Like its predecessor, this book by the renowned physicist Sir Rudolf Peierls draws from many diverse fields of theoretical physics to present problems in which the answer differs from what our intuition had led us to expect. In some cases an apparently convincing approximation turns out to be misleading; in others a seemingly unmanageable problem turns out to have a simple answer. Peierls's intention, however, is not to treat theoretical physics as unpredictable game in which such surprises happen at random. Instead he shows how in each case careful thought could have prepared us for the outcome.
Peierls has chosen problems mainly from his own experience or that of his collaborators, often showing how classic problems can lend themselves to new insights. His book is aimed at both graduate students and their teachers. Praise for Surprises in Theoretical Physics:
