Modern physics book recommendations

[michaelchang]

hello..haven't posted in a long time!

I just stumbled across a book at my local library called "Relativity" by Albert Einstein. At first, i thought this was his original paper and was considering putting it back without starting it. Boy am i glad i didnt. This is by far the best book on the theory of relativity, both special and general.

It explains in very simple terms how he came up with both theories. I am going through the second half of the book (general relativity) and i'm starting to have trouble. But i think the section on special relativity is excellent.

[Tormod]

heh...I read that book as well, while I had a bad bronchitis this spring, and it felt like banging my head against a wall. I read lots of stuff but that book was just too heavy for me at the time...

By the way, I am reading a very good book about Complex Networks called "NEXUS - Small Worlds and the groundbreaking science of networks" by Mark Buchanan. It's amazing how everything is connected! The Kevin Bacon game isn't just a strange coincidence.

[Evalain88]

Wow! You are all amazing! I'm going to read every book you've mentioned so far. I'll be here every day! You the smartest people I've seen in any science disscusion site. In some sites.....all they talk about is the Big Bang theory and basic chemistry,astronomy,physics(not so often) and the basic biology! But here I feel on a level.
Tormod you are a genius!
Regards to all
Best regards
Eva H.I.

[Tormod]

*blush*

Thanks! Well, I read a lot so if others like my recommendations then that's good.

But I would really like to hear what other people are reading as well!

Tormod

[michaelchang]

hehe..i'm reading what you're reading!

I would like to suggest a fiction (not THAT fiction) novel, called Contact by Carl Sagan. It is about us finally receiving a signal from an advanced civilization. It details how the human race would react and all the complications that come along with this discovery. It is a truly amazing book, i think everyone ought to read it!.

[rileyj]

"The Kevin Bacon game isn't just a strange coincidence"
what game?

[IrishEyes]

"The Kevin Bacon game isn't just a strange coincidence"
what game?

Below is a link to the Kevin Bacon game. Check out their different pages explaining why the game was invented, etc. It's very interesting, and can be a lot fun if you're bored very late, and your husband is on a business trip to Hawaii (or not!).

http://www.cs.virginia.edu/oracle/

[Freethinker]

Ya, this is a fun one. I had to try to beat it, naturally, but it got me!

The Oracle says: N!xau has a Bacon number of 2.

N!xau was in Gods Must Be Crazy, The (1980) with Ken Gampu
Ken Gampu was in Air Up There, The (1994) with Kevin Bacon

But then I found an infinite Bacon number

Michael Williams from the Blair Witch Project.

[TeleMad]

A pretty good introduction to modern physics - relativity (both special and general) and quantum mechanics - for the layperson is The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory, by Brian Greene. The first 131 pages cover those areas...only then does he start getting into strings (and even then he does discuss other science along the way).

In Search of Shrodinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality is a good, layperson (conceptual-driven and "formula free") book and covers quantum mechanics in much more depth...but it doesn't cover relativity.

If one can spare a few bucks, there's a much better introduction, in my opinion. The Teaching Company (www.teach12.com, I believe) offers lecture series from college professors on a wide range of subjects (unfortunately, mostly philosophy and religion). One of the offerings is called something like "Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: Modern Physics for the Non Scientist" (it's by professor Richard Wolfson, I believe). It's on DVD for under 100 bucks, many times, and covers all kinds of stuff in good detail.

Tormod: Before the Big Bang - The origins of the universe
by Ernest J. Sternglass (reviewed at Hypography)
Sternglass has his own views of how the universe was born - and it makes for great reading. His theories are not mainstream ...

I'll say! I didn't bother to try to get too far through it...he proposes that the ether does exist and that partciles are vortices in the ether. I quickly sold my copy to the first (gullible) buyer.

[geko]

Havent read it yet (on order) but it's gonna be good! Especially for people like me that arent that learned i feel.


"The Road To Reality - Roger Penrose"


Cant wait! Ages since ive read a physics book (the elegant universe that telemad mentioned being the last one - not counting the universe in a nutshell).

EDIT: The subheading (whcih gives a little explaination of what it's going to be like - *whoops* for not saying), is 'A complete guide to the physical universe'. It's meant to begin with the bascis of mathematics and advance right to the most cutting edge scientific discoveries of the present day.