This is the one you are most likely to use as an undergrad in physics. It's been called "verbose", but I appreciate that many steps are explicitly spelled out in this book. I have used Wangsness, also good, for a review before grad school, but Griffiths is the best.

I'm a chemistry and physics student. This electricity and magnetism book is absolutely fantastic. Griffiths explains all the concepts completely and clearly. The proofs and examples and problems are all presented in ways that are easy for beginners to understand. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in electricity and magnetism. If all science textbook authors wrote like Griffiths, physics would be a cake walk.

I used the greek translation for my undergrad electrodynamics. I would agree with some reviewers that it might not be too mathematically advanced. But you need to read it to understand the fundamentals. It gives a very clear and crisp view of the fundamental theory of electromagnetism. If you want to go beyond that and use more advanced mathematics try Electricity and Magnetism (Berkeley Physics Course - Volume 2) which is an amazing book. I think with these two you are unbeatable.

This book was a part of my favorite physics course ever, Electricity and Magnetism. The excersises are of great value to anyone taking entrance exams or the GRE subject test. Explanations may take a few tries to grasp fully but if you do the proper math reviews and take the time to become intimate with the material you will be rewarded with a superior understanding of the subject.

I didn't really learn vector calculus until this book came along. It does in a few paragraphs that takes a whole section in a calc book to do and makes more sense.

Ok ... with monotonous contrived problems. Purcell is inspirational at the beginning-honors level while Becker is good at the intermediate level. Griffiths is mediocre and yet the 'standard'?

Let's just summarise here
Pro's to buying this book and using properly...
1. You will actually learn Electrostatics
2. You will actually learn Magnetostatics
3. You will actually learn Electrodynamics

Con's to buying this book and using properly...
1. There will not be much left to learn about electrodynamics (at least on an introductory scale).

This book is typical of most E&M text books. They present E&M as a collection of symbols and rules for manipulating them. I have spent months with this and other E&M books trying to put together a coherent, logical, sturcture of the subject and just can't do it. I am stymied at virtually every page. Just a typical example. Dielectrics are developed from the formula for the potential of a dipole with the following observation: "But a little sleight-of-hand casts this integral into a much more illuminating form. Observing that...)" I don't "observe that." But let's suppose you somehow "observe" that. Then the formula for potential is put into a new form. Then "integrating by parts" & "product rule number 5" puts it into another new form from which "the first term looks like the potential of a surface charge...,while the second term looks like the potential of a volume charge." OK, got it? Now you "understand" dielectrics. Now take this "understanding" and try to solve one of the problems. They might as well be written in arabic.

The whole thing reminds me of the transition from classic to modern art, from the likes of Rembrandt, Michelangelo, and Beethoven to Picasso, modern aharmonic music, and the modern sculptures that desecrate beautiful classic architecture. Or the "new math."

If you agonize your way through this book and an elementary physics text book you will be left with what is in the physics text. If you like to memorize symbols and math rules and do lots of algebra, this is the book for you.

If somehow you manage to acquire a scrap of understanding the application of special relativity will so utterly demolish it you probably will no longer be capable of screwing in a light bulb.

I suspect the objective is to weed out the great scientists and engineers (the DaVincis) and let through the symbol and rule memorizers (abstractionists). This will lead to a feudal society where almost everybody does manual labor, because they can't do anything else, and a few priveleged individuals who labor in "Institutes of Higher Learning" where higher learning is defined as the manipulation of symbols according to prescribed rules.

Yet it amazes me that the rules for manipulation are so "intuitive" and slap-dash. I would expect, for the sake of philosophical consistency, that all the mathematical manipulation would begin with set theoretic formulations, including number theory and topology, and proofs of continuity. But oh no, when it comes to "their" language, only the most loose and intuitive will do.

I have a lot of books on E&M. Some insight can be garnered from the following: "Kurrelmeyer & Mais, E&M," and "Clement & Johnson, Electrical Engineering Science, chapts 1 & 3."

I have a doctorate in engineering science. What I learned in the process, and which stood me in good stead throughout my engineering career, came from a few good courses at the college level where I learned how things work and how to think. I do find Math and Physics quite enjoyable, but not this E&M combination.

According to the Preface, this book was designed for classroom use. Maybe so. But it's the best self-study book on Emags I have found in 4 months of searching.

This is the first author that acknowledges some of the more common mathematical pitfalls (the ones mathematicians all too often get into and really can't get out of). CHECK THIS!:

(from page 10)

"The definition of a vector as 'a quantity with a magnitude and direction' is not altogether satisfactory: What precisely does ' direction' mean? This may seem a pedantic question, but we shall shortly encounter a species of derivative that looks rather like a vector, and we'll want to know for sure whether it is one."

If you're looking for a fast, straight-forward way to get a better understanding of e-mags, this is it. Overall, this book is WAY, WAY better than Volume II of Feynman (Feynman still has own tricks, suspect he will always keep his edge in some ways; QED by Feynman was written more in the style of Griffin than Feynman's Volume II).

According to the Preface, this book was designed for classroom use. Maybe so. But it's the best self-study book on Emags that I have found in 4 months of searching.

This is the first author that acknowledges some of the more foolish mistakes of mathematicians. CHECK THIS!:

(from page 10)

"The definition of a vector as 'a quantity with a magnitude and direction' is not altogether satisfactory: What precisely does ' direction' mean? This may seem a pedantic question, but we shall shortly encounter a species of derivative that looks rather like a vector, and we'll want to know for sure whether it is one."

If you're looking for fast, straight-forward way to get a better understanding of e-mags, this is it. Overall, this book is WAY, WAY better than Feynman (feynman still has own tricks, suspect he will always keep his edge in some ways).

My favorite thing about Griffiths is the way he writes. At times, the book can be a little frustrating, but Dave Griffiths knows how to write a book, and you can tell that he enjoyed it. Its written in the first person, first of all, and the sense of humor that comes with that is very obvious. It is cogent and concise, sometimes to a fault, but always supplies plenty of examples in just the right places that will provide you with everything you need to solve the homework problems. There are times when the problems can seem very difficult, and even impossible, and this is what the solutions manual is for though I wish I wouldn't have had to resort to it as often as I did.

Highly recommended.

This book should be called Intro to Ridiculously Difficult Calculus Problems that Involve Electricity and Magnetism. Unless you have the instructor's solution manual, you can forget about completing the problem sets; provided you are not some E&M genius. It is lacking in derivations, and the sample problems are misleadingly simple. This is by far one of the most frustrating textbooks I have ever used.

A fantastic textbook, ideal for any undergraduate, and highly recommended to a graduate student for a "grounded" reality of what one is talking about in doing problems in Jackson! One can teach oneself from this book. Griffiths is a master of understanding and showing.

This is written as a graduate physicist.

Yes - this is a good intro to electrodynamics, just as everyone says. It isn't a substitute for Jackson - they are in different classes, each with their own intended audiences and purposes. If you're fairly new to the subject, here's a little secret: in addition to this book, get vol 2 of The Feynman Lectures in physics! There's no equal to Richard Feynman when it comes to conveying complex abstractions in ways that even a caveman could understand (not even Geico Insurance). Later, when you're already grounded in the subject, by all means, knock yourself for a loop with Jackson.

Great textbook, amazingly readable, but watch out which edition you have. The so-called "Eastern Economy Edition" (paperback and marketed in Asia)is missing a few things, notably labels on some problem diagrams. If you don't have friends with the real one, be sure to avoid that.

Griffiths does an excellent job presenting the material in an easy to read, conversational manner. He focuses on both the physics and the mathematics in a non-pretentious way, unlike many other books. It may not be as technically deep as, say, Jacksons book, but it gets the job done. Highly recommended.

Unless: a) your professor makes you, b) you have bought Griffiths to actually learn something, c) all of the above. Griffiths should be a mandatory graduate text to introduce and lay foundations for more advanced concepts- it bridges the gap really well.

This book doesn;t really need a review because if you are considering buying it you are probably taking an undergradusate physics class and it is required material.

Electrodynamics is a difficult subject to understand. Based on my experience as an undergrad in Engineering physics the book is the most important part of learning this subject, and this is an outstanding book for learning the fundamentals of electrodynamics. The most important thing you need to rememebr is right on the cover.

This book doesn;t really need a review because if you are considering buying it you are probably taking an undergradusate physics class and it is required material.

Electrodynamics is a difficult subject to understand. Based on my experience as an undergrad in Engineering physics the book is the most important part of learning this subject, and this is an outstanding book for learning the fundamentals of electrodynamics. The most important thing you need to rememebr is right on the cover.

Griffiths is a common undergraduate intermediate E&M textbook - and for good reason. The writing is informal (sometimes bordering on colloquial), which gives the topics an accessibility not found in many other intro E&M texts. However, many of the examples and book problems are quite shallow and demonstrate the concepts only superficially; they stop short of the level of complexity needed to force the reader to carefully analyze the concepts and tie them together. There are, of course, problems of this caliber, but I feel that they are disproportionally few. Purcell's book, another hallmark undergraduate intro E&M text, performs better in making the reader really analyze the fundamentals of E&M, as well as tie E&M and special relativity together in a fundamental way that Griffiths does not. However, Griffiths does cover a broader range of topics.

I would like to start out by saying that in terms of content this book id 5 stars. Use this if you want to learn E&M.

The problem with the book is that it is so poorly put together (along with his quantum book) that it will fall apart with any kind of serious use. I usually keep my texts in such good condition that you couldn't tell I'd used them, but I had to repair this one after only 10 weeks worth of class. My classmate, who has used it for the same, has whole sections of the text falling out of the binding.

Get the book, but wait for a new printing if you can.

When I was an undergraduate, I didn't understand much about electricity and magnetism then I didn't know about the existence of this marvellous book. When I finally found it and bought it and started to study it then for the first time, oh a miracle!, I began to understand electricity and magnetism. This is because this must be the best text on the subject ever written, and it has been so well written that I actually teach my self and succeed in doing so. It brings lots of exercises that help you complement the material presented in each chapter but it's best feature is Griffiths style of writing that he doesn't leave any loose ends, he is all the time calling your attention about the typical mistakes that the student may fall into, I say this book must be on the shelf of every physics student because it is a pleasure to read, to understand, ideally for self study and a bridge to more dense and difficult books on the subject like Jackson's Classical Electrodynamics.

This book is wonderful news to anyone who is frustrated with Jackson, or alternatively, is an excellent preface to it; Chapter 1 is particularly helpful as it presents all the necessary vector analysis, and is filled with illuminating geometrical interpretations to otherwise obscure mathematical creatures.
As in his "Introduction to Q. Mechanics", Griffith seems to really understand the sources of ambiguities in these complex, abstract fields, and gives you the physical and mathematical insights that are so lacking in other textbooks.

A shining star in the quest for the most incomplete work ever published by credible institutions, David Griffiths triumphs over both the competition and his other works with his widely-distributed Third Edition of Introduction to Electrodynamics.

The useful life of this book is 6 months, as that is how long it takes physics students to complete the intermediate level sequence on electricity and magnetism. Because most of the meaningful content of this book that would make it (at least) more complete gets reproduced by teachers in classroom lectures, both graduate students and undergraduate students must redo homework problems, never again to know if their answer is correct, in reassurance that they still know the concepts that they were taught months or years ago. Even the few sections of the book with worded analysis instead of mathematical analysis depend so strongly on the mathematics once again that without a complete word-based definition and explanation, no student can sit down with the book for any less than 30 minutes at a time to identify and restudy key concepts. In fact, the only chance that students have of cutting out 29 of those 30 minutes is by looking at the formulas in the front and back covers of the book, many (particularly those in the back) of which students should already have memorized from completing the sequence. If only Griffiths would add "By looking in the back of the book" before spitting out "Easy" or "Obviously" every few sections, students would not be so nearly put down by such a travesty of a science textbook.

The impossibility for students to learn from the hundreds of missing steps in derivations throughout the book (which you get to see in their entirety for the price of your tuition), the lack of page references or useful word-based explanations of terms, and Griffith's "obvious" attitude problem serve to make Introduction to Electrodynamics the worst book ever.

I used this book for a 5 week course on electrodynamics in graduate school. If you do not have a good back ground in electricity and magnetism you are going to be in over your head very quickly. I only had 1 semester of E and M as an undergrad. The author doesn't present concepts in an organized fashion and their seems to be a lot of hand-waving during derivations.

This book might be better for somebody who has a good background in electrodynamics and would like to use it as an occasional reference.

I used this book for a 5 week course on electrodynamics in graduate school. If you do not have a good back ground in electricity and magnetism you are going to be in over your head very quickly. I only had 1 semester of E and M as an undergrad. The author doesn't present concepts in an organized fashion and their seems to be a lot of hand-waving during derivations. I was expecting to enjoy this book and course but it was a nightmare for me. :(

This book might be better for somebody who has a good background in Electrodynamics and would like to use it as an occasional reference.

This textbook relies on more handwaving arguments than my Quantum textbook! Griffiths seems to be under the impression that he is an astounding mathematician and the reader can barely integrate. The "proofs" of almost every key concept are either fleshed out in "Well suppose... then this might happen..." or altogether left to the reader. It was a fun challenge to actually write a proof for a lot of them, too... maybe Griffiths should have tried it when he wrote the book.
If the reader does every single problem in the book, he or she may have a mid-undergrad level understanding of basic E&M. Very little relativity, and no Quantum mechanical aspects are covered (if I remember correctly).

I agree that Griffiths' is excellent!!!! He's got talent in writing physics textbooks! But one book alone will not give you any deep insight into the subject, besides Griffiths, I've found the following very useful:
1) Introduction to Classical Electrodynamics by Y. K. Lim
9971978857
2) Electromagnetism, 2E by I. S. Grant,
I want to mention that Y. K. Lim's is especially helpful for preparing for the Ph.D qualifying exam. He's the author or editor of the book Problems and Solutions on Electromagnetism (Major American Universities Ph.D. Qualifying Questions and Solutions).
So for the subject itself, for the Qual, or for the GRE subject test, you only need Griffiths and Lim's.

This book is a great introduction to electrodynamics and contains well worked out examples and good problems.

I would recommend not buying it from amazon, however, as I purchased the book "new" and I am fairly certain that they sent me a used copy. The binding failed about a month after I got the book (with light wear), and amazon of course won't replace or refund it. I would suggest a used book store, myself.

As an "introduction" to electrodynamics, it stinks. In addition to being a lousy teacher, the author is an incorrigible egomaniac. It is "I", "me" and "my" all the way. Makes James Clark Maxwell look like author's stable boy. I used this book for a course and hated every moment of it. After having been forced to pay for an entirely useless book (due to the nexus between the publisher and the faculty), it is especially irksome to see the "I" popping all over the place.
Want to have a joyful "introduction" to Physics? Try Sears and Mazurski's "University Physics". It relates Physics to the physical world, what Physics is all about. And you won't have to go search for the books on mechanics which is an essential part of Physics; you will find it all in one superbly-authored, well-produced text book. No wonder it is running into double-digit editions now.
Want to take it further? Try Oleg Jefimenko's book on the subject and you will appreciate what a joy Physics can be.

This book is GREAT. Absolutely fantastic. The writing is very concise and illuminating, but clear enough to be understood by anyone with the appropriate background in calculus. The examples and problems are short and symbollic and result in a deep geometrical understanding of electrostatics and electrodynamics. I studied this book in college in highly recommend it for undergraduate physics majors.

[...].This book is the role model for all other physics textbooks.

You'll find relevant info, relevant examples and relevant problems all mixed together in a sweet soup.

The book is best with the Instructor's solutions manual, I should say. With it, there's only one person who can stop you from learning electrodynamics - you.

If your class is not using this book, [...]convince him/her that there really isn't any other book to prefer on this subject.

Griffiths once made an awful book in Quantum mechanics, thankfully he stayed straight when writing a book on electrodynamics.

This book is the role model for all other physics textbooks.

You'll find relevant info, relevant examples and relevant problems all mixed together in a sweet soup.

The book is best with the Instructor's solutions manual, I should say. With it, there's only one person who can stop you from learning electrodynamics - you.

If your class is not using this book, take a face-to-face talk with your teacher between four eyes and convince him/her that there really isn't any other book to prefer on this subject.

Pros:
- Well Written for the most part
- Never loses sight of the physics behind things, provides some good insight (especially on the time dependent fields/potentials, and radiation sections)
- Strikes an interesting balance between formal and informal, could be used for an intro or a second undergraduate course, depending on what parts the teacher focuses on
- Good first time introduction to solving Laplace's equation, covers separation of variables, and eigenvalue expansions well,

Cons:
- Kind of low level at some points, which is good some times, but at other times, it makes it tricky to follow, for example, in deriving the retarded potential, griffiths simply quotes the final answer, and plugs it in to check that it is the solution. It's much more informative (not to mention less messy, and not unduely difficult) to solve for the green's function to the inhomogeneous wave equation.
- My other complaint is that relativity is introduced very late in the game. It would have been nice to do the covariant formulation of E&M before doing radiation & time dependent potentials, and then the connections to SR could have been made more manifest, and the discussion could have been higher level

Overall:
Good book, though not as good as his QM book. Slightly low level (there still needs to be something halfway in between this and Jackson, to bridge the gap). For undergrad's, I'd recommend using this book primarily, and reading through some of the sections of Jackson as you go to fill in the mathematical rigor.

I took a electromagnetism course as an undergraduate using this book. I could follow the examples given in the book, but the book failed to provide enough information to properly grasp the real concepts of electromagnetism (and do the homework problems too). It didn't help that the prof. wasn't an effective teacher either. With a good instructor, this book may be ok. If you are trying to work through on your own without help, plan to spend ALL your free time doing so. I sure did.

Griffiths informal writing style really shines in this book. Electrodynamics is a course sure to create headaches but with Griffiths the pain is minimized. I really enjoyed this book.

After 11+ years of undergraduate and graduate physics education, I have to say that Griffiths is *the* best text book I've ever used. In any field. Reading it is like having a conversation with the instructor. The problems are fantastic (for the level of the text) and the examples are perfect. If all text books were of this quality, my education would have been much more enjoyable. The text is no replacement for Jackson, since it never attempts electrodynamics at Jackson's level. But for its level of difficulty, you can find no better text. If I could give it 10 stars, I would.

Griffith's treatment is CLEAR and to the point. As an undergraduate, you will learn a lot of the mathematical methods for treating partial differential equations by working through this text. You will also end up with a true, fundamental, deep and ALMOST complete understanding of electrodynamics. As a graduate student, you will probably use this book more than Jackson to prepare for your qualifying exams. You will still need Jackson in certain areas and with respect to certain mathematical methods to more fully understand electromagnetism. The difference between these two becomes starts to become readily apparent from about Jackson's chapter 9 (2nd. ed.) onwards. Jackson goes deep into the use of spherical harmonics and Green's functions for the study of near and far radiation fields, waveguides, cavities, then goes deep into relativistic electrodynamics for particle interactions and so on.

Alex Alaniz Ph.D.

1. Please see the reviews of my own strong science fiction book: Beyond Future Shock about the near-terms perils and promise of advanced bio/nano technology in a world still roiled with Middle Age religious conflict and ever growing extreme wealth gradients.

2. I have REVIEWED many books from undergraduate to graduate in: PHYSICS, MATH, ECONOMETRICS, and HISTORY among other areas.

There is a saying in our department that a little coffee and the front and back covers of Griffiths are all you need to succeed in life.

Besides that, what is inside of Griffiths is an incredibly well developed, conversationally delivered, crystal clear treatment of electrodynamics. This is an invaluable addition to any physicists' collection, and it outshines Jackson in several areas. Highly recommended.

This book is probably the most used one I own. I refer to it for just about everything. You need all the vector calculus equations? There they are on the front cover. Need more info on them? First chapter covers vec. calc. pretty well.

As a beginning grad student in physics this book was invaluable. I lacked the EM background many around me had, but this book saved me. For instance, mutual induction...what the heck is it? I never learned that in undergrad and if I did, I sure don't remember. Well, I could scour my grad text Jackson for a couple hours and still never find a decent explanation or find it used in a much to technical context. Or I can look it up in Griffiths and find it explained with clarity and simplicity. Of course, if you've mastered undergrad EM, Griffiths may be baby food. But I can't imagine living without it. Jackson does go way more into detail but often when looking something up, that is more of a hindrance.

The problems in Griffiths are good because they range from trivial to very difficult. But as far as I know there are no Jackson type problems where you also don't learn anything valuable from them after the first time. Griffiths problems tend to actually teach you and not just drive you to suicide. In fact, I would recommend do many problems from the text that are not assigned because you will learn a lot from his problems. I think that is a sign of a good text book where every aspect of it lends to the learning process.

It's been years since I've been in school when I took a course using this book. Years in the real world, I came back to this book to clear up an issue I had when designing an electronics device that required knowledge of magnetization and, magnetic field density, susceptability, etc. What I came to realize from consulting the book was there are basically no real-life practical problems that have real-life results with real computed values. All the examples only ended up being another equation. Having results such as these are mathematically pretty, perhaps, but always drive me nuts? Does this equation assume that the material is diamagnetic, paramagnetic or ferromagnetic? Also, for new students, concepts such as magneto-motive force, magnetic field density, magnetic field, magnetic flux, magnetic field intensity,etc. are tricky to get a feeling for. Unfortunately, the author's only insight comes with using equations, and examples that result in more equations. You never get an intuitive sense of the magnitudes or directions of various fields, etc. when the answer is so general. It takes a very seasoned physicist to see through such results; a student is left confused, with only equations to create an "intuitive" fundation. What is needed are problems such as "A 4-79 Permalloy material with a 20-gauge insulated wire wrapped around it with a alternating current of 120Hz. Find B, H, M, susceptability, inductance, etc. Doing such a problem requires a focused answer, one that defines a point of measure, one that requires working knowedge of real-life parts (what you do when you get a real job), and provides a practical situation that arise when designing something. Also, there are so many important quantum ideas that should have been included (at least breifly mentioned), so as to bring the study of electrodynamics back to earth. Are university physics departments actually trying to help their students find a job by giving them books such as this?

I am a graduate student in physics, and when I want to do an E&M calculation for my research, I refer to this text, not Jackson. Griffiths gives you the intuitive understanding of E&M that is necessary to tackle the more difficult problems. This was the first physics text that I actually read, rather than just doing the problems and referring to the formulas, and it is still a joy to look back to. Many schools cover this book in two semesters, or leave out sections in a one-semester course, but I did not think that studying the whole text in one semester was too overwhelming.

I am a graduate student in Physics and having learnt Electrodynamics from this book in my undergrad, I recommend this book to all undergrads. Some profs. may say that his style is too personal and not professional but I liked the way he talked in first person. It gave me a impression that I was sitting with him and learning!

About the Book: The first 4 chapters deal with Electrostatics, next two with Magnetostatics and the remaining with Electrodynamics. There are practice problems after each section and tons of problems after each chapter. So, in all there is a lot to practise and apply the concepts.

The book assume little background in Physics and Mathematics. Of course, you should have taken Calc 1 and 2 before starting on this. But the book begins with Vector Calculus which is required for the course.

The book is a great self-study tool. One can work independently and learn all. It is also a good reference book for Grads, especially if they are using Jackson (Classical Electrodynamics). I always go back to it when I do not understand what Jackson says. Again if you are preparing for GRE or Qualifiers, this is the best book you can possibly have!

This probably is the most popular book on the subject for undergraduates. I now believe it is the most popular, not because it is the best, but probably because it is the only book, that is extensive enough to cater to the requirements of a variety of courses, offered around the globe to undergraduates in Electrodynamics.
However, the treatment isnt too good. At a number of places, the author ends up making things looking much more difficult and confusing than they actually are. And at atleast one point, he even says that he expects the student to go through the passage a number of times, before he/she understands it. I find that outrageous. If he knew it was hard to understand, couldnt he put it in a simpler way, rather than asking the student to go through it again and again.
Coming to the exercises, they are hard, particularly the ones at the end of the chapter. And, to add to the students problems, the author doesnt even provide the answers (or hints) to most of them.
Dont waste your money. This book isnt worth it.

This is the best book I have ever read. The writing style is informal, things are explained clearly. The book deserves 5 stars just on the writing style and clarity of presentation. Professor Griffiths displays a mastery of the subject and makes a beautiful subject even more beautiful. Sure this is not a graduate level book but that does not demean it in any sense to Jackson - the two are aimed at different levels. I am a grad student and I still find this book invaluable. Professor Griffiths deserves an award for this work :)

This book is simply the worst. John David Jackson needs to fight with Griffiths in a cage match. I would pay $10 to see that on pay-per-view... and I'm a pacifist. Seriously, though, this is really a terrible book. It is used at Ohio State University in their E&M sequence and everyone I know uses "Classical Electrodynamics" by Jackson to actually learn the material and then uses Griffiths to read the assigned homework problems. If what you want is an intuitive grasp of E&M without having to work too hard - this is PERFECT. But, if you are a serious physics student that wants to go to grad school and you are looking for a rigorous text, then dropping $100 on Griffiths is simply the worst decision you can make. The arguments are hand waving, the motivation is unclear, and the theory of electromagnetism (one of the most beautifully complete physical theories) is ripped apart and disjointed in an effort to hide slightly more complicated mathematics. But, like I said, for some people that is fine because that is all they need. So decide, is that what you want?

Griffiths has very deep understanding of the basics and foundations of physics, with that he writes this self-contained book of E&M.
There's hardly no handwaving things in this book(if there is, Griffiths points it out even before I could realize it), all the important physical facts have been exploered(I really like the physical interpretation of the polarization in linear media). The math is used straight and clear, in fact, if you study the first chapter carefully, there would be no math problem afterwards. The problems are well designed and placed, there're some exercises after every section, so you can test your understanding right-off. The "more problems", I used it when I revisited this book. Some people critisized that there's no solution contained, but I think if you study the book page by page, you should be able to work out most of the problems confidently.
This definately should be the first book on E&M, after read it, you'll think "ah, it's not that hard after all" and benefit from it all the time.

Simple, clear, good examples, organized and great practice problems.

I have studied six books on this subject - undergraduate and graduate level. This book by far is the most effective at providing an intuition for the subject. Griffiths presentation enabled me to explain E&M to my wife...and now she is intrigued. Behind the equations lies a story which he tells masterfully. Once you have mastered griffiths and have an understanding of the subject, maybe its time to move on to a more advanced text of derivations and proofs - Schwinger is excellent here. This is definitely the place to start after a freshman course!!

Maybe its jsut that the subject is somewhat easier, but Griffiths does better here then with the quantum book.