List of STEM Masterworks in Physics, Mechanics, Electrodynamics...

[AbyssalPloy]

On the matter of encyclopedias does a
Mcgraw Hill Encyclopedia of Physics warrant a place on a list like this... Tons of topics covered.

 

[Demystifier]

On the matter of encyclopedias does a
Mcgraw Hill Encyclopedia of Physics warrant a place on a list like this... Tons of topics covered.

I think the book is not widely known, so no.

 

[bhobba]

I thought the following list was good for Quantum Mechanics:


Although the Feynman Lectures is a masterpiece every mathematician/physicist should own I don't think it is good as a first exposure. It is excellent as supplementary reading or after first exposure.

Thanks
Bill

 

[The Bill]

Algebra by Serge Lang deserves a mention, I think.

 

[WWGD]

Dictionary of Mathematics, by Borwein and Borowski. There is an online version too. I browse it for fun.

 

[martinbn]

Does this count?

https://stacks.math.columbia.edu/

 

[MidgetDwarf]

There is the nice Real Analysis series (5 books total), by Peterson.
https://www.routledge.com/Basic-Analysis-Volumes-IV/Peterson/p/book/9781138055148

Although a bit pricey. AMS/MAA members receive 30% off any order purchased through CRC Press. Its about $400 with the discount.
It contains gems not found in other books. By gems, I mean, things a lecturer or someone teaching analysis for many years has learned, and tells students during lecture, which are not printed in books. Proofs are very detailed, and it is a joy to read. Only negative is the exercises, a bit too easy. A let down, since the exposition is concise, clear, and informative.

This book is perfect for students who graduated in a BS in mathematics from a "weak" program, and want to understand Real Analysis. Physics/Eng majors, or any STEM majors, who want to learn Analysis proper.

 

[MidgetDwarf]

What do you mean by "bottom-up" vs. "top down" learning and how is it different in a "analogue" vs. a "digital" setting.

I think electronic media are a great addition to the tool box. I usually scan my calculations and handwritten notes to have them in an ordered with me in an ordered way. I provide manuscripts for my lectures to the students etc. Of course, I also use sometimes a projector with a presentation (though never powerpoint for aesthetical reasons) to show some plot or other graphics I'm not able to draw adequately on the black board, but that I use very rarely, because particularly in theoretical physics just flashing a presentation to the wall and telling them what's on the "slides" is not as helpful as it might seem. Developing ideas on the black board (if possible without using my notes but really rethinking the stuff on the blackboard again), including discussions with the students, is in my opinion something which provides the specific additional value of a lecture in contradistinction to other forms of teaching and learning like reading a textbook, solve problems, do some e-learning online exercise or chatting on a forum like the present one.

I think the more different media you have at hand as a learner the better, and I also think as teachers we have to carefully think about how to develop ways to use electronic media in a really useful way.

There's a big political debate in Germany about the introduction of the "new media" at primary and secondary schools as well as in universities. The discussion concerning the schools is usually only about hardware, including computers, laptops, tablets as well as LAN/WLAN access. This is of course a necessary prerequisite, particularly given that it's shame how Germany is lacking in this simply infrastructural necessities, but now that finally they managed to finance it via federal money (the school and university education in Germany is due to the states, and it's not so easy to fund something concerning this by federal money) they all of a sudden realize that they don't have sufficient didactically high-quality content to offer on all this hardware, which indeed is an even greater shame. Just equipping the schools with hardware without a didactical concept and sufficient high-quality material for each learning/age level makes of course the entire endeavor useless before it has really started.

I was really shocked when some years ago my niece came home from school telling that they now had some IT lessons, and she was a bit disappointed about the fact that it was just learning to work with the Microsoft Office package rather than doing some programming.

There's really a lot to be desired concerning a useful application of the great possibilities of the "new media", which goes beyond simple storage and availability of information in form of the "old media", i.e., simply pdfs of textbooks and the like, though it's of course also good to have this, but it's not enough to really provide a true additional value to them.

My conclusion is, we should take the opportunities serious and develop some great additional learning offers for the students using all kinds of "e-learning" concepts but not forget also the well established old-fashioned standard equipment, including black-board teaching and discussions at lectures and recitation sessions.

Im facing a similar scenario in a college course , Vector Analysis. Although the material is familiar, I took Multivariable Analysis when doing my BS. This is a course akin to what Physcist and Engineers take. The lecturer just copy and paste information word per word from the textbook onto powerpoint slides. Nothing new, nor insights added during the lecture. Just straight reading from the slides (book). One of the laziest people workers I have ever observed. I was considering not attending lecture, but it is mandatory (B is max grade a student can receive if missing lectures).

Where more time could be spent doing problems. Since I am familiar with this topic, from the theoretical side, the problems are somewhat trivial. However, If one was learning the material for the first time, the book explanations makes these problems unapproachable, since lots of terminology or techniques are not really introduced in the reading.

Truth be told, I never had a great experience when math instructors would try to implement technology into the classroom. Although, my physics teachers were the opposite. Maybe university mathematics, of the pure variety, by nature do not lend themselves well to technology?

 

[SaranSDS008]

For QM, you can surely include Griffiths' Introduction to Quantum Mechanics and Ramamurti Shankar's Principles of Quantum Mechanics. Though finding a book containing everything in QM is not possible.

For general physics, Halliday's Fundamentals of Physics and H. C.Verma's Concepts of Physics do require a mention.

I personally found Principles of physics by Halliday, Resnick to be more detailed and intuitive, yet beginner friendly at the same time for High School/UG level General Physics. So, i feel that requires a mention.

 

[Wrichik Basu]

Thanks, @SaranSDS008, for quoting and reminding me of this thread.

At the risk of repetition (I didn't go through all the 7 pages), I believe Modern Quantum Mechanics by Sakurai and Statistical Mechanics by Pathria are worthy additions to this list.

In fact, Sakurai's Modern QM clearly shows that I was utterly wrong in saying the following:

Though finding a book containing everything in QM is not possible.

Opinions change with age and experience. Can't help it.

 

[Falgun]

I personally found Principles of physics by Halliday, Resnick to be more detailed and intuitive, yet beginner friendly at the same time for High School/UG level General Physics. So, i feel that requires a mention.

They have a more advanced version with the third author as krane called "Physics" which comes in 2 volumes. That according to me is the most comprehensive general calculus based physics textbooks.

 

[Hyperfine]

R. S. Berry, S. A. Rice, and J Ross, Physical Chemistry, 2nd Ed., Oxford University Press, 2000.

C. H. Townes and A. L. Schawlow, Microwave Spectroscopy, 2nd Ed., Dover Publications, 2012.

 

[Adrian59]

- quantum field theory:
the old testament: S. Weinberg, The Quantum Theory of Fields Volume I
the new testament: S. Weinberg, The Quantum Theory of Fields Volume II
(There is also the Volume III on supersymmetry, but it does not have such a high reputation.)

I know this thread is a bit old now, but I must say that when I was first trying to master quantum field theory I bought Steven Weinberg's book only to be further mystified. It is definitetly a book to read second or even third. My best first book for quantum field theory was 'A Modern Introduction to Quantum Field Theory' by Michele Maggiore. At 290 pages it covers most and probably a little more for a first course in quantum field theory. Second book I would suggest 'An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory' by Michael Peskin and Daniel Schroeder. I did get some useful insights from 'Quantum Field Theory in a Nutshell' by Anthony Zee. A book to also read but definitely not a full text, but wonderful for its insights is 'Quantum Electrodynamics' by Richard Feynman.

 

[vanhees71]

For me Peskin Schroeder is a bit too sloppy at important points. E.g., to have logarithms with dimensionful quantities in the chapter on the renormalization group is a no-go. For me the best intro book so far is

S. Coleman, Lectures of Sidney Coleman on Quantum Field
Theory, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., Hackensack
(2018), https://doi.org/10.1142/9371

To also cover the more modern aspects of the Standard Model:

M. D. Schwartz, Quantum field theory and the Standard
Model, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, New York
(2014).

To really learn, why QFT looks the way it looks, of course, Weinberg's Quantum Theory of Fields vol. 1+2 are the best. It's all well-founded in the representation theory of the Poincare group and very general (and that's the problem with this books as a first introduction to relativistic QFT). Complementary at the same level is

A. Duncan, The conceptual framework of quantum field
theory, Oxford University Press, Oxford (2012).

 

[vanhees71]

You forgot Coleman's lectures. If you are limited to 15 books, substitute Zee's Nutshell with Coleman's much better book (though having at least the same degree of wit and entertainment in it as Zee's ;-)).

 

[vanhees71]

I warn against Griffiths QM book. Given the many confused students in this forum, it's a bit too sloppy!

 

[Wrichik Basu]

I warn against Griffiths QM book. Given the many confused students in this forum, it's a bit too sloppy!

Yeah, I agree. Having read Sakurai's Modern QM recently, I can say that it's way better than Griffiths.

 

[Dr Transport]

I warn against Griffiths QM book. Given the many confused students in this forum, it's a bit too sloppy!

As is his Electrodynamics book....

 

[Falgun]

As is his Electrodynamics book....

What do you recommend then for e&m at a similar level.

 

[Dr Transport]

What do you recommend then for e&m at a similar level.

Wangsness....

 

[arturwojciechowicz]

3 parts of Walter Thirring's Mathematical Physics is very comprehensive book, the same with Walter Rudin and exceptional Analysis by Krzysztof Maurin.

 

[WWGD]

I've had Borwein and Borowski's Dictionary of Mathematics. Literally that, an alphabetical listing of Mathematical terms, with some additional resources, mostly links, edit: and tables of constants, integrals. A great book.

 

[Florian Geyer]

I took my tape measure and went to the library of my university , here are some very thick textbooks I have found:
Morse Theoretical Acoustics
deSalit Feshbach Theoretical Nuclear Physics
Milne Thomson Theoretical Hydrodynamics.

 

[Florian Geyer]

Mechanics:
Classical Mechanics By Desloge (Elementary)
Classical Mechanics By Goldstein (Advanced)
Mathematical Methods Of Classical Mechanics By Arnold (More Advanced)

Electrodynamics:
Introduction To Electrodynamics By Griffith (Elementary)
Classical Electromagnetism By Ohanian (Elementary)
Principles Of Electrodynamics By Schwartz (Almost Advenced)
Classical Electromagnetism By Frankein (Advenced)
Classical Electrodynamics By Jackson (Advanced)
Classical Electromagnetism By Schwinger (Advenced)

Quantum Mechanics:
Introduction To Quantum mechanics By Griffiths (Elementary)
Quantum Mechanics By Zettili (Elementary)
Lectures On Quantum Mechanics - Mathematical & Structural Foundations By Isham (Elementary)
Quantum Mechanics By Cohen (Advanced)
Quantum Mechanics By Kramers (Advanced)
Quantum Mechanics By Ballentin (Advanced)
Quantum Mechanics By Schwinger (More Advanced)
Quantum Kinematics & Dynamics By Schwinger (More More Advanced)
Geometry Of Quantum Theory By Varadarajan (More More Advanced)

Quantum Field Theory:
Quantum Field Theory In A Nutshell By Zee (Elementary)
Quantum Field Theory By Ryder (Elementary)
Quantum Field Theory By Srednicki (Elementary)
Field Theory - A Modern Primer By Ramond (Almost Advanced)
Relativistic Quantum Mechanics & Field Theory By Franz Gross (Advanced)
Quantum Field Theory By Zeidler (Sofar As I Know, 2 Volume From This 6 Volume Epic Published, Vol I - Basic In Mathematics & Physics, Vol II - Quantum Electrodynamics) (Advanced)
The Global Approach To Quantum Field Theory By Bryce Dwitt (More More Advanced - This Is An Epic Book By A Great Physicist)


Here is another list of textbooks with what the author considered about them it is written in this forum in 2005, I will leave the link to the original thread. https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/thread-on-book-recommendations.66463/
Since the author seems studied all these textbooks and from Iran, I understand he is Nima-Arkani Hamed (Just kidding)... I added it here, since it may help in building this list of bibles.

 

[dextercioby]

Sadly, professor Zeidler passed away in 2016, so his original plan of writing comprehensive treatises fell halfway short. If I am not mistaking, there are 3 volumes of the 6 originally intended. Similarly, back in the '80s, the math.phys series by Reed and Simon was also planned for many volumes, but written were only 4.

 

[Florian Geyer]

- quantum mechanics:
Surprisingly, I don't know which of the standard QM textbooks would deserve this title.

Hello

There is a new 4 volume textbook on QM Oliver Tennert, I think it deserves to get a look.
I am not sure whether or not it has translated from German yet.

Sincerely

 

[Juanda]

A very interesting thread. World it possible to condense its content in the first post?
Kind of like an index to make it easier to find what you're looking for within this multipage thread.

Or maybe opening a parallel locked thread that uses this one as its source.
It'd have the date from which it was updated last from this source material.
Also where in this post was mentioned in case people want to read more context about the recommendation.
I'd open the thread myself if you think the idea is worth it. I'd try not to add any personal bias. Just take the information from here and summarize it if possible.

 

[gmax137]

A very interesting thread. World it possible to condense its content in the first post?
Kind of like an index to make it easier to find what you're looking for

If you think this thread is too much to take on, have a look at the Fukushima threads. The first one got so long there's a part two.

Makes me wonder if this summarizing is something that an AI could usefully do.

 

[Frabjous]

A very interesting thread. World it possible to condense its content in the first post?
Kind of like an index to make it easier to find what you're looking for within this multipage thread.

Or maybe opening a parallel locked thread that uses this one as its source.
It'd have the date from which it was updated last from this source material.
Also where in this post was mentioned in case people want to read more context about the recommendation.
I'd open the thread myself if you think the idea is worth it. I'd try not to add any personal bias. Just take the information from here and summarize it if possible.

If that is a task you want to do, you should PM @Greg Bernhardt

There is the issue of whether some of suggestions meet the definition of bible.

 

[Juanda]

A very interesting thread. World it possible to condense its content in the first post?
Kind of like an index to make it easier to find what you're looking for within this multipage thread.

Or maybe opening a parallel locked thread that uses this one as its source.
It'd have the date from which it was updated last from this source material.
Also where in this post was mentioned in case people want to read more context about the recommendation.
I'd open the thread myself if you think the idea is worth it. I'd try not to add any personal bias. Just take the information from here and summarize it if possible.

I ended up opening a parallel thread using this one as its source.
This is the thread:
List of STEM Masterworks. THE SUMMARY.

There is an online spreadsheet in there where I tried to gather all the recommendations from this thread.

By the way, while compiling all the books I realized there is a heavy focus on Physics. Especially quantum physics.

As a mechanical engineer, I'd love to see more books related to my field. My experience is very limited so my judgment for Bibles/Masterworks isn't the best but I'd recommend some books I found particularly useful and nice to read lately. I'd say they're readable by undergrads which is my level of education at the moment.

• Yunus A. Çengel, Michael A. Boles, Mehmet Kanoglu - Thermodynamics_ An Engineering Approach-McGraw Hill (2023)
• Richard G. Budynas, Keith J. Nisbett - Shigley's Mechanical Engineering Design in SI Units-McGraw-Hill Education (2021)
• (McGraw-Hill professional engineering. Mechanical engineering) John H. Bickford - An Introduction to the Design and Behavior of Bolted Joints, Third Edition

 

[otennert]

Hello

There is a new 4 volume textbook on QM Oliver Tennert, I think it deserves to get a look.
I am not sure whether or not it has translated from German yet.

Sincerely

Thanks a lot Florian!

Actually, it is currently being translated into English, but don't expect the volumes to be out before mid of 2025...

Cheers

 

[julian]

Canonical Quantum gravity: Modern Canonical Quantum General Relativity by Thomas Thiemann

 

[julian]

General relativity, in particular the singularity theorems: The large scale structure of space-time by S. W. Hawking and G. F. R. Ellis

 

[FourEyedRaven]

I've been meaning to post this bible of topos theory for ages:

"Sketches of an Elephant: A Topos Theory Compendium", by Peter T. Johnstone

https://www.amazon.com/dp/019852496X/?tag=pfamazon01-20

I should have added this crucial information. This compendium is not finished. There's a 3rd volume that was supposed to be published but, at this point, I don't know if we'll ever see it.

Another crucial information, the most complete and clearest textbook on topos theory is
"Sheaves in Geometry and Logic", by MacLane and Moerdijk