Discussion Overview
This thread discusses participants' opinions on various science textbooks they consider poorly written or ineffective. The scope includes critiques of books across different fields, particularly focusing on quantum field theory, general relativity, optics, statistical mechanics, and calculus.
Discussion Character
- Debate/contested
- Exploratory
- Conceptual clarification
Main Points Raised
- One participant criticizes T. Banks' "Modern Quantum Field Theory: A Concise Introduction" for being difficult to understand, even for familiar concepts.
- Another participant finds Hobson and Efstathiou's "General Relativity: An Introduction for Physicists" to be confusing and poorly written.
- Multiple participants express strong dislike for Hecht's "Optics," describing it as verbose and lacking clarity.
- One participant recalls a bad G.E.D. book but cannot remember the title or author, noting poor discussions and examples.
- Born & Wolf's "Principles of Optics" is described by one participant as nearly unreadable, with another agreeing on its difficulty.
- Huang's book on statistical mechanics is mentioned multiple times as traumatizing, with participants sharing negative experiences related to it.
- One participant criticizes Ichimaru's "Statistical Plasma Physics, Vol. 1" for being mathematically dense with little physical insight.
- Stewart's "Calculus" is criticized for being wordy and tedious, with concerns about its publishing practices affecting students.
- Another participant shares a negative experience reviewing a poorly written C++ book, noting significant errors and poor formatting.
- One participant mentions "Applications of Lie Groups to Differential Equations" by Peter Olver as challenging and difficult to understand.
Areas of Agreement / Disagreement
Participants generally express individual negative opinions about various textbooks, with no consensus on which books are the worst. Multiple competing views and experiences are shared, indicating a lack of agreement on specific titles.
Contextual Notes
Some critiques are based on personal experiences and may reflect individual preferences or teaching styles. The discussion highlights a variety of subjects, and the effectiveness of the books may depend on the reader's background and expectations.