Bibliography question for Greg at Al to discuss.

Studiot

One thing I have noticed here.

There are regular request along the lines of

"Please recommend good books on electrical engineering/ mechanics / toffee making / bonsai....?"

How about a series of short(ish) bibliographies, with a list of important books and a short paragraph about each to help choice.

These could be placed in the learning materials section or anywhere easily identifiable.

Everyone could then point to them when such questions arise rather than continually reinventing the wheel.

I would be prepared to kick off by preparing one on stress analysis for consideration.

Saladsamurai

I like it. I am sure micromass would be able to contribute since he already has was you have suggested (for math texts) in his blog. I for one would love to see yours on stress. In particular, I came to PF tonight to see if there is any good info on an Elasticity text. PM me if you have any thoughts

Integral

I think that is a great idea. However, the mentors here are all volunteers, so if you expect the mentors to do this you may have to wait a bit, as it does require time and effort. Perhaps if a member where to start a thread in Academic Guidance and begin the list, everyone with knowledge and interest could contribute. Then it could be edited into the final list with less effort then starting from scratch.

Note that this just a thought, with no discussion with the other mentors. Some of them may have other ideas. So wait for more input before putting do much effort into it.

Borek

Probably the best place would be a sticky in the Math & Science Learning Materials.

Integral

Yeah, that makes good sense.

Studiot

I would imagine that a measure of management would be necessary.

Possibly a general or header screed to act as guide and discalaimer

"We have used our best endeavours etc but no claim is made that any list is comprehensive or complete. This is not to say that any book not listed is inferior....etc"

There needs to be some way to allow worthwhile additions without allowing the list to become unwieldy. I would be the first to want to learn of any worthwhile book I didn't know about.
Resources threads often fall over because they contain far too many entries.

micromass

I have made two threads here: http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=638548 and
http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=638547

Feel free to start adding books.

When the list becomes to big (which I hope happens soon!), then we'll probably organize things differently.

Saladsamurai

Nice to see a great idea coming together so quickly. Thanks to Studiot and the Mentors for getting this rolling.

Greg Bernhardt

Nice work guys!

Evo

Excellent job micro!!