don't buy this, buy Griffiths' instead!
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I struggled along for ages learning particle physics with this book, which was the recommended book in the final year of my degree course. The vocabularly particularly is much harder than it needs to be, sometimes uses several different terms for the same thing, but only defining one of them (of course it doesn't explain that, you have to work it out). This is probably in part is because it is an older book, written before the current vocabularly of particle physicists was established. This also results in plenty of the terminology used by the younger generation of particle physicists not featuring in the book at all.
Other faults are the frequent skipping over of non-trival lines of algebra, and failure to explain clearly the underlying principles behind the maths.
Eventually (but too late for my first degree) a colleague introduced me to 'Introduction to Elementary Particles' by David Griffiths which covers almost exactly the same material as Halzen and Martin, but is infinitely more understandable. Now I rarely refer to Halzen and Martin because I always find the answer in Griffiths first.
It is possible Halzen and Martin may find a use with those wanting a slightly historical perspective on the subject, though even in this case I would still recommend using it in conjunction with a more understandable book like Griffiths. This just isn't a book to solely rely on.
In short, if you are considering buying this book, buy Griffiths instead.
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Excellent theoretical coverage
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Halzen & Martin's book provides a perfect & virtually complete course in particle physics. It even functions as a primer on relativistic quantum mechanics and gauge field theory. Overall : full
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