I am at Borders right now. Please recommend some QM/ST/relativity books

[SeventhSigma]

See topic

 

[JesseM]

See topic

This thread has some recommendations for relativity, QM I'm not sure, you want a book with equations or just a more conceptual introductions? Also what does "ST" stand for?

 

[unusualname]

Borders may have some of these:

In Search of Schrödinger's Cat - John Gribbin
Schrödingers's Kittens - John Gribbin
Three Roads To Quantum Gravity - Lee Smolin
The Trouble with Physics - Lee Smolin
The Elegant universe - Brian Greene
The Fabric of the Cosmos - Brian Greene* (Buy this one if you have little money)
Not Even Wrong - Peter Woit

 

[SeventhSigma]

JesseM both. Also ST = string theory

 

[JesseM]

Borders may have some of these:

In Search of Schrödinger's Cat - John Gribbin
Schrödingers's Kittens - John Gribbin

Those are good recommendations for nontechnical QM intros (though I think the second is kind of focused on the transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics which isn't that popular), another good nontechnical intro is Quantum: A Guide for the Perplexed by Jim Al-Khalili. The next ones you recommended were more specifically about quantum gravity, not sure if SeventhSigma is interested in that too (edit: I see from the last post the answer is yes):

Three Roads To Quantum Gravity - Lee Smolin
The Trouble with Physics - Lee Smolin
The Elegant universe - Brian Greene
The Fabric of the Cosmos - Brian Greene* (But this one if you have little money)
Not Even Wrong - Peter Woit

Oh and for combined stuff on both relativity and basic quantum physics, along with some discussion of quantum gravity stuff too, Brian Greene's https://www.amazon.com/dp/0375727205/?tag=pfamazon01-20 is good too.

 

[SeventhSigma]

Math would be great too

 

[JesseM]

For math on relativity, these three from the other thread are good:

some good undergrad textbooks are https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393097935/?tag=pfamazon01-20

Not sure what the best intro to the math of QM would be, my intro. to QM textbook in college was "Quantum Physics" by Stephen Gasiorowicz but I don't know how it compares with other textbooks...

 

[unusualname]

Math would be great too

Need to specify level, there are so many, if Borders actually have any textbooks they are probably the popular ones at undergrad level.

Suggest you make notes of Book titles available (or take mobile phone pic of the whole shelf) then research on internet (eg look at amazon reviews) the go back next day (or just order on amazon, probably cheaper anyway)

@JesseM. yes Gribbin does promote the transactional Interpretation in the "Kittens" book, but only towards the end, the book contains some fascinating discussion in the first couple of a hundred pages, and in any case, I can see how he and Chu whould see it like that, it's just a mis-understanding of how feynman's path integral approach applies, you can kind of invent backwards in time particles in the formalism if you try to interpret it too literally. (as you may know, I have a similar formalism where you can imagine backwards in time interpretations on paths being imposed, even though they don't exist)

 

[JesseM]

For a gentle intro to the math of QM, is good, though note you can get a used copy for $8.36 (including shipping) on amazon...

 

[SeventhSigma]

Unfortunately the only book Borders had was Fabric of the Cosmos, so I got that one (in additional to Physics of the Future by Kaku and String Theory for Dummies, haha)

unusualname: Just undergrad math for me (lots of calculus), although I attended an upper-tier US university. I'm no math genius but I can follow along well enough, given that there's an explanation to the math itself when it comes to something I may not understand well.

 

[kcajrenreb]

I'd definitely recommend the elegant universe by Brian Greene. Also, have you ever read Absolutely Small? Its a good beginner's QM book.

 

[SeventhSigma]

Argh! I almost picked up Absolutely Small and decided against it. Maybe I should have reconsidered...

 

[unusualname]

Unfortunately the only book Borders had was Fabric of the Cosmos, so I got that one (in additional to Physics of the Future by Kaku and String Theory for Dummies, haha)

unusualname: Just undergrad math for me (lots of calculus), although I attended an upper-tier US university. I'm no math genius but I can follow along well enough, given that there's an explanation to the math itself when it comes to something I may not understand well.

Fabric of the Cosmos is a really good (and long) read. It has quite detailed additional notes and suggested further reading. I highly recommend reading it through, it is a really good overview of relativity and quantum physics by a respected author. String Theory for Dummies is not too bad, but a bit superficial, it's more of a "fun" read, covers a lot of "hot" topics but doesn't go into much depth. Don't know the Kaku book.

These popular books won't tell you how to do useful calculations, but in reality that requires several hard months studying proper academic course work to even get to the simple stuff, and this probably won't give you any exciting insights, just enable you to answer exam questions really. Good textbooks are made for different types of people anyway, so it's impossible to recommend one, you just have to try several and see if you like the approach. I'd read the popular overviews first before tackling more academic books, I'd bet that ~90% or people fail to go past the first few chapters in randomly purchased textbooks.

 

[SeventhSigma]

Probably a good idea. I may not want to leap right into the academic stuff/calculus/etc without knowing the general overview/layman basics first.

 

[hitmeoff]

Dunno exactly the type of book you want, but (honestly, and I will get flamed for this), Quantum Physics Demystified is a very easy read, very clear and not as superficial as you might think.

Its not a textbook, so if that's what you are looking, look elsewhere (depending on your level of math/physics, Id recommend Feynman Vol III as nice, serious text, MOrrison as the next step and finally, the Griffiths book for a full fledged college junior text).

 

[SeventhSigma]

I am somewhat confused here.

In Brian Greene's "Fabric of the Cosmos," Brian speaks of the "perspectives game" he plays with his father in Manhattan, but it sounds eerily similar to the game Feynman describes when he speaks about the game he played with *his* father in "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out."

Is this a complete coincidence or is there foul play, here?

 

[khemist]

I was just there yesterday. 60% off so I grabbed 3 books: Quantum Physics Workbook for Dummies, Supersymmetry Demystified, and Schaum's Complex Variables.

Should keep me busy this summer.