View source for Electricity and Magnetism (book)

{{Short description|Edward M. Purcell's 1965 Electromagnetism textbook}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox book
| name          = Electricity and Magnetism
| author        = [[Edward Mills Purcell]]
| image         = Purcell Electricity and Magnetism 2nd cover.jpg
| caption       = Cover of the 2nd edition of the book, published in 1985
| genre         = Textbook
| pub_date      = 1st: 1965<br/>2nd: 1985<br />3rd: 2013
| subject       = [[Physics]] ([[electromagnetism]])
| language      = English
| country       = America
| dewey         = 
| congress      = 
| oclc          = 
| pages         = xxii + 839 + 2
| website       = 
}}

'''''Electricity and Magnetism''''' is a standard [[List of textbooks in electromagnetism|textbook in electromagnetism]] originally written by Nobel laureate [[Edward Mills Purcell]] in 1963.<ref name="10.1063/pt.5.3001"/> Along with [[David Griffiths (physicist)|David Griffiths]]' ''[[Introduction to Electrodynamics]]'', this book is one of the most widely adopted [[undergraduate]] [[textbook]]s in [[electromagnetism]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kharel|first=Savan|date=2019-06-01|title=Electromagnetism textbook bridges the gap between basic and advanced|journal=Physics Today|volume=72|issue=6|pages=58–59|doi=10.1063/PT.3.4230|bibcode=2019PhT....72f..58K|issn=0031-9228|doi-access=free}}</ref> A [[Space race|Sputnik-era]] project funded by the [[National Science Foundation]] grant, the book is influential for its [[Relativistic electromagnetism|use of relativity]] in the presentation of the subject at the undergraduate level.<ref name=Stroke>{{Cite journal|last=Stroke|first=Henry|date=August 2013|title=Electricity and Magnetism Electricity and Magnetism , Edward M. Purcell and David J. Morin, Cambridge U. Press, New York, 2013. $80.00 (853 pp.). ISBN 978-1-107-01402-2|url=http://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/PT.3.2085|journal=Physics Today|language=en|volume=66|issue=8|pages=48–50|doi=10.1063/PT.3.2085|issn=0031-9228}}</ref> In 1999, it was noted by [[Norman Foster Ramsey Jr.]] that the book was widely adopted and has many foreign translations.<ref name=ramsey>{{Cite journal|last=Ramsey|first=Norman F.|date=1999|title=Edward Mills Purcell (30 August 1912-7 March 1997)|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3181961|journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society|volume=143|issue=3|pages=481–483|jstor=3181961|issn=0003-049X}}</ref>

The 1965 edition, now supposed to be freely available due to a condition of the federal grant, was originally published as a volume of the ''[[Berkeley Physics Course]]'' ([[#Legal status|see below for more on the legal situation.]]) The third edition, released in 2013, was written by David J. Morin for [[Cambridge University Press]] and included the adoption of [[SI]] units.

==Background==
The Berkeley Series was influenced by [[MIT]]’s [[Physical Science Study Committee]] that was formed shortly before Sputnik was launched in 1956. The satellite could be seen from rooftops at MIT with times published in the local Boston newspapers.<ref name=Stroke /> The [[space race]] caused a shake-up in the US scientific establishment and it led to new approaches to science education in the US.<ref name=Stroke />

==Contents (3rd edition)==
{{div col|colwidth=16em}} <!-- column width of 10em ; default width is 30em -->
# Electrostatics: charges and fields
# The electric potential
# Electric fields around conductors
# Electric currents
# The fields of moving charges
# The magnetic field
# Electromagnetic induction
# Alternating-current circuits
# Maxwell's equations and electromagnetic waves
# Electric fields in matter
# Magnetic fields in matter
{{div col end}}

==Criticism==
In 1966, Benjamin F. Bayman reviewed the first edition.<ref name=Bayman>{{Cite journal|last=Bayman|first=Benjamin F.|date=1966|title=Electricity and Magnetism|url=http://aapt.scitation.org/doi/10.1119/1.1973567|journal=American Journal of Physics|language=en|volume=34|issue=9|pages=830|doi=10.1119/1.1973567|bibcode=1966AmJPh..34..830P|hdl=10821/2745|issn=0002-9505|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Bayman both commended and criticized the book. He questioned whether the book is appropriate for college sophomores to read, and commended the book, calling it as a "beautiful book on electricity and magnetism".<ref name=Bayman /> Bayman highlights the chapters that deal with magnetic and electric fields in matter.

According to a 1998 review of the second edition,<ref name="AJSmith">{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=A. J. Stewart |author-link=Arthur John Stewart Smith |date=1998-10-12 |title=Electricity and Magnetism |url=https://aapt.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1119/1.14654 |journal=American Journal of Physics |language=en |volume=54 |issue=3 |pages=287 |doi=10.1119/1.14654 |issn=0002-9505 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10821/2745}}</ref> the first edition "has not aged" and was "the best introductory textbook I have seen". The reviewer points out that the [[Berkeley Physics Series]] limitations and the book's dearth of references to wave phenomena are its two biggest issues. The review states that the "results are spectacular" and that problems were resolved in the latest edition.<ref name=AJSmith />

The main criticism of the book, according to a 2012 review of a second edition, is that it doesn't provide answers for the problems that are presented at the conclusion of each chapter.<ref name="vogel2">{{Cite journal |last=Vogel |first=Manuel |date=2012-05-01 |title=Electricity and Magnetism, 2nd ed., by Edward Purcell |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00107514.2012.661792 |journal=Contemporary Physics |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=287–288 |doi=10.1080/00107514.2012.661792 |issn=0010-7514 |s2cid=121025600}}</ref> The reviewer notes that the lack of many calculation examples in the text made this issue worse.<ref name="vogel2">{{Cite journal |last=Vogel |first=Manuel |date=2012-05-01 |title=Electricity and Magnetism, 2nd ed., by Edward Purcell |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00107514.2012.661792 |journal=Contemporary Physics |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=287–288 |doi=10.1080/00107514.2012.661792 |issn=0010-7514 |s2cid=121025600}}</ref> Another issue raised was the book's usage of [[cgs units]] rather than [[SI units]].<ref name="vogel2">{{Cite journal |last=Vogel |first=Manuel |date=2012-05-01 |title=Electricity and Magnetism, 2nd ed., by Edward Purcell |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00107514.2012.661792 |journal=Contemporary Physics |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=287–288 |doi=10.1080/00107514.2012.661792 |issn=0010-7514 |s2cid=121025600}}</ref> The review continues, stating that "despite the criticism, this text is very beautifully written and gives a well-structured and clear insight into the topic" and "can be recommended to any student" for use in an introductory course on electromagnetic.

[[Norman Foster Ramsey Jr.]] called it a "excellent introductory textbook" in his 1999 obituary for Purcell.<ref name="ramsey" /> [[Roy Schwitters]] writes in a Physics Today review of [[Andrew Zangwill's]] Electrodynamics that he advises undergraduates to pick up the third edition of this book. [[Jermey N. A. Mathews]] listed it as one of the five books that stood out in [[Physics Today]] in 2013, acknowledging that there were issues with the previous writings, however, the publication noted that "clearly, Purcell's E&M matures slowly."<ref name="Mathews">{{Cite journal|last=Matthews|first=Jermey N. A.|date=2013-12-27|title=The year in reviews: Five books that stood out in 2013|journal=Physics Today|url=https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.5.3006/abs/|language=EN|doi=10.1063/PT.5.3006}}</ref>

In 2013, Michael Belsley<ref name=belsley>{{Cite journal|last=Belsley|first=Michael|date=2013-09-01|title=Electricity and Magnetism, by Edward M. Purcell and David J. Morin|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00107514.2013.836250|journal=Contemporary Physics|volume=54|issue=5|pages=261–262|doi=10.1080/00107514.2013.836250|s2cid=117992397|issn=0010-7514}}</ref> noted that the third edition of the textbook was a significant improvement, especially appreciating its treatment of magnetism as a [[Theory of relativity|relativistic phenomenon]].<ref name=belsley /> In 2013, ''Conquering the Physics GRE'' described the third edition as an elegant introduction that emphasizes physical concepts over mathematical formalism.<ref name=greprep>{{Cite book|last1=Kahn|first1=Yoni|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DvFKDwAAQBAJ&q=purcell|title=Conquering the Physics GRE|last2=Anderson|first2=Adam|author2-link=Adam Anderson (physicist)|date=2018-03-01|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-32125-9|language=en|page=xii}}</ref> In 2013, Sam Nolan praised it as an excellent updated introduction to the classic 50-year-old text. Another review referred to the third edition as a welcome update to the original work.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nolan|first=Sam|date=2013|title=Electricity and Magnetism (3rd ed.) by E Purcell and D Morin|url=https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/new-directions/article/view/507|journal=New Directions in the Teaching of Physical Sciences|language=en|issue=9|pages=109|doi=10.29311/ndtps.v0i9.507|issn=2051-3615|doi-access=free}}</ref> Another review referred to the third edition as a welcome update to the original work.<ref name=Stroke />

==Legal status==
Because it was funded by the National Science Foundation, the original editions of the Berkeley Physics Series contained notices on their copyright pages stating that the books were to be available royalty-free in five years. The copyright page<ref name="stackexchange/130087">{{cite web |title=library - How to preserve a rare version of a book respecting the copyright as well? |url=https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/130087/how-to-preserve-a-rare-version-of-a-book-respecting-the-copyright-as-well |website=Academia [[Stack Exchange]] |access-date=15 February 2023 |language=en |date=2019-05-04 |quote=This is the copyright page from the first edition}}</ref> of the original 1965 edition of ''Electricity and Magnetism'' includes a notice stating that it is available for use by authors and publishers on a royalty-free basis after 1970. The authors got lump-sum payments but did not receive [[royalties]].<ref>A. Carl Helmholtz, "Faculty governance and physics at the University of California, Berkeley, 1937-1990 : oral history transcript / 1993"</ref> The copyright page of the 1965 edition says to obtain a royalty-free license from Education Development Center.<ref name="stackexchange/130087"/>
<blockquote>Copyright © 1963, 1964, 1965 by [[Education Development Center]], Inc. (successor by merger to Education Services Incorporated).<br/>
...<br/>
Education Development Center, Inc., [[Newton, Massachusetts]]<br/>
...<br/>
The copyright owner will give permission for the use of the original work in the English language after January 1, 1975. For conditions of use, permission to use, and for other permissions, apply to the copyright owner.<br/>
— [[Tata Group|Tata]] [[McGraw-Hill]] edition<ref name="stackexchange/130087"/><ref name="hdl/10821/2745">{{cite journal |last1=Bose |first1=A. |title=Review: Electricity and Magnetism |journal=Indian Journal of Physics |date=1966 |volume=40 |pages=154–156 |url=http://arxiv.iacs.res.in:8080/jspui/handle/10821/2745 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220826153016/http://arxiv.iacs.res.in:8080/jspui/handle/10821/2745 |archive-date=26 August 2022 |access-date=15 February 2023 |publisher=[[Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science]] |quote=IACS Institutional Repository: Electricity and Magnetism}}</ref></blockquote>

Education Development Center's copyright to the 1965<ref name="archive/electricitymagne00purc">{{cite book |last1=Purcell |first1=Edward M. |title=Electricity and Magnetism |date=1965 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |location=New York |isbn=978-0-07-004859-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/electricitymagne00purc |access-date=15 February 2023 |quote=Books to Borrow}}</ref><ref name="openlibrary/OL16806064W">{{cite web |last1=Purcell |first1=Edward Mills |author1-link=Edward Mills Purcell |title=Electricity and magnetism (1965 edition) |url=https://openlibrary.org/works/OL16806064W/Electricity_and_magnetism |website=[[Open Library]] |access-date=15 February 2023 |language=en}}</ref> edition now belongs to Edward Mills Purcell's sons, Dennis W. Purcell (Harvard 1962)<ref name="nytimes/purcell-84-dies"/><ref name="thecrimson/purcell-dies"/> and Frank B. Purcell (Harvard 1965).<ref name="thecrimson/purcell-dies">{{cite news |title=Physicist Edward Purcell Dies |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1997/3/11/physicist-edward-purcell-dies-pgage-university/ |access-date=15 February 2023 |work=[[The Harvard Crimson]] |date=1997-03-11}}</ref><ref name="nytimes/purcell-84-dies">{{cite news |title=Dr. Edward Purcell, 84, Dies; Shared Nobel Prize in Physics |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/10/us/dr-edward-purcell-84-dies-shared-nobel-prize-in-physics.html |access-date=15 February 2023 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=10 March 1997 |quote=Dennis, of Medford, Mass., and Frank, of Arlington, Mass. A brother, Robert W., of Houston}}</ref><!-- http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/purcell-e-m.pdf https://history.aip.org/phn/11603005.html https://www.jstor.org/stable/3181961 --><ref name="washingtonpost/purcell-dies">{{cite news |last1=Weil |first1=Martin |title=Nobel-Winning Physicist Edward Purcell Dies |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1997/03/09/nobel-winning-physicist-edward-purcell-dies/a7049daf-d43d-4dcf-9499-f12b4a266633/ |access-date=15 February 2023 |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |date=9 March 1997}}</ref><ref name="10.1063/pt.5.3001">{{cite journal |last1=Matthews |first1=Jermey N. A. |title=Questions and answers with David J. Morin |journal=Physics Today |date=12 August 2013 |url=https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/pt.5.3001/full/  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130114153/https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.5.3001/full/ |archive-date=30 November 2021 |doi=10.1063/pt.5.3001 |quote=So I contacted Ed Purcell's sons, Dennis and Frank, and also Cambridge University Press, and everyone was on board. |access-date=15 February 2023}}</ref>

Benjamin Crowell,<ref>{{cite web |title=creator:"Benjamin Crowell" |url=https://archive.org/search?query=creator%3A%22Benjamin+Crowell%22 |website=[[Internet Archive]] |access-date=15 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Benjamin Crowell |url=https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Crowell%2C%20Benjamin |website=[[The Online Books Page]] |access-date=15 February 2023}}</ref><ref name="lightandmatter/purcell">{{cite web |last1=Crowell |first1=Benjamin |title=Purcell, Electricity and Magnetism |url=http://www.lightandmatter.com/purcell/ |website=Light and Matter: open-source physics textbooks |access-date=15 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303213911/http://www.lightandmatter.com/purcell/ |archive-date=3 March 2014}}</ref> a retired<ref name="lightandmatter/author">{{cite web |last1=Crowell |first1=Benjamin |title=about the author |url=https://www.lightandmatter.com/area4author.html |website=Light and Matter: open-source physics textbooks |access-date=15 February 2023}}</ref> [[Fullerton College]] physics teacher, wrote that Cambridge University Press refused to provide him the contact information for the copyright owner, but instead forwarded the request to the copyright owner. Crowell wrote that this made it effectively impossible to obtain the royalty-free license promised under the original government contract and that this uncertainty places an open-source version of the first edition in legal limbo.<ref name="bitbucket/crowell/purcell">{{cite web |last1=Crowell |first1=Benjamin |title=a free clone of the 1965 edition of Purcell's Electricity and Magnetism |url=https://bitbucket.org/ben-crowell/purcell |website=[[Bitbucket]] |access-date=14 February 2023}}</ref><ref name="physicsforums/727335">{{cite web |last1=Crowell |first1=Benjamin |title=Free edition of Purcell, Electricity and Magnetism |url=https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/free-edition-of-purcell-electricity-and-magnetism.727335/ |website=Physics Forums |access-date=15 February 2023 |quote=Staff Emeritus  Science Advisor  Insights Author  Gold Member}}</ref>

The reporting of the ''Electricity and Magnetism'' [[Open Access]] book project refers to electronic versions of the royalty-free first edition currently available on the internet.<ref name="stackexchange/130087"/>

==Original publication history==
*{{cite book |last1=Purcell |first1=Edward M. |title=Electricity and Magnetism |date=1965 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |edition=1st |location=New York |isbn=978-0-07-004859-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/electricitymagne00purc |via=[[archive.org]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Purcell |first1=Edward M. |title=Solutions Manual to Accompany Electricity and Magnetism: Berkeley Physics Course, Volume 2, First Edition |date=1966 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |url= |language=en}}<ref name="google/books=KSYhAQAAIAAJ">{{cite book |author1=Copyright Office |title=Catalog of Copyright Entries. Third Series: 1966: Title Index |date=1968 |publisher=Library of Congress |page=12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KSYhAQAAIAAJ&dq=Purcell&pg=PA12 |access-date=15 February 2023 |language=en}}</ref>
*{{Cite book|last=Purcell|first=Edward M.|title=Electricity and magnetism|date=1985|edition=2nd| publisher=[[McGraw Hill]]|isbn=978-0-07-004908-6}}
* {{cite book |last1=Purcell |first1=Edward M. |title=Solutions Manual to Accompany Electricity and Magnetism: Berkeley Physics Course, Volume 2, Second Edition |date=1985 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |url= |language=en}}
*{{Cite book|last1=Purcell|first1=Edward M.|title=Electricity and Magnetism|date=2013|edition=3rd|last2=Morin|first2=David J.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-01402-2}}

==International editions==
*{{Cite book|last=Purcell, Edward M.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/60440819|title=Elektrizität und Magnetismus : Edward M. Purcell. [Übers. aus dem Amerikan. von Eike Gerstenhauer].|date=1989|publisher=Vieweg|others=Gerstenhauer, Eike., Kittel, Charles.|isbn=3-528-38352-6|edition=4., neubearb. Aufl|location=Braunschweig|language=de|oclc=60440819}}

==See also==
{{Portal bar|Books|Physics|border=n}}
* [[List of textbooks in electromagnetism]]

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=20em}}

==External links==
* {{cite web |author1=[[Harvard Project Physics]] |title=Circular Slide Rule |url=http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1215007 |website=[[National Museum of American History]] |access-date=15 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151014191941/http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1215007 |archive-date=14 October 2015}}
* {{Cite web|title=Electricity and Magnetism|url=https://scholar.harvard.edu/david-morin/electricity-and-magnetism|access-date=2020-10-11|website=scholar.harvard.edu|language=en}}
* {{Cite web|title=Electricity and Magnetism [errata]|url=https://scholar.harvard.edu/david-morin/electricity-and-magnetism|access-date=2020-10-11|website=scholar.harvard.edu|language=en}}
* [https://bitbucket.org/ben-crowell/purcell Purcell, Electricity and Magnetism, 1st edition] - an unfinished, due to [[#Legal status|legal status]], [[Open Access]] book project, in [[LaTeX]] format, depending on the [[royalty-free]] license

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1965 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:1985 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:2013 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Electromagnetism]]
[[Category:Physics textbooks]]
[[Category:Undergraduate education]]