Popular Physics Books: Get Recommendations Here

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on the appreciation of pop physics books and their value in understanding complex concepts alongside traditional textbooks. Participants express interest in recommendations, particularly for books covering electromagnetic waves, while also highlighting the Feynman Lectures as a beneficial supplement. The conversation reveals that the Feynman Lectures are available in both audio and text formats, with one participant planning to listen to the audio version during commutes. The audio quality is noted to vary, but the engaging content makes it worthwhile. Additionally, there is a mention of the affordability of international editions of textbooks, which are legal and identical to their standard counterparts, making them an attractive option for students.
tolove
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Anyone a fan of pop physics books?

I've found that the analogies and random bits of history in such books help tremendously in addition to a textbook.

Does anyone have a recommendation? How about recommendation for lesser known topics (that is, not relativity)? Specifically, a book that covers concepts of electromagnetic waves would help me a lot right now.
 
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Not a pop physics book, but the Feynman lectures is an awesome supplement.
 
micromass said:
Not a pop physics book, but the Feynman lectures is an awesome supplement.

Yes! I have a copy of those. Haven't listened to them all yet, though. I think I'll put them on a .mp3 player and start listening to them on my daily commute.
 
tolove said:
Yes! I have a copy of those. Haven't listened to them all yet, though. I think I'll put them on a .mp3 player and start listening to them on my daily commute.

Listened? They have an audio version now?
 
micromass said:
Listened? They have an audio version now?

Read? They have a text version now?

Haha, I'll check the text version out. I didn't know about them.

I think the story behind the audio version is that Feynman, one time only, taught a full sequence of the introductory physics courses. One of the listeners brought an audio recorder, and there they are. The quality is not very good in places, and in other places he's writing on the chalk board and you have little idea what's happening. But parts of it (from what I've listened to so far) are rather amusing.
 
tolove said:
Read? They have a text version now?

Haha, I'll check the text version out. I didn't know about them.

I think the story behind the audio version is that Feynman, one time only, taught a full sequence of the introductory physics courses. One of the listeners brought an audio recorder, and there they are. The quality is not very good in places, and in other places he's writing on the chalk board and you have little idea what's happening. But parts of it (from what I've listened to so far) are rather amusing.

Here is the text version: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0201021153/?tag=pfamazon01-20
I'm going to look into buying the audio version...
 
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micromass said:
Here is the text version: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0201021153/?tag=pfamazon01-20
I'm going to look into buying the audio version...

Already ordered! This makes me excited. I really disliked the text my college used for those intro classes. Will actually be enjoyable to review these topics now.

Also, if anyone else reads this, I want to put a plug in for international editions. They're significantly cheaper, legal, and exactly the same.
 
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