Good books on physics for a beginner?

potmobius

Hello, I am a high school physics enthusiast (classical mechanics, electricity and magnetism, relativity, astrophysics, cosmology, quantum mechanics, particle physics, anything about light and gravity etc) but I'm just a beginner, and I would like to learn more about the above mentioned concepts. I am going to be a high school senior and I have taken AP Physics B last year, so I have a background on the basic concepts of physics. Unfortunately, I dont know much math. I'd taken precal last year, and I'm self studying calculus as of now, and I'm almost done with basic calculus. Can anyone please recommend some good books on these topics on physics that I should study, considering my limitation to basic calculus? All I've really read so far is Six Easy Pieces by Feynman, From Quarks to Cosmos by Lederman and Schramm, and I'll soon be reading Six not so easy pieces. Feel free to recommend as many books as you please, I'm ready to read as many as I can before summer ends! Thanks a millions! :D

potmobius

btw, I've read the physics textbook: College Physics by Serway/Faughn, 6th Edition and understood most of it

malawi_glenn

I think you should study hard on the math, and then pick up real collage physics books =) You should know basic algebra with complex numbers, differentiations, integrals, some basic differential equations. The language of physics is math hehe

potmobius

Well, I know everything that you mentioned by differential equations. And I'm really good with all the math that I know (upto calculus). Can you name a few specific books? Textbooks? Anything?

malawi_glenn

ok, try to pick up Advanced Physics by Adams, or classical mechanics by taylor, and then try to start learning more about linear algebra (vectors and matrices) and multivariable calculus.

potmobius

Thanks a lot!

potmobius

What would you say about "Physics" by Halliday/Resnick/Krane? Should I get that or Adams? or both?

malawi_glenn

By the way, in this subforum we don't ask for books, we have a science books forum, where your question has been asked 100 of times.

In this sub forum, we post free learning materials which can be found on internet, please have a look around for some.

malawi_glenn

Resnick is a classic, everybody uses it. Go to the library and try a couple of books named "university physics" etc til you find something you like and can handle.

potmobius

I'm sorry about that.... I'm still relatively new to PF. But I'll be sure to not make that mistake from now onwards. :)

malawi_glenn

it's ok, best way to learn is to make mistakes ;)

potmobius

I live in a very small city, with a very small library, so I buy used books from amazon after asking around and reading reviews on the books

malawi_glenn

ok, then you could really try to dig into the library here, so you don't waste any money

http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=220910

http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=220911

http://www.physics.unlv.edu/~jeffery....html#contents

etc etc etc

potmobius

thanks

physicsnoob93

http://www.phys.uu.nl/~thooft/theorist.html

That should help you out.

Gd luck.

n!kofeyn

That link is a good place to start. You want to become a master at calculus and differential equations. I suggest these three books for calculus:

Calculus by Michael Spivak
This is a very good book. I haven't read it, but it has been highly recommended to me. There is also a solutions manual for this book which is good for self-study.

Differential and Integral Calculus by John Courant
This is a fantastic book in terms of the intuition and ideas behind calculus. It is a very physical approach by one of the great mathematicians/physicists of the 20th century. There is also an updated version that is supposed to be better for US type calculus programs.

Calculus by Tom Apostol
This is probably the most difficult or at least most dry of the three books listed here, but it is a very clean book. These are the best three books on calculus around, so if you learn from these, you will be well ahead of other entering students.

These books are expensive. Any public library has an interlibrary loan program. So you can request these books through interlibrary loan and they will find these books at another library. I've never had interlibrary loan not turn up a book.

In terms of physics, the book by Halliday/Resnick/Walker is what I used in my first year of physics and it is good. I'm not really aware of great introductions to physics beyond that of the Feynman lecture books (the Easy Pieces and Not So Easy Pieces books you mentioned are merely excerpts from the Feynman lecture books) and the books by David Griffiths (which are books to look at after maybe 2 years of university courses). Definitely read QED and The Character of Physical Law by Feynman.

Use your public library to get these books! Once you get accepted in university, they should have a good library. If not, use their interlibrary loan. It is a fantastic way to get books that your local library doesn't have, and for some reason, not many people know about it or use it.

malawi_glenn

ZapperZ's famous thread:

http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=240792

You should stay away from Feynman's "Character of physical law", it is a "philosophical" book written by a non-scholar philosopher, so there are better books out there regarding the more philosophical nature of physics.