Highly Technical books

[DyslexicHobo]

I recently read Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time" and found it to be very interesting. I didn't understand all of it completely, but I would really like to. I'm planning on reading it again to more fully understand the different concepts of black holes, Einstein's theory of relativity, the uncertainty principle, etc. but I would also like to begin reading other author's works.

I'm not very well-versed on any of these subjects, so I would like material that could explain these things (whether it be on quantum theory or the the general unification theory) in the simplest way possible.

Could someone recommend some books that would be right for me?



P.S. Sorry if this isn't an acceptable thing to be posting here. Please let me know if it is so I won't do it again!

 

[Born2bwire]

Feynmann's QED is a good read and so are Einstein's original papers on relativity. Both are in what I would call layman's math though with relativity that's really just a consequence for the easy forms that Lorentz transformations take on. Feynmann however does dumb down a lot for QED but he gets the concepts across effectively.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

I think you might enjoy two books by Brian Greene: The Elegant Universe & The Fabric of the Cosmos. There's a companion DVD produced by Nova for The Elegant Universe that you might also enjoy.

 

[videogames101]

Originally posted by: Gigantopithecus
I think you might enjoy two books by Brian Greene: The Elegant Universe & The Fabric of the Cosmos. There's a companion DVD produced by Nova for The Elegant Universe that you might also enjoy.

Oh I really liked that Nova program, string theory, unified forces, etc is really interesting! Even if i don't understand half of it. Great dvd, get it.

 

[Gibsons]

Originally posted by: Born2bwire
Feynmann's QED is a good read and so are Einstein's original papers on relativity. Both are in what I would call layman's math though with relativity that's really just a consequence for the easy forms that Lorentz transformations take on. Feynmann however does dumb down a lot for QED but he gets the concepts across effectively.

QED is great imo. :thumbsup:

 

[wwswimming]

Harrington is a standard text for EE's. it goes into time-harmonic
electromagnetics (how light propagates through different mediums).
also things like deriving Snell's law from Maxwell's equations.

it is very intensive vector calculus. it helps to have lots of big
pieces of paper. and it's kind of fun if you drink enough coffee.

 

[herm0016]

a short history of nearly everything by bill bryson is a great book to read for, well, a short history of nearly everything! lots of great information.

 

[Born2bwire]

Originally posted by: wwswimming
Harrington is a standard text for EE's. it goes into time-harmonic
electromagnetics (how light propagates through different mediums).
also things like deriving Snell's law from Maxwell's equations.

it is very intensive vector calculus. it helps to have lots of big
pieces of paper. and it's kind of fun if you drink enough coffee.

I wish I could find that book around the office. Someone has made off with the copy at the office and both copies at the Uni library are missing. It's like a freakin conspiracy. His text on method of moments is classic, fortunately we have a few copies of that.

 

[wwswimming]

when i was taking that class i was just taking people's word
about "div" and "curl", not really understanding it. i got the
impression it's kind of a nautilus-shell shape (like the r=theta
function in 2 dimensions), except, in 3 dimensions.

i have a hunch that if you go into the supporting math &
physics behind div and curl you will learn a lot.

i got an "A" in the class but i started smoking Camels
to stay up late & do the homework. so i didn't take any
more classes.

Watson's (?) "The Curve of Binding Energy" is good.
medium-intense description of nuclear physics related
to nuclear weapons.

 

[PowerEngineer]

Originally posted by: videogames101

Originally posted by: Gigantopithecus
I think you might enjoy two books by Brian Greene: The Elegant Universe & The Fabric of the Cosmos. There's a companion DVD produced by Nova for The Elegant Universe that you might also enjoy.

Oh I really liked that Nova program, string theory, unified forces, etc is really interesting! Even if i don't understand half of it. Great dvd, get it.

You can also watch the entire Nove program on the web here.

 

[RossGr]

Most of the books mentioned so far in this thread are very intertaining reads, however, they are ABOUT physics. You cannot learn Physics by reading this type of book. To learn physics you must DO physics. If you are serious about wanting to learn physics you need to start with a good Calculus text and a good Physics text. There is no getting around it, if you want to understand physics you MUST understand the math behind it. There are no short cuts.

 

[cougar1]

Feynmann's "Lectures on Physics" are pretty good too. These were basically compiled from class notes for a college physics course at Caltech, designed to give freshmen (ie. beginners) a taste of advanced physics. Since they are designed for freshmen, they do not delve too deeply into the math, although they don't completely neglect it either.

The books "Six Easy Pieces" and "Six not-so-easy Pieces" are basically excerpts from Feynmann's "Lectures on Physics" (a pricey 3-volume set).

 

[wwswimming]

Originally posted by: RossGr
Most of the books mentioned so far in this thread are very intertaining reads, however, they are ABOUT physics. You cannot learn Physics by reading this type of book. To learn physics you must DO physics. If you are serious about wanting to learn physics you need to start with a good Calculus text and a good Physics text. There is no getting around it, if you want to understand physics you MUST understand the math behind it. There are no short cuts.

i agree. this reminds me of Pat Morita in the movie
Karate Kid. "Left Hand, Right Hand."

i did a web-search for advanced freshman physics.
http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/spc/guides/sc469.html

a chronology of lectures at Stanford.

when i was an undergrad i had a summer job at the
linear accelerator (SLAC), helping the hardware guys
build their experiments. there were also theoretical
guys running around. besides drinking lots of coffee
and writing grant applications, their way of "doing physics"
was to think a lot about it.

i learned one thing from them. to drink coffee.

 

[DyslexicHobo]

Well right now I'm in an AP calculus course, and an AP physics course (senior in high school), but we don't even begin to discuss the things that I enjoy reading about. My calc class is a joke (more than half way through the year and we're still on the basics of integration -_-). Physics is a little faster, but still doesn't get past anything besides the basic kinematics of objects; nothing about objects moving at the speed of light, or quantum theory.

I did understand most of "A Brief History of Time", although I'm sure I couldn't formulate any of the predictions that go along with the theory. I'm reading "An Elegant Universe" now, and watched that Nova program that you guys linked to. I'm enjoying it, though I did prefer Hawking's work more.

Thanks for all the recommendations, guys. Great reads.

 

[herm0016]

i think as the ATOT HT people, we should all put together a list of books, not text books, but books like the ones mentioned here. it could be a good resource.

 

[f95toli]

There are a couple of problem with pop. sci. books. The first is that some of the things they are trying to explain are litteraly impossible to understand unless you use math; which they of course don't use since no one would buy the book (trying to understand quantum mechanics without algebra).
Hence, there is always a risk that people THINK they understand something when they don't, which can cause a lot of confusion.

As has already been pointed out it is important to realize that the books metioned here are ABOUT physics, you can't learn any "real" physics from them but they will e.g. give you an idea of what is "hot" in science at the moment.

The second problem is that some really of the people who write pop. sci. books simply don't know what they are talking about. This is at least true when it comes to books about physics.
In many cases this is due to the fact that the book is written by a "professional writer" who simply do not understand the topic, OR it is written by a physicist but he/she is writing about something which is so far from their field of expertise that they still get it wrong, the latter is actually more serious since most people will probably think that someone with a with a Ph.D. in physics DO know what they are talking about.

Hence, DO read books but take what they write with a pinch of salt.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: f95toli
There are a couple of problem with pop. sci. books. The first is that some of the things they are trying to explain are litteraly impossible to understand unless you use math; which they of course don't use since no one would buy the book (trying to understand quantum mechanics without algebra).
Hence, there is always a risk that people THINK they understand something when they don't, which can cause a lot of confusion.

As has already been pointed out it is important to realize that the books metioned here are ABOUT physics, you can't learn any "real" physics from them but they will e.g. give you an idea of what is "hot" in science at the moment.

The second problem is that some really of the people who write pop. sci. books simply don't know what they are talking about. This is at least true when it comes to books about physics.
In many cases this is due to the fact that the book is written by a "professional writer" who simply do not understand the topic, OR it is written by a physicist but he/she is writing about something which is so far from their field of expertise that they still get it wrong, the latter is actually more serious since most people will probably think that someone with a with a Ph.D. in physics DO know what they are talking about.

Hence, DO read books but take what they write with a pinch of salt.

Or they popularize theories which might not have the general backing of the physics community, ala string theory.

ps: f95toli, turn on your PMs or something

 

[herm0016]

Originally posted by: f95toli
There are a couple of problem with pop. sci. books. The first is that some of the things they are trying to explain are litteraly impossible to understand unless you use math; which they of course don't use since no one would buy the book (trying to understand quantum mechanics without algebra).
Hence, there is always a risk that people THINK they understand something when they don't, which can cause a lot of confusion.

As has already been pointed out it is important to realize that the books metioned here are ABOUT physics, you can't learn any "real" physics from them but they will e.g. give you an idea of what is "hot" in science at the moment.

The second problem is that some really of the people who write pop. sci. books simply don't know what they are talking about. This is at least true when it comes to books about physics.
In many cases this is due to the fact that the book is written by a "professional writer" who simply do not understand the topic, OR it is written by a physicist but he/she is writing about something which is so far from their field of expertise that they still get it wrong, the latter is actually more serious since most people will probably think that someone with a with a Ph.D. in physics DO know what they are talking about.

Hence, DO read books but take what they write with a pinch of salt.

Many of these points are good reasons to put together a list of books that are well written and inform the reader of new ideas and new ways of thinking. I do believe if you take the time to read books like these, you are going to have a good chance of having better than average math skills and will be willing to learn. I read many of the books mentioned in high school, along with other books about quantum mechanics and i did learn a lot about how things work, developing my own theories along the way.

 

[silverpig]

Oh here's a good suggestion:

See if you can find actual technical papers (google scholar) that were written in 1900-1920. I remember reading a few from way back then that, while technical and cutting edge at the time, were easy enough for a high school student to understand.

 

[Bill Brasky]

Originally posted by: herm0016
a short history of nearly everything by bill bryson is a great book to read for, well, a short history of nearly everything! lots of great information.

I was going to recommend the same book. That was a very entertaining read.

 

[aj654987]

 

[aj654987]

after you start reading some of hawking, greene and others, a good website to check out from time to time is: http://www.sciencedaily.com/
and look at their cosmotology or physics section.

Its interesting to keep up with some of the developments that have happened since the books have been printed.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: aj654987
after you start reading some of hawking, greene and others, a good website to check out from time to time is: http://www.sciencedaily.com/
and look at their cosmotology or physics section.

Its interesting to keep up with some of the developments that have happened since the books have been printed.

cosmology = study of the universe
cosmetology = makeup

 

[rocadelpunk]

Originally posted by: DyslexicHobo
Well right now I'm in an AP calculus course, and an AP physics course (senior in high school), but we don't even begin to discuss the things that I enjoy reading about. My calc class is a joke (more than half way through the year and we're still on the basics of integration -_-). Physics is a little faster, but still doesn't get past anything besides the basic kinematics of objects; nothing about objects moving at the speed of light, or quantum theory.

I did understand most of "A Brief History of Time", although I'm sure I couldn't formulate any of the predictions that go along with the theory. I'm reading "An Elegant Universe" now, and watched that Nova program that you guys linked to. I'm enjoying it, though I did prefer Hawking's work more.

Thanks for all the recommendations, guys. Great reads.

I think your second AP physics course will go into the basics of relativity. Might want to check out the last few pages of your text?

 

[LintMan]

DyslexicHobo : I recommend checking out John Gribbin. He has written a ton of physics books convering a huge range of topics (heisenberg, black holes, tachyons, etc), which are aimed for the general public.

In the ones I've read at least, they are part part a good introductory discussion of the science matters at hand (no advanced math needed), and part a history of the scientists involved in the research leading to those discoveries or theories, almost in a Connections -ish sort of way, (if you've ever heard of that show), but not spanning such a wide time period or diverse topics.

A good start might be "In Search of Schrodinger's Cat" if you can find it. Check out the Amazon reviews: here.