What are you reading now? (STEM only)

[NathanaelNolk]

Finally doing some more advanced mathematics with 'Introduction to Smooth Manifolds' by John M. Lee. I also bought Tu's 'An Introduction to Manifolds' which was in the Springer yellow sale collection this year. So far it's been pretty enjoyable, a bit difficult considering I'm not at a grad level yet but I have friends going through the book too and Tu's book gives a nice alternate overview of the subject.

 

[Salvador Sosa]

Right now I am reading the elegant universe by Brian Greene

 

[FactChecker]

Linear and Geometric Algebra by Alan Macdonald.
Also watching youtube videos which go along with the text Introduction to Tensor Calculus and the Calculus of Moving Surfaces by Pavel Grinfeld. Very intuitive and slow paced -- excellent for casual learning (if you have the time). I'll get the book if the videos keep my interest to the end.

 

[Joker93]

I am currently reading the review paper by Aharoni, Maldacena et al on AdS/CFT.
It's not a book, but I supplement it with Peskin and Schroeder(QFT), Zee's books on QFT and Gravity and QFT for the Gifted Amateur!
It's a blast reading from high-level sources and then going to some lower-level books to gain some intuition!

 

[ElectricRay]

Just started on Apollo 13 by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger. What an exciting time it must have been but the US did it even when it got wrong.
I hope in the near future mankind will start to travell again the the Moon and other placesbin our solar system. This year it will be 60 years Armstrong made his famous step on the Moon.

 

[scottdave]

Just started on Apollo 13 by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger. What an exciting time it must have been but the US did it even when it got wrong.
I hope in the near future mankind will start to travell again the the Moon and other placesbin our solar system. This year it will be 60 years Armstrong made his famous step on the Moon.

Well one more year. It was July 1969.

 

[ElectricRay]

Well one more year. It was July 1969.

Oops yes your 100% right. Made a mistake I was reading the part when they passed the moon which was Christmas 68.

 

[scottdave]

Oops yes your 100% right. Made a mistake I was reading the part when they passed the moon which was Christmas 68.

Yes, I believe Jim Lovell on was Apollo 8, which orbited the Moon, then returned.

 

[penta-d]

I’m reading Warmth Disperses and Time Passes, by von Baeyer.

 

[vanhees71]

I'm still fascinated with Duncan's QFT book

 

[DS2C]

Reading How to Study as a Mathematics Major by Lara Alcock.
Although it's not my intention to major in Mathematics, I know that physics requires advanced mathematics which is why I thought this would be useful. I've learned a ton from it so far such as learning to treat things like processes as objects, and learning how to solve things without being provided examples, etc.

 

[berkeman]

Refreshing my A&P...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0763737925/?tag=pfamazon01-20

 

[lekh2003]

Does the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy count?

If not, I'm reading "What is Life", by Schrodinger.

 

[CJ2116]

Slowly making my way through the 7th edition of Mathematical Methods for Physicists by Arfken/Weber/Harris.

 

[MrRobotoToo]

The most interesting thing I'm reading right now is "Feynman Lectures on Computation". I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a relaxed but insightful introduction to the theory of computation, among other things. Some other topics that he covers are the thermodynamics of computation, information theory, and quantum computing.

 

[George Jones]

I'm still fascinated with Duncan's QFT book

Right now, Duncan is sitting on my desk, but ...

 

[opus]

The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman.
Next time someone calls you "bird brain", take it as a high compliment.

 

[vanhees71]

But it depends somewhat on the bird! A raven seems to be pretty clever, while chicken are known to be somewhat limited...

 

[CJ2116]

But it depends somewhat on the bird! A raven seems to be pretty clever, while chicken are known to be somewhat limited...

I was eating on the Riverwalk in San Antonio, TX a few years ago. A duck walked over and grabbed/tugged on my jeans looking for food. I actually remember thinking that that was pretty brilliant. There are birds like crows and ravens that are really smart and can use tools. The duck obviously couldn't do that, but it did end up getting a free and easy meal in the end!

Just started reading Dreams of a Final Theory by Steven Weinberg. These kind of books definitely help keep me motivated when I feel like I've hit a wall!

 

[opus]

But it depends somewhat on the bird! A raven seems to be pretty clever, while chicken are known to be somewhat limited...

True! But the cognitive abilities of birds vary in specialty. For an example, Crows understand the concept of metatools. That is, if they have a stick that is too short to grab a prize, they understand that they can use the short stick to get a longer stick which would ultimately get them what they're after. Pigeons can't do this, but their spatial intelligence in way up there. You can put them in a box, drive hundreds of miles away, and they'll fly back home with amazing accuracy. Another bird, and I don't remember the name, remembers where it stored over 600 items for as long as 6 months. Pretty nuts!

 

[Andy Resnick]

Just finished Petr Beckman's "A History of Pi". Fascinating narrative written by a bracing narrator.

 

[gleem]

Mathematical Problem Solving - Alan H. Schoenfeld

The author is a mathematician who in 1975 upon reading George Polya's book "How to Solve It" (1945) noted how much in the book was what he did in problem solving. He wonder why he was not taught these strategies but had to learn them for himself. He raised the questions what does it mean to "think mathematically" and How can we help students to do it? He states the book's focus is the framework for the analysis of complex problem solving behavior. The book reviews his analysis of studies of actual problem solving sessions forming the basis of his subsequent work in math education.

 

[jasonRF]

Just finished Petr Beckman's "A History of Pi". Fascinating narrative written by a bracing narrator.

I really enjoyed that book, too. An uncle gave it to me when i was a young teenager and I found it to be inspiring.

 

[berkeman]

I bought the new math textbook by @Orodruin and it just came in the mail a couple of days ago. I got it through the PF discount link (thanks @Greg Bernhardt ). This should be a fun adventure!

Save 20% off the purchase of ‘Mathematical Methods for Physics and Engineering’ when you order online at https://www.crcpress.com/9781138056886 and enter Promo Code MPE18. Free standard shipping when you order online.

Reference https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/the-birth-of-a-textbook/

 

[vanhees71]

Hm, I'm still waiting for getting the book (I ordered it on Dec/23), but books from the UK take pretty long if ordered directly from the publisher and not via Amazon :-(.

 

[Nguyen Son]

I'm reading Statistical Mechanics by W.Greiner and Quantum Theory of Many-particle systems by Fetter&Walecka I think I should try to understand more about Stat. Mechanics although I've passed it, I'm still not satisfied

 

[vanhees71]

Fetter&Walecka is a classic and among the best books on non-relativistic many-body QFT I know. Another good source is also Landau&Lifshitz vol. IX; for the more introductory parts of stat. mech. also vol. V. Of course, Greiner's book is also good.

 

[Nguyen Son]

I'm happy to hear that, thanks a lot for your comment mr vanhees71

 

[vanhees71]

I bought the new math textbook by @Orodruin and it just came in the mail a couple of days ago. I got it through the PF discount link (thanks @Greg Bernhardt ). This should be a fun adventure! View attachment 218381

I've got it too. So I've something interesting to look at the weekend :-)).

 

[vanhees71]

I don't know, whether also biographies qualify as "STEM only", but I started to read again

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0738206938/?tag=pfamazon01-20

It's a page turner!

 

[ISamson]

I am reading "Forces of Nature" Brian Cox and Andrew Cohen.
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=...hrome..69i57.237j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

[pinball1970]

Donald Johanson, Lucy's Legacy: 2009 Lots of books on this subject but this one is from the horses mouth (one of them anyway)

 

[NFuller]

I've been working through Nonequilibrium Statistical Mechanics by Robert Zwanzig one of the limited number of books on the subject.

 

[DrDu]

But it depends somewhat on the bird! A raven seems to be pretty clever, while chicken are known to be somewhat limited...

Prejudices!
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170110-despite-what-you-might-think-chickens-are-not-stupid

 

[Andy Resnick]

Currently working on "Interacting Systems far from Equilibrium: Quantum Kinetic Theory" (Klaus Morawetz).