Here you’ll find a (somewhat complete) list of all the books I have physical copies of and wholeheartedly recommend for a Physics degree, or at least all the ones in the above image! I’ve kept these on my person for the past 4.5-5 years now, and they’ve helped me through some dire straits.
From left to right, top to down, you’ll find:
- The Cambridge Star Atlas by Wil Tirion: basically a star map that is more geared for observational: helped with TGP and getting an idea of what we were pointing the scope at.
- Digital SLR Astrophotography by Michael Covington: useful for my hobbies but also helped me understand astronomical image reduction; definitely geared toward someone who has photography by their side.
- Faster Than Light: Superluminal Loopholes in Physics, by Dr Nick Herbert: an interesting read I picked up when studying black holes and relativity, which taught me as much as the actual course did (though with less mathematical rigour.)
- Gravitation by Charles Misner et al: I used this for (S)R and other various aspects to do with as you would guess, Gravity. Any decent Relativity-based course benefits from this.
- Richard Weidner/Robert Sells “Elementary Classical Physics:” an old pair of books I found in my apartment left by my uncle. Better than any modern book I’ve gone through with the exception of Sears and Zemansky’s University Physics.
- Astrobiology by Charles Cockell: taught the Astrobiology elective in first year. Great guy who refunded the bonus he was paid for the book he authored to each student who bought the book, and insisted on it, too. This book is by far the finest literature I had that year. *I didn’t take the refund- that man deserved every penny he got for that book.*
- Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, by Griffiths and Schroeter: fantastic in pieces and helped a lot with 3rd/4th-year quantum. Questions and practical examples are beyond compare.
- Introduction to Electrodynamics, by Griffiths: must-have for Electromagnetism. Basically all you’ll need (other than a good set of lecture notes for bits it lacks) and even has a section on SR. The only dedicated EM book I hold.
- Modern Quantum Mechanics, by Sakurai and Napolitano: step-up from Griffiths/Schroeters book, and definitely teaches better formalism (in my opinion.) More formal, less example-based, but definitely more useful for 4th/5th year quantum-based courses that require stronger use of Bra-Ket-based forms and later concepts.
- Concepts in Thermal Physics, by Blundell and Blundell: my first thermo book, and it’s held up well all the way to my MSc. Roughly on-par with Andrew’s book.
- Finn’s Thermal Physics, by Andrew Rex: recommended by the teacher for the 3rd-year Thermal Physics course, I found it less phenomenal than the above mention. I’m biased, however, due to the fact that I loathe penny-pinchers and this book is smaller and lower in physical quality, on top of costing more. Damn it, Rex.
- Fourier Analysis and Its Applications, by Gerald Folland: far too overpriced and formal to the point of being difficult to understand, it will provide a reasonable introduction to Fourier: that being said, the next mention is more than enough and frankly this one is too “technical.” I would not recommend following the suggestion for this book, but I do not necessarily regret it- it did provide some good insight.
- Mathematical Methods for Physics and Engineering, by Riley et al: truly the best. Honestly, the best. You will never beat this book when it comes to what it offers: mathematical methods in their purest form. I’ve used this book for everything from basic integral calculus all the way through Fourier and Poisson/Laplace transforms, to the backside of statistics and gaussian-methods for array solving. Worth every Penny.
- Classical Mechanics by John R. Taylor: as above, unbeatable. The author definitely hit the mark when it came to writing style and prose, the examples are well-written and handled, and the raw mathematical content and conceptualization is right there in black and white. Physically? The book is top-class in quality, too.
- Classical Mechanics, by R. Gregory: more obtuse than the above, and slightly more technical, this book is recommended more-so for the courses I’ve passed by… personally I prefer the above, but it’s proven handy on one or two occasions for content that Taylor’s book lacked.
- Functions and Graphs, by Gelfand et al: a short little book I picked up in first-year that helped a bunch with Kristel Torokoff’s course. Handy reference material for dealing with graphs mathematically.
- Sears and Zemansky’s University Physics, by Young and Freedman: I’ve used this one since A-Level and it held up all the way to the start of 2nd. Great book, a bargain, and you won’t be disappointed. The recommended one (I forgot the name- Blackwells sold that one to me for a £40) was not nearly as good as this one.
- Galactic Dynamics, by Binney and Tremaine: another hit, this one is what I’ve gotten for the Galaxies course and also to aid in my MSc. Great reference material with all-round great prose and as you can expect, a great set of authors.
- A Student’s Guide to the Mathematics of Astronomy, Fleisch and Kregenow: useful from 1st all the way to Observational Astronomy in 3rd, this book is handy for dynamics and other related things. Cheap too.
- Probability in Physics, by Andy Lawrence: he taught me my first statistics course, and was a damn fine teacher- his book stands up to that legacy and has aided me all the way.
- Atmospheric Science by Wallace and Hobbs: from the two meteorology electives I had in 2nd, this book is fantastic for understanding fluid dynamics and other such problems- a great read and the authors packed it with plenty of interesting phenomenology.
- Meteorology Today, by C. Ahrens: a fine complement to the above with less mathematical rigour, this book cemented the maths with even more concepts and phenomena that arose from it. Wouldn’t have survived without it, I reckon.
- Introduction to Meteorology by Jon Shonk: a short stubby book with good style and content, it came recommended for the courses. While interesting, I would not recommend it if you’re going for the full monty and choose Ahrens book, too.
- An Introduction to the Theory of Stellar Structure and Evolution, by Dina Prialnik: another hit- this one is a must-have for any Stellar Evolution course. Recommended and for good reason, it guided most of us through the course seamlessly, with full mathematical rigour and great description of phenomena (with associated diagrams.)
- The Oxford Solid State Basics, by Steven Simon: based on his lecture series, this one helped me a notch with some difficult thermodynamics/statistical physics problems- I haven’t done a course on solid-state physics, but the various concepts discussed proved quite useful in understanding some topics we met that weren’t discussed in the prioer two thermal textbooks.
- Physics on your Feet, Budker and Sushkov: definitely makes you think and apply what you’ve learned to random problems in physics: I got this at A-Level and set myself the goal of working it once I hit my MSc, and it’s certainly a challenging one.
- Introduction to Cosmology, by Barbara Ryden: top-notch writing and well put together, it took me through Cosmology and served me very well in my SHons project (which went well thanks to this book, if I’m being honest.) Cosmology didn’t go so well, though I’m attributing that to my mental breakdown and depression which struck me quite well at the time- Long Live COVID. I’m confident in saying that Cosmo was a cinch and it’s all thanks to Barbara and her great literature.
- An Introduction to the Sun and Stars, by Green and Jones: great read that helped with Introductory Astro in 1st and also some concepts here-and-there in Stellar Evo in 4th- it’s useful.
- An Introduction to Galaxies and Cosmology, by Jones et al: as above, though in reality neither are technical enough for an earnest undergrad.
- To Measure the Sky, by F. Chromey: the ultimate guide to observational astronomy, this one saved my bacon in the TGP Project on top of the Obs. Astro elective- you simply won’t beat it… everything from Azimuth to Zenith.