Introduction to electrodynamics

What Hacker News says

1. fraserharrisJun 2024
   David J Griffiths' Introduction to Electrodynamics was a fantastic undergraduate-level E&M textbook https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Electrodynamic...
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2. libraryofbabelAug 2023
   Well yes, but curious what book you would recommend instead for graduate electrodynamics? Note that she already recommends first studying Griffith's Introduction to Electrodynamics at the undergraduate level (and that one is a true pleasure to read imho).
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3. flurlyFeb 2023
   Here are some books you may find helpful on these topics:

   "University Physics" by Francis Sears and Mark Zemansky "Introduction to Electrodynamics" by David J. Griffiths "Electricity and Magnetism" by Edward M. Purcell

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4. jIyajbeMay 2022
   If you have the math background (advanced calculus and vector algebra), then there is no better writer than David J. Griffiths. He is the only textbook author I have every encountered who remembers that a textbook is, first and foremost, a book; and that a book is meant to be an enjoyable read!

   (I'm linking to Wikipedia rather than to the publisher's website, so that you can read about the books. All of them are available on the used market, and in electronic format.)

   "Introduction to Electrodynamics, 3rd Ed." includes two chapters on special relativity and relativistic electrodynamics, and he covers causality very well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Electrodynamic...

   For quantum mechanics, with even more math (partial derivatives), try "Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, 3rd Ed.", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Quantum_Mechan...

   If you don't have a strong math background, then his "Revolutions in 20th Century Physics" is a slim, but packed book, also excellent. It covers (conceptually) both special relativity and quantum mechanics, along with a healthy dose of particle physics. The target audience for this book are non-science majors. https://books.google.com/books?id=Tv8cz-kN2z0C&redir_esc=y

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5. hither_shoresMar 2022
   > This rabbit hole in the wikipedia has led me to a dead-end explanation

   Trying to teach yourself physics by reading wikipedia is like trying to learn how to program by reading the C++ standard. It's a fine resource, but not for that. You need an introductory physics textbook, not an encyclopedia. Griffith's Introduction to Electrodynamics is a classic choice.

   > those iron filings are pulled by virtual photons created by the magnet

   No. Virtual particles are part of a notational scheme for carrying out certain computations in quantum field theory. They're not particles, and they're definitely not involved in classical electromagnetism.

   > I've concluded that magnetism is an unexplained phenomenon, just like gravity: we have accurate formulas, but nobody knows what those formulas describe.

   The formulas, ultimately, describe the relationship between our observations. This is the only sense in which we ever explain anything, and a sense in which magnetism and gravity are both very well-explained.

   > For intuitive understanding, I see a magnet as a well, except that this well can be moved around and has two poles.

   You should not try to understand electromagnetism intuitively yet. You haven't built the right intuitions, and to do that you first need to tear down your wrong ones.

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6. TeeMassiveDec 2021
   In no particular order.

   - Scrum by Sutherland: We all know Scrum yet nobody really gets it. We've all read the blogs, we paid and heard the coaches, we've all done the daily standup and other cargo cult like rituals without really understanding what we are doing and why we're doing it. The book is very easy to read and simple to understand and you actually to know why Scrum came to be and therefore why you're doing it wrong.

   - The Phoenix Project: Pretty much the best introduction books about DevOps. One of the few tech books written as a story yet also one of the best, because concepts are easier to remember and internalize when they are part of a broader story. The first half will make you go "are you me?", if you ever were in any kind of dysfunctional software organization. The second half borrow solutions from the manufacturing world and the authors successfully make the point about how they can be applied in in an IT context and also why they work. One of the few tech audio books that you can actually listen to.

   - The C Programming Language: Learn the basics, a lot of what you will learn there is applyable to other languages and frameworks. Again, learn why stuff exists so everything makes more sense.

   - The C++ Programming Language by Stroustrup: Get out of tutorial hell. Actually get to know the language. You don't have to read it back to back.

   - How to Win Friends and Influence People by Carnegie: A great book about leadership and reciprocity. Not a book about manipulation as the title might lead you to think. As pointed out by others, the world would be a better place if more people read this book. Really great to getting along with other devs.

   - Win your Case by Gerry Spence: Based on the same principles of How to Win Friends but applied to adversarial circumstances. Eventually you will have to defend your implementation, convince your colleagues against rewrites and sell your products to clients who were disappointed in the past. This book provides the right tools for that.

   - Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft and Lovecraftian literature in general. When I read this book I had a huge sense of déjà vu, but this is because Lovecraft really was the spearhead that put the cosmic horror genre into the minds of the public. Also a great way to deepen your English vocabulary, especially if you are not a native English speaker like me.

   - C++17 Standard Library Quick Reference by Van Weert and Gregoire: The fastest and most convenient way to navigate the STL and find the feature you want with just enough information that covers 90% of usual needs. I saved a lot of time with this book.

   - Introduction to Electrodynamics by Griffiths: This is the best science book I have ever read and this sentiment was shared among my fellow physics class camaraderie at the time. The explanations are first intuitive and then builds to more rigorous foundations, as it should be for all scientific literature but is not unfortunately. It was so good that people got their copy stolen. I even bought it back years later even if I don't study physics anymore.

   - Dune by Hebert. The Denis Villeneuve movie doesn't give Dune's lore it's proper due in my opinion and should have had a proper 20 minutes long prologue like LOTR did but I digress. This book really aged well because of the premise that all computers were banned ten thousands years ago and what replaced them was the supremacy of the human mind over body and matter. The book, at least the first which I just read, is very easy to read. The appendices are very good too, make sure to go back and read them often.

   - The Art of War by Suntzu: More than a book about war, but also about organization, leadership, and general principles of strategy. Aidan Gillen (Little Finger) also reads in on Audible.

   - CIA Human Resource Exploitation Manual by CIA: Now publicly available as declassified. Worth reading not only for its historical value but also for a toolkit on how to defend oneself against exploitation and know by the knowing the signs and methods. Funny fact: the mentions about torture are rewritten by hand to say not to use torture instead of "only with proper authorization".

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