Ask HN: Recommended Books on Physics?

6 points by ctw 4 years ago | 5 comments

I’m craving a feeling that only physics seems to be able to provide, and I don’t know where to find it again.

Bonus points if it touches on the speed of light/causality or interpretations of quantum mechanics.

jIyajbe 4 years ago |

If you have the math background (advanced calculus and vector algebra), then there is no better writer than David J. Griffiths. He is the only textbook author I have every encountered who remembers that a textbook is, first and foremost, a book; and that a book is meant to be an enjoyable read!

(I'm linking to Wikipedia rather than to the publisher's website, so that you can read about the books. All of them are available on the used market, and in electronic format.)

"Introduction to Electrodynamics, 3rd Ed." includes two chapters on special relativity and relativistic electrodynamics, and he covers causality very well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Electrodynamic...

For quantum mechanics, with even more math (partial derivatives), try "Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, 3rd Ed.", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Quantum_Mechan...

If you don't have a strong math background, then his "Revolutions in 20th Century Physics" is a slim, but packed book, also excellent. It covers (conceptually) both special relativity and quantum mechanics, along with a healthy dose of particle physics. The target audience for this book are non-science majors. https://books.google.com/books?id=Tv8cz-kN2z0C&redir_esc=y

themodelplumber 4 years ago |

> I’m craving a feeling that only physics seems to be able to provide

Interested in a thinker's experiment in subjective metaphor? Structure the coming weekend hours down to a 30-minute block schedule with some conditional logic, and see if the craving remains, for these structural frameworks (physics) that provide control-leverage over the naturally-occurring yet-unknown.

(This works well for me, but it may just be me...weekends and the unknown--advanced physics, UFOs, programming topics, especially creating explicit structure where there otherwise is no structure--seem to often pair really well, to a suspicious degree)

foothebar 4 years ago |

Physics for Scientists and Engineers Paul A. Tipler; Gene Mosca

https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/us/product/Physics...

rzzzwilson 4 years ago |

"The Cosmic Code: Quantum Physics as the Language of Nature" by Heinz Pagels.

mindcrime 4 years ago |

Something Deeply Hidden - Sean Carroll[1]

Lost in Math - Sabine Hossenfelder[2]

The First Three Minutes - Steven Weinberg[3]

Hyperspace - Michio Kaku[4]

Not Even Wrong - Peter Woit[5]

The Trouble With Physics - Lee Smolin[6]