Buying Books for High School Physics: Need Help?

[abhigupta.14]

Hi
I a student persuading my high school.I've been trying to understand physics with the help of my stock coursebook but it's very hard as it's very precise, without proper diagrams and also lacks a sound mathematical foundation which I think is one of the most most important thing... I have a habbit of always visualizing whatever I read and it has happened very less that my doubts were cleared by the "NCERT Physics Book" and whenever I try to mix two or more concepts I create a mess and there's no way out... I want to make my concepts rock solid... I want the books to have as many diagrams possible... I prefer books written by different authors for different topics as I think an author having a PhD in Electronics can teach electronics the best rather than the whole physics even at high school level... He can get you thinking what really electronics is...electronics from a whole different point of view sometimes...if you're getting what I mean...
I want the books having concepts from Basic Level to Intermediate Level. Nothing too Hi-Fi.
I've always dreamed of becoming a Physicist and I want those books which can really push me forward to achieve my goal...

I want to buy books for the preparation of these topics :-
Classical/Newtonian Mechanics
Waves and Oscillations
Thermodynamics
Electricity and Magnetism
Electromagnetic Waves
Ray Optics
Wave Optics
Quantum Physics
Nuclear Physics
Electronics/Solid State Physics

So I request the respected professors,teachers and friends to suggest me books they've read, prepared any of the topics above mentioned and think they are Truly Magnificent.

Warm Regards
Abhinav

 

[fss]

There aren't many individual "basic to intermediate" level books on those topics because they wouldn't be long enough to justify their publication.

For electronics, its probably good idea to go to your local bookstore or library to see which books have a sufficient number of diagrams for you. Electronics books typically have a lot of diagrams anyways. For the remaining physics topics just pick up an intro-level textbook- Serway, Young and Freedman, Giancoli, etc. are often recommended.

 

[abhigupta.14]

Electronics was just an example... nothing in particular... I just don't want books with superficial text... I want the books to have the real and correct concept...
and I'll buying the books through a website as only Resnick,Halliday,Walker is available near my house... so I can't have a look at them..
and what about books which cover intro level to advanced level physics??
I'll understand what I need right now and I'll skip the things which I don't require right now...

 

[fss]

Electronics was just an example... nothing in particular... I just don't want books with superficial text... I want the books to have the real and correct concept...

My suggestion still stands.

and I'll buying the books through a website as only Resnick,Halliday,Walker is available near my house... so I can't have a look at them..

That one is fine.

and what about books which cover intro level to advanced level physics??

What about them? How much money are you willing to spend to complete your collection? In my opinion there's no point in buying higher-level books when you don't even own an introductory text or understand the concepts within.

 

[abhigupta.14]

What about them? How much money are you willing to spend to complete your collection? In my opinion there's no point in buying higher-level books when you don't even own an introductory text or understand the concepts within.

Money is not an issue... So no problems on that...
More over I own 1 intro level book which is "Fundamental Physics" by Resnick and Halliday and I've completed that... I'm in high school but I've completed all my syllabus... But I think it's a lot which is missing... I want a book which is more or less complete as teachers here don't work hard... whenever I ask them something, they come up with new excuses... so the book which has the potential to clear my doubts to some extent...
so that's why I said a book including basics as I don't know if I've developed a wrong concepts or not... so If I find something weird while reading that higher level book I can just scroll back and confirm things... you getting what I mean...

For example in chemistry, the MO diagrams for di-nitrogen and di-oxygen are different...
"Precisely" that's because of the energy difference b/w the respective s and p orbitals of that period decreases as we move forward... and after N the energy difference is such that interference b.w the electrons of s and p can take place...
In my book it was written just 1 line... "as electrons increase, repulsion increases"
wtf! is that what you call an explanation?? and that too which is wrong... it's not even precise... and I came to know about this after seeing MITs video on this topic...

I want something which makes you say "omg! I never knew that... that is so amazing... so intriguing... man! I want to kiss the person who wrote this... lol"
you getting what I mean.. ??

 

[qspeechc]

Firstly, English may not be your first language, but you should make an effort to write clearly; it is mere good manners. Commas and full-stops would be a nice start.

Fundamental Physics by Resnik and Halliday should provide sufficient material on all the topics you listed in your first post, at least for high school courses.

You cannot attempt to know everything at once. Some of the things in physics and chemistry require you have a greater knowledge of math and physics which would take several years to acquire, so unfortunately you have to be happy with the explanations you are given. For instance, that example you gave of a poor explanation of the diagrams in chemistry was probably because to really understand what is going on you need to know quantum mechanics, which is a few years off for you.

My suggestion is really read Halliday and Resnik and see if it does not provide what you want. Maybe get another book at the same level, perhaps the book Physics by the same authors, which is the earlier form of the book. There are also the books fss recommended.

Or you could read more advanced books, but I do not recommend this if you do not have a thorough understanding of Halliday and Resnik, and a certain level of mathematical preparation, say: single- and multi-variable calculus, ODEs, and preferably PDEs and some linear algebra too.

If you really have the time and money, you can check out some of these books which are also at the level of Halliday and Resnik:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Physics_Course"
This course should provide more details and explanations, as you want, but, this course of five books was meant to be covered over two years by undergrads, rather than the one year that Halliday and Resnik is supposed to take. Also, the series is out of print so they will probably be very expensive (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001EH7G2S/?tag=pfamazon01-20), but check the library.

 

[abhigupta.14]

Sorry I'll mind that from now onwards. Anyways, I have some knowledge about the topics you've mentioned and even multiple integrals. But I don't know if it's practiced to the level I require to study higher physics. As I've not read any higher level text.
So as you and many others insist, I'll wait for the answers I'm dying for.
I'll buy some other Into-Level Book which may serve me better. Any particular suggestions?
I'll be buying the books from www.flipkart.com
and also I'll be buying the "Einstein: The Life Of A Genius"
Very Excited about it ^_^
You've read it?
And also can you suggest me the book for calculus? Which covers Everything in it??
and again, money is no issue...
I'll be going to college after 6 months probably and was thinking to practice and learn as much calculus as possible...

 

[qspeechc]

Could you list exactly what math you know?

For calculus many people like Stewart, Thomas, Simmons, Swokowski etc. and I cannot say which is best. Go down to the library and see which you prefer. The older editions are as good, or better, than the most recent editions, so don't worry about getting an older edition. They are all standard and probably do the job equally well.

Those are mostly cook-books; if you want a book that really goes into the theory and proves everything rigorously here are some:
Courant:
Differential and Integral Calculus, two volumes.
Introduction to Calculus and Analysis, three volumes.
These books will contain much extra material useful to a physics student (get one or the other, not both).

Spivak:
Calculus, only covers single-variable calculus, at a high level, perhaps too high unless you really love math.

Apostol:
Calculus two volumes, contains material on ODEs and linear algebra.

Marsden and Tromba:
Vector Calculus covers multi-variable calculus only, not as rigorous as the above, but more so than the Stewart books.

Also check out the book Div, Grad, Curl and All That by Schey, an intuitive look at vector calculus, particularly helpful for physics students; and Mathematical Methods by Boas, which covers many topics important for undergrad physics students.

But, the calculus you already know may be enough, so pick up one of the books from the library and see if you are familiar with all the material, and if you can do the problems.

For ODEs check out the books by Tenenbaum and Pollard, or Coddington.

I cannot say what linear algebra book is good for physics students (I was a math student), so someone else will have to fill you in here.

The only PDE book I am familiar with is Haberman's, which is good for physics students, but a bit disorganized (old editions are fine).

Now, about physics; I don't want to bog you down at the level of Halliday and Resnik. If you have worked your way through the book and solved the problems then you are ready to advance. Next you should study classical mechanics and electromagnetism. For the former I recommend John R. Taylor's book. For electromagnetism the only book I am familiar with is Griffiths, which is a very popular book, but I didn't like it; other books I have seen mentioned are Wangsness, and Nayfeh and Brussel, but I have not read these two. There is also Vibrations and Waves by French, which you may find interesting and useful.

I think that is more than enough reading for six months :P

 

[chiro]

Have a read of this:

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

Good luck :)

 

[abhigupta.14]

Hey qspeechc, I'm Extremely Sorry for the late reply. The pins of my CPU cooler broke off suddenly and the CPU overheated and died. So I had to replace it.

Well anyways, I appreciate the books your wrote about and will definitely look to it. Now listing the whole maths I that know would be difficult I guess. isn't it ? ?_? There are lot of chapters that I've practiced. But still, I know some Coordinate Geometry, Vector & 3D algebra, Trigonometry, Calculus, Matrix and Determinants, Relations and Functions, Set Theory, Probability etc etc.

And yes, that will be enough for 6 months. :)

 

[ranjit9207]

Hi
I a student persuading my high school.I've been trying to understand physics with the help of my stock coursebook but it's very hard as it's very precise, without proper diagrams and also lacks a sound mathematical foundation which I think is one of the most most important thing... I have a habbit of always visualizing whatever I read and it has happened very less that my doubts were cleared by the "NCERT Physics Book" and whenever I try to mix two or more concepts I create a mess and there's no way out... I want to make my concepts rock solid... I want the books to have as many diagrams possible... I prefer books written by different authors for different topics as I think an author having a PhD in Electronics can teach electronics the best rather than the whole physics even at high school level... He can get you thinking what really electronics is...electronics from a whole different point of view sometimes...if you're getting what I mean...
I want the books having concepts from Basic Level to Intermediate Level. Nothing too Hi-Fi.
I've always dreamed of becoming a Physicist and I want those books which can really push me forward to achieve my goal...

I want to buy books for the preparation of these topics :-
Classical/Newtonian Mechanics
Waves and Oscillations
Thermodynamics
Electricity and Magnetism
Electromagnetic Waves
Ray Optics
Wave Optics
Quantum Physics
Nuclear Physics
Electronics/Solid State Physics

So I request the respected professors,teachers and friends to suggest me books they've read, prepared any of the topics above mentioned and think they are Truly Magnificent.

Warm Regards
Abhinav

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