Lectures on Theoretical Physics, Volume 2

by David Tong

There are four forces in our universe. Two act only at the very smallest scales and one only at the very biggest. For everything inbetween, there is electromagnetism. The theory of electromagnetism is described by four gloriously simple and beautiful vector calculus equations known as the Maxwell equations. These are the first genuinely fundamental equations that we meet in our physics education and they survive, essentially unchanged, in our best modern theories of physics. They also serve as a blueprint for what subsequent laws of physics look like. This textbook takes us on a tour of the Maxwell equations and their many solutions. It starts with the basics of electric and magnetic phenomena and explains how their unification results in waves that we call light. It then describes more advanced topics such as superconductors, monopoles, radiation, and electromagnetism in matter. The book concludes with a detailed review of the mathematics of vector calculus.

450 pages, Paperback

Published June 18, 2025

About the author

David Tong is your average Malaysian guy - down-to-earth and handsome. Bread and buttered at the King George Vth. School, Seremban after the WWII, he was thereafter trained as a teacher at the Kirkby College in Liverpool, England. In addition to a number of years as a teacher of English as a second language, his background encompasses sales and marketing, and general and agency management.

Now retired, David spends most of his senior years laughing over both old and new jokes, believing that laughter is certainly good medicine for his bones. When he is not laughing in his sarung at his home in Kuala Lumpur, David can be found sipping teh tarik at his favorite mamak stall, making quirky remarks and spinning frivolous kopitiam years with his cronies.