Intro Physics Looking for an Introductory Physics Book without Flashy Presentation?

[DanielJorge]

Are there any books that are NOT like "University Physics (Young)" / "Fundamentals of Physics (Halliday)" in presentation, but that are suitable for a first course on the subjects of those books? The mentioned books are too "flashy", full of colorful boxes, etc. I don't like this and I find it too distracting and full of superficial information. I'm looking for something like the Landau series, but at the introductory level, since the Landau series are way, way, way out of my league.

As an analogy, I want Calculus by Apostol / Spivak / Courant instead of Stewart but for the subjects covered in "University Physics (Young)" / "Fundamentals of Physics (Halliday)".

Thank you!

 

[vanhees71]

The Feynman Lectures :-)

 

[ergospherical]

Landau wrote an introductory book too yano, it’s called general physics

 

[TSny]

Are there any books that are NOT like "University Physics (Young)" / "Fundamentals of Physics (Halliday)" in presentation, but that are suitable for a first course on the subjects of those books? The mentioned books are too "flashy", full of colorful boxes, etc. I don't like this and I find it too distracting and full of superficial information.

The early editions of Halliday/Resnick and Sears/Zemansky do not have the distracting colors, boxes, etc.

You can borrow these online at

[archive.org links deleted by the Mentors due to copyright concerns]

(Registration required)

 

[Mondayman]

Fundamental University Physics by Alonso and Finn is really good. However, it is hard to find.

 

[andresB]

Fundamental University Physics by Alonso and Finn is really good. However, it is hard to find.

I second this. Though I have to say that Young and Halliday have good set of exercises.

 

[Frabjous]

You could try
Kleppner and Kolenkow Introduction to Mechanics
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521198119/?tag=pfamazon01-20
and
Purcell Electricity and Magnetism
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1107014026/?tag=pfamazon01-20

 

[EnricoHendro]

I am using physics for scientist and engineers 9th edition by Serway and Jewett

 

[madscientist_93]

Mechanics, molecular physics, heat and sound by Milikan, Roller and Watson

Probably the best introductory book I have ever read albeit being an old text. Kinda sad that the authors haven't written an introductory text on electrodynamics and other topics.

For contemporary introductory texts, I think the open yale course by R.Shankar does a great job.

Fundamentals of Physics: Mechanics, Relativity, and Thermodynamics (The Open Yale Courses Series)

Fundamentals of Physics II: Electromagnetism, Optics, and Quantum Mechanics (The Open Yale Courses Series)

 

[DanielJorge]

You could try
Kleppner and Kolenkow Introduction to Mechanics
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521198119/?tag=pfamazon01-20
and
Purcell Electricity and Magnetism
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1107014026/?tag=pfamazon01-20

This is exactly what I was looking for! Thanks

 

[vanhees71]

Substitute Purcell with Schwartz, Principles of Electrodynamics, which is much better to understand.

 

[Mondayman]

Substitute Purcell with Schwartz, Principles of Electrodynamics, which is much better to understand.

Isn't this book a little more advanced than Purcell? I've read it kind of bridges the gap from Griffiths to Jackson.

 

[TSny]

Mechanics, molecular physics, heat and sound by Milikan, Roller and Watson

Probably the best introductory book I have ever read albeit being an old text.

I agree, this book is a gem.

 

[madscientist_93]

Isn't this book a little more advanced than Purcell? I've read it kind of bridges the gap from Griffiths to Jackson.

Yes. Schwartz's book is a little advanced but If the student is confident with special relativity, i think its better than purcell / griffiths' books.

 

[MidgetDwarf]

For a good intro EM book,I prefer Kipp: Fundamentals Of Electricity of Magnetism. It is very well written and concise.