To add to Books that every physicist should read:
A list of popular physics books for people who aren't necessarily physics grads.
(see also Book recommendations)
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Richard Feynman! |
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German book: http://www.amazon.de/Physik-Bleistift-analytische-Handwerkszeug-Naturwissenschaftlers/dp/3817116616 It gives a concise introduction into many important topics of physics and motivates to learn math. I read it during my first semesters and it helped to keep me interested in mathematics even though the professor only occasionally motivated his topics. I would have liked to read this book when I was in school. |
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The New Science of Strong Materials or Why You Don't Fall through the Floor Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down The rather overlooked J E Gordon is an excellent teacher, better than the more philosophical Petroski's works |
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I'm not all that familiar with what Asimov has written about physics, but I used to have his "Asimov on Chemistry" and it was one of the best collections of essays I've ever read. |
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Dr. Posin's Giants, by Daniel Posin even children can read this one.... The Strange Story of the Quantum Banesh Hoffman a real scientist and a good, if a little colloquial in that breathless American 1940's way, writer Men of Mathematics Eric Temple Bell includes many of the greatest physicists Understanding Physics by Isaac Asimov Irving Adler was also a truly great writer. Relativity: The Special and General Theory Albert Einstein a masterpiece I honestly cannot recommend Feynman. I would recommend Dirac if I thought a non physicist could understand him, with that proviso, Directions in Physics and The Development of Quantum Theory: [the] J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Lecture each by P.A.M. Dirac.... I think a non-physicist could get a lot out of these rather small books but would have to be willing to "black box" a significant proportion of the readings.... |
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I can recommend the following physics books. They are all somewhat different, but collectively they provide a good picture of where ideas in physics are today and how modern theories developed. The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Quantum Genius, Graham Farmelo Quantum Enigma, Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner The Infinity Puzzle, Frank Close About Time, Adam Frank Knocking on Heaven's Door, Lisa Randall The Grand Design, Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow |
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