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Ask HN: Expository/Succinct Books on Modern Physics

27 points by rramadass ↗ HN
What are some good books which give an overview of all of Modern Physics (or even better, all of Physics)? Mathematical rigour is fine as long as they are clear and starting from undergrad level. Books for each of the quadrants mentioned here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_physics

I have my eye on John Dirk Walecka's (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dirk_Walecka) books which seem pretty good particularly the ones published by World Scientific Publishing. Three vols on Introduction, Advanced, Topics on Modern Physics and Introduction vols on Classical Mechanics, Quantum Mechanics, Statistical Mechanics, Electricity & Magnetism, General Relativity. - https://www.worldscientific.com/author/Walecka%2C+John+Dirk?...

Dover has Robert Sproull's Modern Physics which seems a bit old. - https://store.doverpublications.com/products/9780486783260

Springer has S.H.Patil's Elements of Modern Physics which seems up to date. - https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-70143-7

Does anybody have experience with these books both studying and teaching from? I would appreciate it if the knowledgeable folks here can shed some light on this.

What other books provide similar overview of the domain?

Also suggestions on books which provide the needed background Mathematics.

PS: I am finding the the old Soviet era book Fundamentals of Physics by Ivanov quite useful to get an overview - https://mirtitles.org/2018/04/21/fundamentals-of-physics-iva...

12 comments

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OgsyedIE
Most topics develop into advanced rabbitholes that takes years of learning in just that one topic to assume proficiency, but for somebody looking to get a detailed overview Young and Freedman's University Physics with Modern Physics is the best introduction to a little bit of everything.

The mathematical prerequisites are essentially algebra, precalculus and basic calculus, all of which are excellently covered by the OpenStax series of free textbooks published by Rice University.

QuadmasterXLII
Roger Penrose’s (Yes that Penrose) Road to Reality is excellent. Be warned the first 382 pages are just building the mathematical foundation he needs for the second half. But if you don’t do this, you can’t really write a book about modern physics targeting undergrad math.
senorcrab
Freshman university textbooks have what you need. Two of the most popular are:

- University Physics by Young and Freedman

- Fundamentals of Physics by Halliday, Resnick, Walker

- Modern Physics by Krane

You might guess that real physics is not actually in freshman textbooks, and you are right. Modern physics requires rigorous mathematics.

For a nonrigorous introduction/overview:

- The Road to Reality by Roger Penrose

If you want to actually learn almost all of physics at a high level:

- Course of Theoretical Physics by Landau

Note that Landau is extremely difficult.

If you want to learn the math needed for modern physics (topology) in the context of physics, nonrigorously:

- Geometry, Topology, and Physics by Nakahara

aristofun
Landau was Einstein+ level genius and the course was a soviet theoretical physics bible many years ago. But it’s not a good educational resource by modern standards and pretty dated.
codinhood
> Fundamentals of Physics by Halliday, Resnick, Walker

I strongly recommend this textbook. I used in college, and it's really good. There are a lot of problems for each chapter, I suggest doing them as they help a lot.

rramadass
Nice list. I had known of most of the books here; studied Resnick & Halliday (decades ago in bachelors) and have also perused Penrose's book. Landau/Lifshitz is of course well known.

The Nakahara book is new to me; Thanks for the pointer.

vittore
I think I used this exact Ivanov book (but in Russian) in school and quite liked it.
thraxil
Leonard Susskind's "The Theoretical Minimum" series is a great start. His corresponding Stanford lectures are on youtube as well and are a nice supplement.
kurtis_reed
Understanding Time and Space by Steven E Landsburg (subtitle: An Invitation to the Theory of Relativity for Anyone Who is Now, or Has Ever Been, an Inquisitive High School Student)