PLEASE ADD TO THIS THREAD WITH NEW BOOKS OR COMMENTS ABOUT BOOKS
Note: There have been some discussions about physics textbooks throughout the forums and I am trying to collect the information discussed elsewhere and put in this thread so that future students may be able to easily find it, benefit from it, and perhaps build upon it. In the future I plan to summarize this thread on the main site and when that happens I will link to it here (i.e. it hasn’t happened yet).
Note: I use the ISBN feature of this site to link to books on Amazon and it would be nice if others would as well. This has a number of benefits such as all of us knowing what book we are talking about, it will make it easier to summarize this thread, we can read the comments written about the books on Amazon, and even more benefits.
Note: Some the books linked to below are not necessarily the most current edition. If you plan to get a book for your class text then you want to make sure you get the edition you will use in class. If you plan to get the book as a supplement to your class text or to help you prepare for the Physics GRE then you may want to look at all editions and find the lowest price.
Introductory Physics Textbooks
Undergraduate Lower Division Texts (i.e. Freshman/Sophomore Physics)
- [isbn=0534408451]Physics for Scientists & Engineers[/isbn] by Raymond A. Serway
[isbn=0534408559]Student Solutions Manual & Study Guide to Accompany Physics for Scientists and Engineers[/isbn] - [isbn=0132431068]Physics for Scientists and Engineers (3rd Edition)[/isbn] by Douglas C. Giancoli
[isbn=0130214752]Physics for Scientists and Engineers (Study Guide and Student Solutions Manual)[/isbn] - Fundamentals of Physics, Extended (isbn=0471228621) by David Halliday, Robert Resnick, Jearl Walker
Student Solutions Manual to Accompany Fundamentals of Physics (isbn=0471360341) - University Physics with Modern Physics, 11th Edition (isbn=080538684X) by Hugh D. Young, Roger A. Freedman
- [isbn=0534339859]Physics: Calculus[/isbn] by Eugene Hecht
[isbn=0534339867]Physics: Calculus : Student Solutions Manual[/isbn]
Classical Mechanics Textbooks
- Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems (isbn=0030973023) by Jerry B. Marion, Stephen T. Thornton
[isbn=003097304X]Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems/Students Solution Manual[/isbn] - (graduate) [isbn=0201657023]Classical Mechanics (3rd Edition)[/isbn] by Herbert Goldstein, Charles P. Poole, John L. Safko
- [isbn=013805326X]Introduction to Electrodynamics (3rd Edition)[/isbn] by David J. Griffiths
I am not alone with my belief that Griffiths is the master at writing books that teach physics. In my opinion, it would be a crime to go through undergraduate education and not know about this E&M book. Note: Griffiths was also on the Physics GRE committee at some point (and may still be) so perhaps the concepts he thought were important enough to emphasize in his book found their way onto the Physics GRE. - (graduate) Classical Electrodynamics (isbn=047130932X) by John David Jackson
I consider this book part of a hazing process that physics graduate students are forced to go through. Working Jackson problems is a humbling experience and you should not be ashamed if you need help to solve them. I am still licking my wounds and it has been years since I have touched this book.
- Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences, 2nd Edition (isbn=0471044091) by Mary L. Boas
Solutions of Selected Problems for Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences (isbn=0471099201)
The Boas book is a book you can learn from. If you have an undergraduate mathematical physics class that does not use this book then I would highly recommend getting this book and the student solutions manual to supplement your class text. - (graduate) Mathematical Methods for Physicists (isbn=0120598256) by George B. Arfken, Hans Weber, Hans-Jurgen Weber
- Introduction to Quantum Mechanics (isbn=0131244051) by David J. Griffiths
This is another great Griffiths book. There are lots of great problems and exercises to work through. The problems are such a great learning tools that I find it a disappointment that there is not a student solutions manual available for this book. - [isbn=0805387145]Introductory Quantum Mechanics (4th Edition)[/isbn] by Richard Liboff
- Quantum Physics (isbn=471057002) by Stephen Gasiorowicz
- (graduate) Principles of Quantum Mechanics (isbn=0306447908) by R. Shankar
- (graduate) [isbn=0201539292]Modern Quantum Mechanics (2nd Edition)[/isbn] by J. J. Sakurai
- [isbn=0716710889]Thermal Physics (2nd Edition)[/isbn] by Charles Kittel
- Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics (isbn=0070518009) by Frederick Reif
- An Introduction to Thermal Physics (isbn=0201380277) by Daniel V. Schroeder
- Modern Physics (isbn=0716743450) by Paul A. Tipler, Ralph A. Llewellyn
Student Solutions Manual for Modern Physics (isbn=1572597925)