More on "Medical Physics: the Perfect Intermediate Level Physics Class"

Nelson Christensen's article “Medical Physics: the Perfect Intermediate Level Physics Class” (European Journal of Physics, Volume 22, Pages 421–427, 2001) contains a section devoted to textbooks (see my October 5 blog entry for more on Christensen’s paper). He writes

There are numerable good sources and books that one may draw upon for a course like this, however we found no text that covered all of the topics we wanted. Our class primarily used Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology (3rd edn) by Hobbie [1]. This book covers a wide array of topics, and has a large number of problems to draw from. The level of the text was, at times, too advanced for undergraduates, and more suitable to graduate students in biomedical engineering. The book also lacks detailed examinations of imaging techniques, especially ultrasound.

Well, the 4th edition contains a new chapter on Sound and Ultrasound. If Christensen liked the “large number of problems,” he’s going to love having 44% more problems in the latest edition. Is the book at times too advanced for undergraduates? The level didn’t change much between the 3rd and 4th editions. We tried to aim the text toward upper level undergraduates. You’ll have to decide for yourself if we hit the mark.