Best Textbooks for Physics and Calculus: Share Your Recommendations!

In summary, it seems that there are a lot of threads on which textbooks are best for varius subjects (mainly physics and calculus). so, i started this thread to see everyones view on the best textbooks for subjects related to physics. i'll try to make a list of the best ones for each subject. so, tell us your favorite textbooks.
  • #36
mathwonk said:
more good books on advanced calculus:

by dieudonne (foundations of modern analysis),

by loomis and sternberg (advanced calculus)

by nickerson, spencer and steenrod (advanced calculus).


all out of print, which says something about the state of education today in US.
by sternberg you mean shlomo sternberg?
if indeed it's him, then this book can be downloaded here:
http://www.math.harvard.edu/~shlomo/
 
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  • #37
loop quantum gravity said:
by sternberg you mean shlomo sternberg?
if indeed it's him, then this book can be downloaded here:
http://www.math.harvard.edu/~shlomo/

I <3 you :!) :!) :!)
 
  • #38
thanks for the link, loop qg, that is a great service to the math learning public. that book recreates for you what an honors undergraduate calculus course was like at Harvard in the 1960's.

In fact they probably still teach this course there, (math 55) but I do not know what book they use.

the other two books mentioned above (Dieudonne, Spencer et al.) were also used formally or informally for the same course, as was Fleming's functions of several variables.
 
  • #39
don't thank me, thank this column:
http://www.sas.org/tcs/weeklyIssues/2004-10-15/mathcorner/index.html
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #40
Hello,
I am planning to take some Entrance Exams for an Msc. in Physics in Indian Institute of Technology and some other universities.

Could you suggest some good books to study undergraduate Physics from for the following topics:

1. Solid State Physics
2. Thermodynamics
3. Electronics

Thanks
 
  • #41
PrinceOfDarkness said:
I started studying a book on mutlivariable calculus/linear algebra a few days back and I have already started to like it a lot:
Vector Calculus, Linear Algebra and Differential Forms: A Unified Approach by John Hubbard and Barbara Hubbard
I especially enjoy reading the margin notes, sometimes I find something which I didn't know before.
I second this book, as it does a good job of unifying theory with application. The margin notes are a nice touch. For a more rigorous approach, use Spivak in parallel with this one.
 
  • #42
more algebra books

theory of equations & galois theory:
-- polynomials by edward barbeau
-- theory of equations by james uspensky
-- the skeleton key of mathematics by littlewood (not just for algebra)
-- field theory & its classical problems by charles hadlock
-- galois theory by artin

modules & ring theory:
-- noncommutative rings by herstein
-- a 1st course on noncommutative rings by lam

i also just got dummit/foote's general algebra book. it looks pretty good; i like how it has lots of discussion, unlike hungerford's
 
  • #43
what does everyone think of ivan sokolnikoff's advanced calculus? i can't find any info on that anywhere. i'll just have to find it at a library i guess.
 
  • #44
Is shankar's "Principles of quantum mechanics" suitable for a high school student who has only a basic understanding of calculus(able to derive e^x, ln(x) and sin/cos, and antidiff. the same stuff) and physics (eg F=ma and not much more)?
 
  • #45
Not really, I think you'd need a good solid grounding in Classical Mechanics first.
Lagrangian, Hamiltonian, Poisson Brackets, e.t.c.

You might also want some experience with Linear Algebra and Vector Spaces.
And possibly some techniques for solving ODEs. (So that you can appreciate what Hilbert space is)
 
  • #46
Bah :( Guess it's just best to just wait till uni to start learning physics.
 

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