Well I currently have a few books that are at the top of my list....
Quantum Psychology - Robert Anton WilsionEph, I remember that we were talking about this book about a month ago and discussed the unparalleled genius of that writer. To all of you who are into reading about existentialism and other ways to view your emic/edic reality, then I suggest that you pick this book up. It'll really make you take a hard evaluation on how you perceive the universe. (Eph, I just started reading Prometheus Rising and it's just as awesome as Quantum Psychology.)
Morphic Resonance: The Nature of Formative Causation - Rupert Sheldrake
Such a good read. Another book that really goes hard on causation and how subconsciously, there is much more going on than we could ever possibly hope to imagine. Morphic Resonance is a topic I wish they studied at least at some graduate level but alas, I remain disappointed.
Physics of the Impossible - Michio Kaku
I have to tell you, I had the awesome pleasure of taking my first two courses in quantum theory with this man and he is another who's genius is totally unparalleled. He teaches courses mainly at CCNY in Manhattan but is also an adjunct professor at all the other major universities in the area and Princeton. The book, as complicated as some of the topics he discusses may sound, is actually a great read for the layman as well as your average physicist/engineer. He goes over a wide variety of topics. Things that are mildly possible in the future (i.e. force fields, anti-matter universes, and invisibility) to things that are totally impossible (i.e. perpetual motion machines, precognition, etc.) and goes over how all of these things can, in one way or another, be totally debunked.
******Anyone who is into physics/mathematics/engineering, hear are a few books I would suggest to you.******
Feynman Lectures on Physics - Richard Feynman
It's a 3 volume series that will really get you going from the basics of Newtonian mechanics to thermodynamics, to electromagnetic theory, relativity, spectroscopy, nuclear and sub-atomic topics and mildly on the origins of quantum theory. It really is a great way for anyone to get into physics even if just to enhance your knowledge of it at a conceptual level. I understand the math may be a bit difficult. That's where this next book comes in.
Ordinary Differential Equations - Morris Tenenbaum and Harry Pollard
Obviously to take on a book like this you have to have some background in calculus. In that case I recommend Calculus for Dummies and another great book called Calculus Refresher for Technical Men because that, believe it or not, is how I got through pretty much all of my undergrad calculus courses.
This book is a great way to start with diff eq. because it takes subjects such as integrating factors, Laplace Transform, Newton's Interpolation Formulas and Picard's Method of Successive Approximations and really breaks them down into something that's readable for first timers who are trying to study the material on there own. (One of my favorite texts,
Quantum Theory by David Bohm was published by the same company, Dover. Their blue books are amazingly comprehensive!)
The Audiophile's Project Sourcebook - G. Randy Slone
This was an awesome book for me back in the good ol' days of being and engineering student. No complex math, no crazy formulas that you had to memorize, nothing like that. Just schematics! Pages and pages of schematics!!! More specifically schematics for audio projects. This is the book I used to build my first distortion pedal (a copy cat of the MXR Distortion +) and have constantly referred to it when I need some sort of help in any design work that I do. Topics range from audio preamps, power differentiation, power amplification filtration circuits, other miscellaneous audio effects (chorus, phaser, delay, reverberation, vibrato). As a musician, this is probably one of my best kept secrets. Build these projects yourself and you'll save yourself from having to spend $50-$100 on a brand name and you'll have the satisfaction of DIY.
FINALLY (and here is where your brain gets scrambled)
Quantum Mechanics - Albert Messiah
This book is 2 volumes that were bound into 1 when I bought it. It's simple enough for students and comprehensive enough for working physicists. Starting directly with origins of the quantum theory, we see methods in photon scattering, quantum spin, further into Schrodinger's Equation and the formalism of the wave equation (maybe some of you will be familiar in the reference of the Schrodinger's Cat paradigm - is the cat dead or alive
) and ending with a number of different approximation and stationary perturbation method, time reversal, particle collision theory, and relativistic quantum theory. It goes over all the math in excruciating detail. I bought this book about a year ago to get my ass ready for graduate school and I still find myself stumbling over the formalisms that are presented within the first 60 pages of the book. Nonetheless, if you are interested in doing physics research in grad school, or even as an undergraduate, then this is absolutely the book that you should make your new bible.
Why did you leave the book with me!?Why did you leave the book with me!?
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