's Laws have not changed in centuries. E&M and thermo, not in a century and a half. What exactly are you worried about?

 

[phish21]

Mainly book 3 on quantum mechanics. That said, we see other physics texts get new additions every so often to correct mistakes and update the text. Does Alonso and Finn suffer because it is ‘out of date’?

 

[Vanadium 50]

The Schroedinger Equation is not yet a century old. It's only 97.

 

[jtbell]

Textbook publishers sometimes release new editions because they (or the authors) think they are genuine improvements from a pedagogical point of view. More often, it's because they want to protect their revenue stream. They change the content enough to change the page numbers and exercise numbers, so that professors have to update their syllabi to reflect the new editions. This is more likely in the US, where it is the custom for professors to produce detailed syllabi with day-to-day lists of page numbers for reading assignments, and exercise numbers for homework which is to be submitted for grading/marking. This makes it difficult or impossible for students to use old editions.

 

[MidgetDwarf]

It is one of the best introductory series textbook on physics. It uses calculus from the onset, and almost everything is derived from first principal. You are extremely lucky to have these books.

 

[mpresic3]

I cannot say for sure how much of Alonso and Finn is out of date, but I did run across it in a library one day. It looks like a good textbook. I was raised with Halliday/Resnick, and I thought this was instructive, but just browsing, I cannot say Alonso/Finn is worse.
As far as learning out of date knowlege, as long as you have an mind open to new supportable facts and theories, you need not fear a little out of date knowlege. After 50 years, it is clear to me that many facts that were presented, as well as subtle details in the theories need to be modified, but not dispensed with. As other members of the forum have indicated, physical laws endure throughout time.
One note though. It may be possible when you do the problems you may not get quite the same numerical values the back of the book gives. (If Alonso and Finn has an answer key). I found several years ago in using a old pre-1980 version of Halliday and Resnick, that I often got a slightly different answer. Luckily though, I was well versed and did the same numerical evaluation with a slide rule rather than a electronic calculator. Many time the slide rule evaluation agreed with the answer key. Keep in mind, the answer key in the old books were created in a era when the slide rule "ruled" the Earth.