Top Hacker News Book Recommendations in Science & Math (all time)

All Time Past 6 Months

Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

Carlo Rovelli

4.4 on Amazon

8 HN comments

Dirt to Soil: One Family’s Journey into Regenerative Agriculture

Gabe Brown and Chelsea Green Publishing

4.8 on Amazon

7 HN comments

Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down

J. E. Gordon

4.7 on Amazon

7 HN comments

The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness

Sy Montgomery

4.6 on Amazon

7 HN comments

A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future

Sir David Attenborough and Jonnie Hughes

4.8 on Amazon

7 HN comments

Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming

Paul Hawken

4.6 on Amazon

7 HN comments

PIHKAL: A Chemical Love Story

Alexander Shulgin and Ann Shulgin

4.8 on Amazon

7 HN comments

Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity

Sean M. Carroll

4.8 on Amazon

6 HN comments

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Mary Roach, Shelly Frasier, et al.

4.6 on Amazon

6 HN comments

Snake: The Essential Visual Guide

Chris Mattison

4.8 on Amazon

6 HN comments

Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation

Daniel J. Siegel and Brilliance Audio

4.6 on Amazon

6 HN comments

Dinosaur: A Photicular Book

Dan Kainen and Kathy Wollard

4.8 on Amazon

6 HN comments

The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time

Maria Konnikova

4.3 on Amazon

6 HN comments

The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914

David McCullough

4.7 on Amazon

6 HN comments

Rewire Your Anxious Brain: How to Use the Neuroscience of Fear to End Anxiety, Panic, and Worry

Catherine M. Pittman

4.6 on Amazon

5 HN comments

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xelxebaronFeb 25, 2018

I'm working through Sean Carroll's "Spacetime and Geometry". So far it's been quite accessible and is replete with exercises. Carroll's explanations do a really good job of motivating definitions while also introducing deeper, beautiful math. It's not all just tensor munging.

HockenbrizzleonJan 6, 2018

For a textbook where the author does a brilliant job of introducing a complex topic:

Spacetime and Geometry an Introduction to General Relativity by Sean Carroll.

Also the textbooks by David Griffiths and Gill Strang mentioned in other comments.

andrepdonDec 26, 2019

For general relativity: I never miss an opportunity to recommend "Spacetime and Geometry" by Sean Carrol. The only book I needed for my GR course (plus Misner Thorne and Wheeler for occasional reference).

HockenbrizzleonDec 16, 2017

You could also check out Sean Carroll's Spacetime and Geometry. It's my favorite textbook.

Supplement with the second half of Wald's book for exploring some concepts

andrepdonJune 23, 2018

I'm not sure what I would recommend as an introduction to relativity. If you're mathematically minded and have a lot of time on your hands, and actually want to learn the physics, a superb book is "Spacetime and Geometry" by Sean Carrol. As for a layman introduction, I'm not sure what to recommend.

As succinctly as I can put it, in our current understanding spacetime is a 4-dimensional space whose curvature is related to the local energy-momentum content. In turn, the motion of particles in freefall is dictated by this curvature.

_corbettonNov 10, 2010

Mary Boas' "Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences" is also excellent, I'm using it for a course I'm teaching. At a level where a student is comfortable with calculus it presents an overview of the many areas needed to make graduate physics courses accessible. Although intended to be self contained in principle, it also might serve as a good jumping off point to further study in a particular area.

For general relativity, I really recommend Sean Carroll's book Spacetime and Geometry http://preposterousuniverse.com/spacetimeandgeometry/. If it seems like a long road ahead just take it one step at a time. You'll get there.

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