Pop Science Books

Most of these I studied before studying physics and mathematics formally, so it would be interesting to see what I thought of them now. Certainly I enjoyed them all first time I read them.

Richard Feynman - Surely You're Joking Mr Fyenman! Absolutely LOVE this book. I recommend it to anyone. It's not a science book - it's a collection of reminiscences - but it is fantastic. Read it! And also the follow up to it, What Do You Care What Other People Think?

Brian Greene - The Elegant Universe. An intro to strings and superstrings - a decent read. Also his follow up: The Fabric of the Cosmos

Roger Penrose - The Emperor's New Mind. He puts forward his ideas on the nature of consciousness which, to be honest, is very hand wavy. But what I liked about the book - which is the bulk of it - was the intro to mathematics, physics and computation. I did read this before studying any science to degree level and found it easy so it's a fairly easy read.

Carl Sagan - Cosmos. If for no other reason than it's a classic!

Richard Feynman - QED. Intro to quantum electrodynamics, which is the theory he won the Nobel for in 1965. It's a little more challenging than some popular science books but you certainly don't need a physics education to get through it. The four lectures the book is based are also available here: User Posted Link

Richard Feynman - The Character of Physical Law. Also based on some of his lectures, though this time - as the title would suggest - about the nature of physical laws generally.

I assume you've already read Hawking's books since you mentioned the latest one.

Roger Penrose - The Road to Reality. Now this isn't for the faint of heart; it's a heft tome, for one, and it's also quite heavy in content. It's a popular science book, but only just - I read this one having already completed my degree in physics and I noted bits that I think I would have struggled with if I hadn't studied it formally already. So this is one more if you are interested in diving a little deeper as it is bordering on a textbook. Talking of textbooks...

Richard Feynman - The Feynman Lectures on Physics. These are absolutely fantastic. They were written in the 60s so will be missing more recent developments (especially in particle physics and cosmology, of course) but all the stuff they cover is still taught today. And he does it in such a fantastic way - he has a really intuitive feel for physics and that comes across. As you might gather I am a bit of a fan of Feynman; in fact he was the inspiration for me studying physics.

Am sure I have forgotten loads but that is definitely good for starters.

Posted By: AstroCanary on January 12th 2022 at 14:14:01

Message Thread

FFS I see things don't change. (NCFC) - AstroCanary, Jan 12, 01:13:08
- Apologies for the drunk rant. (NCFC) - AstroCanary, Jan 12, 10:51:23
- What scope you got Astro canary? I’m assuming you’re into that kind of thing? (n/m) (NCFC) - Biggles, Jan 12, 09:56:25
  - Yeah I am. (NCFC) - AstroCanary, Jan 12, 10:45:19
    - Used to have an 11” SCT but moved to solar with a Lunt. (n/m) (NCFC) - Biggles, Jan 12, 12:38:18
      - Love the solar scopes! My ex used to have one, and it often found itself in my hands (n/m) (NCFC) - AstroCanary, Jan 12, 14:16:43
      - Cor - that was some impressive bit of kit! (NCFC) - Cardiff Canary, Jan 12, 13:45:13
        
        Especially as the new lunts can be used for nighttime viewing by removing the ethalon. (n/m) (NCFC) - Biggles, Jan 12, 14:54:57
  - While Astro sips his black coffee... (NCFC) - Cardiff Canary, Jan 12, 10:09:00
    - Those gotos are great for doing quick eyeball 1.0 astronomy. (NCFC) - AstroCanary, Jan 12, 10:49:02
      - Indeed (NCFC) - Cardiff Canary, Jan 12, 10:59:53
        
        Yeah I can totally understand that. (NCFC) - AstroCanary, Jan 12, 11:09:24
        
        Just insane what people can do with affordable kit now (NCFC) - Cardiff Canary, Jan 12, 11:21:43
        
        Yup. (NCFC) - AstroCanary, Jan 12, 11:36:05
        
        Catch it from time to time (NCFC) - Cardiff Canary, Jan 12, 11:45:25
        
        I can't wait. (NCFC) - AstroCanary, Jan 12, 11:53:10
        
        heh - as a chemist (NCFC) - Cardiff Canary, Jan 12, 12:17:27
        
        Didn't realise that evolution without replication was a possibility... (NCFC) - AstroCanary, Jan 12, 12:58:30
        
        I did my first degree in chemistry! (NCFC) - AstroCanary, Jan 12, 12:53:47
        
        It's a great time for popular science! (NCFC) - Cardiff Canary, Jan 12, 13:20:37
        
        Most of my course mates stayed in chemistry or thereabouts. (NCFC) - AstroCanary, Jan 12, 14:19:57
        
        "quantitative analysis in financial services" (NCFC) - Cardiff Canary, Jan 12, 14:24:34
        
        Thanks! (n/m) (NCFC) - AstroCanary, Jan 12, 14:29:47
        
        Pop Science Books (NCFC) - AstroCanary, Jan 12, 14:14:01
        
        Feynman and Penrose are good communicators (NCFC) - Cardiff Canary, Jan 12, 14:33:13
- you're not wrong (n/m) (NCFC) - ghostof barry butler, Jan 12, 08:20:11
- ? (n/m) (NCFC) - protheroe fitzgibbon, Jan 12, 01:20:35
  - Well there is constantly fucking conflict on here. (NCFC) - AstroCanary, Jan 12, 01:24:12
    - There are some truly awful people on here who will insult you for absolutely no reason…. (NCFC) - Biggles, Jan 12, 09:55:42
    - You think this is bad? Good job you weren’t here while Corbyn was Labour leader (n/m) (NCFC) - Old Git, Jan 12, 08:18:31
      - What about the 100 years war? (n/m) (NCFC) - jamesward, Jan 12, 09:23:50
        
        Oh gosh yes (NCFC) - Old Git, Jan 12, 10:06:08
        
        Politics I think (n/m) (NCFC) - jamesward, Jan 12, 11:19:12
        
        I left initially because (NCFC) - norwaay, Jan 12, 11:29:26
        
        I don't understand the Corbyn reference (NCFC) - norwaay, Jan 12, 09:35:25
        
        😂 (n/m) (NCFC) - Wrath analytica, Jan 12, 10:27:53
      - Or ‘03 (NCFC) - CWC, Jan 12, 09:19:30
    - Sock Puppet would be a great user name (n/m) (NCFC) - Augustus Pablo, Jan 12, 06:34:48
      - Yeah! (n/m) (NCFC) - SCC Sock Puppet, Jan 12, 08:16:22
      - Real Sock puppets are underrated (NCFC) - Cardiff Canary, Jan 12, 07:31:50
        
        And for those who like the untitled goose game (NCFC) - Cardiff Canary, Jan 12, 07:33:24
    - On a school night? Tut tut... (n/m) (NCFC) - protheroe fitzgibbon, Jan 12, 02:11:19
      - Had the interview from hell yesterday. (NCFC) - AstroCanary, Jan 12, 10:43:10
      - practice makes perfect Proth ! (n/m) (NCFC) - shoddy, Jan 12, 06:39:25
        
        Good point tbf. (n/m) (NCFC) - protheroe fitzgibbon, Jan 12, 07:43:40

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