Texts for Autodidacts? 25
RestiffBard asks: "I'm in a bit of a learning slump and was wondering what books or websites Slashdot readers would recommend for learning anything. I'm looking more for general starter texts on physics, math, chemistry, electronics, etc. I'm not too interested in computer texts as I have that mostly down now. I'm more interested in the sciences that I've neglected in the last few years."
calculus (Score:2)
Re:calculus (Score:1)
Re:calculus (Score:2)
Physics (Score:2, Insightful)
see http://www.aw.com/product/0,2627,0201500647,00.ht
Asimov! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Asimov! (Score:2)
Gee, I'd forgotten how many references to The Iliad and The Odyssey Kildall had sprinkled throughout the source code.
Mathematics (Score:2, Informative)
One of my favorites (Score:2)
Project Gutenberg (Score:3, Informative)
Useful for older texts, so no cutting-edge genetics or nanotech here, but this collection would round off your education in general, especially the classics if you're that way inclined.
There's intelligent life beyond my monitor?? (Score:1)
The web. Seriously. I have learned more about more science in more subjects in two or three years by researching online than I have ever been able to get out of a textbook. I have also found mentors in various knowledge areas, on-line tutorials and tools that are also far superior to the textbooks. The end result is that I am taking a couple of textbook based classes, namely Calculus and Thermodynamics, (because they relate to my specific interests.
So my best suggestion is for you to figure our what you'd really really like to know more about, and then jump out there on the web and start learning, and when you discover a specific knowledge base (like Calculus) for which there is a good textbook available, go ahead and get it.
Re: learning on the web (Score:1)
It's a cool tool because not only does it get and prioritize links from a bunch of the top search engines, it also has a mode that will go through the list that it returns and get rid of any dead links.
I'd be interested in anybody's experiences with similar software, btw.
Re: learning on the web (Score:1)
Excellent Math Text (Score:1)
how about classics from the Gutenberg Project? (Score:1)
Online Electronics, and other stuff (Score:1, Informative)
http://www.ibiblio.org/obp/electricCircuits/ [ibiblio.org]
Here is a partial list of books published online, that I happened to like enough to bookmark. I find that reading a book on the computer screen is tedious, I mostly use the online version as a reference.
Handbook of applied cryptography: http://www.cacr.math.uwaterloo.ca/hac/ [uwaterloo.ca]
Underground: (I actually haven't read this yet) http://www.underground-book.com/ [underground-book.com]
Netizens: (only partly read this) http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/netbook/ [columbia.edu]
http://www.und.nodak.edu/org/crypto/crypto/army.fi eld.manual/ [nodak.edu]
Big Breach: http://www.antioffline.com/bigbreach/ [antioffline.com]
The Prof's Book: http://frode.home.cern.ch/frode/crypto/Turing/inde x.html [home.cern.ch]
I have a lot of other links also, but my bookmarks have become so nested and folderized that many are lost in there, I really need bookmarks for my bookmarks . . . Anyway, I would suggest that if you find yourself looking for interesting reading online, you will find plenty. If you choose you can find scanned in pdf's of various works on newsgroups and in freenet, etc.
However, my advice is to use the 'net primarily as a way to figure out what to read, and become familar with the local public library. Almost all libraries have inter-library loans which give you access to huge amount of stuff. When I can't get a work that way, I fall back upon checking databases of used bookstore inventories -- http://abe.com/ [abe.com] and http://powellsbooks.com/ [powellsbooks.com] are the places I generally go to.
The Cartoon Guides (Score:2)
Feynman? (Score:2)
Six Easy Pieces, Six Not-So-Easy Pieces, and QED, both by Feynman, are excellent reads (all of them are oriented towards the layman, rather than the physics student, I'm afraid).
Physics for Free (Score:1)
Physics, Psychology, Calculus (Score:2)
If you don't know calculus, learn calculus. Very basic trig is useful, advanced trig is arcane. Basic calculus makes life much clearer (The first two semesters, involving derivation and integration) After that it becomes arcane too. I can't recommend a book, as I haven't been able to find the one I used in HS.
I strongly recommend "Don't Shoot the Dog" by Karen Pryor. This is a behaviorist book, but not a textbook. But it teaches you a lot about how life works. (Note: conventional psychologists tend to consider behaviorists insane, and vise versa. Engineers side with the behaviorists, and buildings rarely fall down. YMMV) Ishmael is another highly recommended behaviorist book, but I haven't gotten to it yet.
The other books I strongly recommend for the experience you gain are Go Rin No Sho by Miyomoto Mushashi (sp?); Robert Pirsig's books, particularly Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance; old hardcore science fiction writers, particularly Asimov and Heinlein.
I have a bunch of engineering texts I liked at various levels...
I'll see if I can think of anything else to add later.
Books that expanded my knowledge (Score:1)
The Lucifer Principle by Howard Bloom
It explains how we humans are really still just acting like a bunch of mammals. Part history, part biology and a lot of sociology. A very concise treatment of why the world is so violent.
Tao Te Ching
The Art of War
The Book of Five Rings (it's Musashi, if I remember correctly)
The entire Dune series
The entire series of books by Carlos Castaneda, from start to finish (must be read in order).
The Qu'ran
[Very interesting science references in there, beyond the powerful message]
The Inner Meaning of the Bhagavad Gita, by Roy Eugene Davis. It is the ancient Indian description of the layers of the universe and the struggle to become human told through a parable; Mr. Davis's translation and commentary are facinating.
anything on Linguistics, though I've only read a tiny bit about it, it is a facinating science, especially for someone who has learned many PL's.
{just my 2+cents}
Not on the net, but... (Score:1)
Autodidactic Press (Score:1)
Here's the link [autodidactic.com].
HTH,