Top Must-Read Books for Well-Educated Minds | Math, Science, and More!

[mathwonk]

ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN" by Robert Fulghum

 

[john16O]

has anyone read Einstein: His Life and Universe?? I am looking into reading this book next, once my semester workload slows down a little..

 

[ffleming7]

has anyone read Einstein: His Life and Universe?? I am looking into reading this book next, once my semester workload slows down a little..

Yes! It is a very interesting look into Einstein's life. Walter Isaacson is a great writer and explains Einstein's seemingly complex ideas in terms anyone can understand. However, I am no expert.

 

[Herricane]

Metamagical Themas: Questing For The Essence Of Mind And Pattern by Douglas R. Hofstadter

 

[QuarkCharmer]

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (E.Abbot)
The God Delusion (R.Dawkins)
Hyperspace (Michio Kaku) (I like this one, his other books tend to border fiction)
The Demon Haunted World (C. Sagan)
Billions and Billions (C.Sagan)
(Someone already mentioned Cosmos etc.)
Einstein's Telescope (E. Gates)
Uranium (T.Zoellner)
Science: A Four Thousand Year History (P.Fara)
The Math Book (C.Pickover)

Non Physics/Science books
Art of War (Sun Tsu)
Being and Nothingness (J.P.Sartre)

What are some other great ones that do not require you to already be a Physics PhD?

 

[mal4mac]

Yes! It is a very interesting look into Einstein's life. Walter Isaacson is a great writer and explains Einstein's seemingly complex ideas in terms anyone can understand. However, I am no expert.

I just read it. It's very well written and shows that it can be an advantage when non-physicists write popular works that involve a lot of physics. Isaacson had a team of physicists and science historians checking the technical details (including Greene and Krauss!) He quotes many intriguing papers from recent researchers into the history of Einstein's physics, so it's a great first-source for anyone wanting to look into how Einstein was thought to have developed his theories, based on the latest historical research. The personal stuff was also very interesting, and based on a lot of new material that was released quite recently.

 

[A Dhingra]

if they don't contain exercises, then yes you can follow the forumulas and trying to get all the steps etc. Or find another textbook or excerixes somewhere else.

Physics is not a science that you gain knowledge by reading, nor math either. One has to practice and encounter difficulties and try to overcome them :)

so would you suggest such a practice book for relativity...

thanks in advance...

 

[mathwonk]

I liked this short one by Ramana Maharshi: Who am I? (Nan yar?)

http://www.messagefrommasters.com/Ebooks/Ramana_Maharshi_Books/Who_Am_I.pdf

 

[alkadh455]

I would say Billions and Billions by Carl Sagan. It is a great science influential books. Also tackles some philosophical questions