Superconductivity

Superconductivity is a counterintuitive phenomenon, and although it has been known about for nearly a century, the reasons for it happening can seem somewhat obscure. In this short book Ginzburg and Andryushin explain the subject in easy to follow way, but without oversimplifying things too much, and I found that it clarified several things in my mind concerning superconductivity and the Meissner effect. No prior experience of the subject is required to read the book, although it would be helpful for the reader to have some background scientific knowledge. The text is easy to read, although sometimes a sentence seems a bit stilted. I would recommend the book to readers who have read a little about superconductivity and would like to find out more about the subject without getting into technicalities.

The book starts by looking at the discovery of superconductivity by Kamerlingh-Onnes, as well as the Meissner effect, that is the expulsion of a magnetic field by a superconductivity. It then goes on to look at further physics of superconductivity, in particular the difference between type I and type II superconductors. The third chapter looks at the reasons for the occurence of superconductivity and related phenomena, explaining the formation of Cooper pairs. The last two chapters look at the applications of superconductivity and the recent flurry of interest in high temperature superconductors.