Introduction to Superconductivity
One of my favorite references for superconductivity. It is particularly useful for experimental physicists because physical arguments remain central without becoming lost in excessive formalism.
Physics • Literature • Ideas • Curiosity
Books & Reading
Reading is one of the interests that has stayed with me across very different parts of my life. My bookshelf moves easily between physics, literature, philosophy, science writing, biographies, and books that simply made me see something differently.
Physics Books
Textbooks that shaped how I learned physics
Some books become more than course references. They are the books you return to years later when you need to understand a concept again from first principles.
Superconductivity, Superfluids and Condensates
A very approachable introduction to superconductivity and condensate physics. The explanations are clear and the problems make it especially useful for students entering the subject.
Introduction to Electrodynamics
Probably one of the most familiar electromagnetism texts for physics students. I particularly like how carefully the ideas are organized and developed through examples.
Classical Electrodynamics
A much more demanding electrodynamics reference. When Griffiths gives the intuition and foundation, Jackson is where considerably more mathematical detail begins.
Introduction to Solid State Physics
A classic starting point for solid-state and condensed-matter physics. It introduces an enormous range of concepts in a compact form.
Solid State Physics
A deeper solid-state reference and one of the books I associate much more strongly with graduate-level condensed matter physics.
Introduction to Quantum Mechanics
A very good first serious quantum-mechanics text and one of the standard books for undergraduate physics.
Modern Quantum Mechanics
A natural next step when moving from introductory quantum mechanics toward more advanced formulations and topics.
Physics Beyond Textbooks
Physics books I enjoyed reading
Richard Feynman was one of the first physicists whose writing made me realize how differently the same physical idea can be explained. I first read the Feynman Lectures as an undergraduate, and the way he approached familiar concepts changed how I thought about physics.
The Feynman Lectures
Richard Feynman
Six Easy Pieces
Richard Feynman
Six Not So Easy Pieces: Einstein's Relativity, Symmetry, and Space-Time
Richard P. Feynman
QED
Richard Feynman
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!
Richard Feynman
The Character of Physical Law
Richard Feynman
Physics and Beyond
Werner Heisenberg
Essays in Science
Albert Einstein
The Philosophy of Physics
Max Planck
A Force of Nature: The Frontier Genius of Ernest Rutherford
Richard Reeves
The Universe in a Nutshell
Stephen W. Hawking
A Brief History of Time
Stephen W. Hawking
For the Love of Physics: From the End of the Rainbow to the Edge of Time
Walter Lewin
Serendipity: Accidental Discoveries in Science
Royston M. Roberts
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
Carlo Rovelli
White Holes
Carlo Rovelli
The Order of Time
Carlo Rovelli
1089 and All That: A Journey into Mathematics
David Acheson
Space at the Speed of Light: The History of 14 Billion Years for People Short on Time
Becky Smethurst
Magnetism: A Very Short Introduction
Stephen J. Blundell
Four Laws That Drive the Universe
Peter Atkins
Literature
Books that stayed with me
Literature is probably the largest part of my reading outside science. I especially enjoy French, Russian, American, British, and European literature, and I like books that leave me thinking about their characters long after I finish them.
The Idiot
One of the novels I value most. Prince Myshkin's innocence is placed against a world driven by status, money, jealousy, and self-interest. For me, much of the novel is a conflict between darkness and light — and whether goodness alone can survive the world around it.
To Kill a Mockingbird
I think this novel deserves its reputation. I especially enjoyed seeing its world through Scout's perspective and the combination of humor, childhood, injustice, and moral seriousness.
East of Eden
My first Steinbeck and certainly not my last. What stayed with me most was its exploration of good, evil, choice, and the idea of “timshel” — that a person may choose.
Coming Up for Air
A book about nostalgia and the uncomfortable discovery that the places preserved in memory do not wait unchanged for us.
Die Blendung
One of the strangest and most memorable novels I have read. Peter Kien's obsession with his enormous library gradually turns into something claustrophobic, tragic, and almost surreal.
Zorba the Greek
I enjoyed the contrast between the intellectual narrator and Zorba's instinctive way of living in the present. Much of the novel feels like a conversation between thinking about life and actually living it.
The Old Man and the Sea
One of my favorites. The plot is almost impossibly simple, yet Hemingway turns the fisherman's struggle into something epic.
Waiting for Godot
Vladimir and Estragon wait for someone who never arrives. Almost nothing happens, and somehow that is exactly what makes the play so powerful.
The Second Sex
A profound exploration of womanhood, freedom, identity, and the ways society shapes what it means to be a woman. A book that stayed with me because of the questions it raises about how much of who we become is chosen, and how much is constructed around us.
As I Lay Dying
A strange, dark, and deeply human novel told through many different voices. I especially liked the way Faulkner lets the same journey look completely different depending on whose mind we are inside.
Habits & Psychology
Books about how we work and think
Atomic Habits
The ideas are not necessarily completely new, but I found the book practical because it translates familiar ideas about habits into concrete systems that can actually be applied.
Stumbling on Happiness
Less a guide to becoming happy than an exploration of why humans are surprisingly poor at predicting how future events will make them feel.
Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar Dreams
A particularly interesting discussion of education, class, and what happens when someone's social world changes through education.
Daily Rituals: How Artists Work
What interested me most was how differently creative people organize their lives. There is clearly no single ideal recipe for productive or creative work.
Graphic Novels
Science, history, and art in graphic form
Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb
A concise and surprisingly effective visual history of the Manhattan Project that combines political history with an accessible explanation of the underlying physics.
Monet: Itinerant of Light
I particularly enjoyed seeing Monet's long period of struggle before recognition and the final section explaining individual paintings and their context.
Primates
The stories of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas. I enjoyed the focus on these remarkable scientists and their fieldwork, although I wished the book went deeper into their research.
Suspended In Language: Niels Bohr's Life, Discoveries, And The Century He Shaped
A fascinating graphic biography of physicist Niels Bohr, exploring his life, ideas, and role in the development of quantum physics. I especially enjoyed how it makes the history of modern physics feel personal and accessible.
Arrival
A beautiful and almost wordless graphic novel about migration, displacement, and starting over in an unfamiliar world. The illustrations carry the story in a very powerful way.
logocomix
A fascinating graphic novel about logic, mathematics, and the search for certainty, told through the life and ideas of Bertrand Russell. It makes difficult philosophical questions surprisingly engaging.
Cicada
A quiet and beautifully illustrated story about isolation, work, and belonging. Simple on the surface, but surprisingly emotional and open to interpretation.
V for Vendetta
A dark and thought-provoking graphic novel about freedom, power, identity, and resistance in an authoritarian society. I especially liked the moral complexity behind its ideas.
A Growing Shelf
Always something else to read
This is not intended to be a complete record of everything I have read. It is simply a place to keep some of the books, ideas, and authors that have stayed with me. I will keep adding to it over time.
For more of my reading history, ratings, and book reviews, you can also find me on Goodreads.