In preparing this new edition of Modern Physics, we have again relied heavily on the
many helpful suggestions from a large team of reviewers and from a host of instructor
and student users of the earlier editions. Their advice reflected the discoveries that
have further enlarged modern physics in the first decade of the new century, took note
of the evolution that is occurring in the teaching of physics in colleges and universities,
and recognized the growing role of modern physics in the biological sciences. As the
term modern physics has come to mean the physics of the modern era—relativity and
quantum theory—we have heeded the advice of many users and reviewers and preserved
the historical and cultural flavor of the book while being careful to maintain the
mathematical level of the earlier editions. We continue to provide the flexibility for
instructors to match the book and its supporting ancillaries to a wide variety of teaching
modes, including both one- and two-semester courses and media-enhanced courses