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Classic Books of Science?

Posted by timothy on from the autodidacts-do-it-by-themselves dept.

half_cocked_jack writes "What are the classic books of science from throughout history? I'm currently reading On the Origin of Species on my Kindle 2, and it's sparked an interest in digging up some of the classic books of science. I'm looking for books from the ancient and medieval worlds and books from the golden ages of scientific discovery. Books like: Galileo's The Starry Messenger; Newton's Principia; Copernicus's On The Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres; and Faraday's The Chemical History of a Candle. I know that I can likely find these books in a format I can use on my Kindle (found a few on Gutenberg already), but what I need is a checklist of these books to guide my reading. Suggestions?"

18 of 451 comments (clear)

  1. One Resource by stoolpigeon · · Score: 3, Informative

    - The Book Page - provides free on-line classic and not-so-well known books, articles and more. Antiquarian science texts and articles - complete with original wood-cuts and copper-plate Figures read "cover to cover", or use your Browsers search function to find and read specific sections. Choose from HTML, or pdf (eBook) or MS Reader format.
     
    Not a list like you are looking for, but may help in tracking down things you would be interested in reading.

    --
    It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
    1. Re:One Resource by LotsOfPhil · · Score: 4, Informative

      In the 9th century, 500 years before Europeans started arguing whether the world was round, Al-Battani and his ilk calculated the circumference of the Earth at 40,253km. Correct to within 200km!

      Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the Earth 1000 years before that. "Recent scholarship finds that since about the 3rd century BC, virtually no educated person in Western civilization has believed in a flat Earth." link.

      --
      This post climbed Mt. Washington.
    2. Re:One Resource by l2718 · · Score: 4, Informative

      "Al-jabr" is one of laws for manipulating algebraic expressions. The man was named Al-Khawarizi, and from his name we derive a different word -- "Algorithm".

    3. Re:One Resource by Leafheart · · Score: 4, Informative

      Check these and a whole lot of other Arab scientist treaties. They are truly ahead of their time (as kept by western civilization of science advcance, and pearls of an age where the Muslins were the scientific lead.

      Ibn al-Haytham's - Book of Optics

      Muhammad ibn Musa Khwarizmi - The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing

      Disclamer: I'm not Muslim but I do think we need to give due credit where credit is due

      --
      --- "When you gotta do something wrong. You gotta do it right. (Fighter)"
    4. Re:One Resource by octal_sio · · Score: 4, Informative

      Arabic books and their authors indeed played an amazing role in the history of science. It's disturbing seeing them arrive to what they are now...

      Anyway, a few more Arabic classics off the top of my head:

      - Pretty much anything written by Ibn Sina. (The Canon of Medicine is a pretty good one)
      - Ibn AlNafis's Commentary on the Anatomy in Ibn Sina's Canon (where he described the circulatory system)
      - As parent mentioned, the original book on algebra, by AlKhwarizmi. The word "algorithm" is named after him, while "algebra" was named after his book. "Jabr" in Arabic means completion.
      - Omar Khayyam's many treatises on Maths and Astronomy.

      There's much more on Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, Philosophy of Science and the Experimental Method, etc.

  2. Hawking's Compilation by eldavojohn · · Score: 4, Informative

    On the Shoulders of Giants was a book I picked up on the cheap ... a weighty tome assembled by Stephen Hawking of classic books of science (some of which you listed).

    I think I got the hardcover for ~$8 at a used bookstore. Amazon seems to indicate it's not available on the kindle but here's what's in it:

    1. Nicolaus Copernicus "On the Revolutions of [the] Heavenly Spheres" (1543)

    2. Galileo Galilei "Dialogues [or Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations] Concerning Two [New] Sciences" (1638)

    3. Johannes Kepler Book Five of "Harmonies of the World" (1618)

    4. Sir Isaac Newton "The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" (1687)

    5. Albert Einstein "The Principles of Relativity: A Collection of Original Papers on the Special Theory of Relativity" (1922)

    --
    My work here is dung.
    1. Re:Hawking's Compilation by lastchance_000 · · Score: 4, Informative

      I doubt it's what you're thinking of, but the Feynman Lectures on Physics assumes very little starting knowledge, and covers quite a bit, including some pretty meaty material. The audio lectures a very nice to have, as well.

  3. St john's College New Mexico by goombah99 · · Score: 4, Informative

    St. Johns teaches from the "great books". e.g. learn physics from Newton, etc...

    just nab their sylabus and you have not only what you want but also what you need, a list the great purged of historical anachronisms and ones that are poor for teaching. (e.g. you probably don't want to learn medicine from a list of bodily humors)

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    1. Re:St john's College New Mexico by Fallingcow · · Score: 4, Informative

      There's always the classic list of classics (lol), the Great Books of the Western World list by Adler

      That site has tons of other book lists, too.

      Anyway, Adler's list is pretty much the best single answer to this question. I'd add Asimov's many, many essays on science (just start looking for them at used book stores, you'll have a dozen volumes before you know it) and Stephen J. Gould's essay collections.

  4. Well, a modern classic by OldFish · · Score: 5, Informative

    Einstein's relativity paper is free:

    http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/5001

  5. Feynman by Jamamala · · Score: 4, Informative

    What about the Feynman Lectures on Physics?
    Although it's obviously much newer than all the books you listed, and is still under copyright.

  6. Physics by clare-ents · · Score: 5, Informative

    Einstein, The principles of relativity.

    Very readable papers on special relativity, essentially the same way it's taught now in a modern physics class (at least mine was).

    Feynman, QED

    Smart arse replaces great big pile of maths with pretty pictures with arrows in. Excellent.

    Copernicus, On the revolutions of Heavenly Spheres,

    Won't tell you very much, but worth it for the sheer horror of deriving the motions of the planets as viewed from Earth without using fractions.

    Feynman, Lectures

    The best presentation of a decent physics course there is. May only be comprehensible to people who already have a physics degree, I never tried reading it until I already had most of one at which point I was entranced.

    --
    Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. (Einstein)
    1. Re:Physics by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 3, Informative

      QED is fucking awesome. Feynman is about the most readable person you'll find on any of these lists (Darwin is dry as dust...100 pages of morphological bone changes in pigeons and you'll gnaw off your own limbs).

      I have only an advanced laymans understanding of physics (4 classes at the undergrad level) and his explanations were concise, clear, and very easy to follow.

      --
      ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
  7. The Best American Science Writing by eggoeater · · Score: 3, Informative

    An annual publication gathering the best non-fiction science writing for the year. Usually edited by a good science writer (eg. Glick).
    I love them because of the variety and it usually gives you a good idea of the science without boring you with mundane details or being too pedantic.

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  8. Some English Links by eldavojohn · · Score: 4, Informative

    1. Nicolaus Copernicus "On the Revolutions of [the] Heavenly Spheres" (1543)

    2. Galileo Galilei "Dialogues [or Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations] Concerning Two [New] Sciences" (1638)

    3. Johannes Kepler Book Five of "Harmonies of the World" (1618)

    4. Sir Isaac Newton "The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" (1687)

    5. Albert Einstein "The Principles of Relativity: A Collection of Original Papers on the Special Theory of Relativity" (1922)

    I am not certain how easy it is to "capture" HTML to read on the Kindle later but here are some decent translations in English if you want them.

    --
    My work here is dung.
  9. American Scientist top 100 of 20th century by haystor · · Score: 3, Informative

    A great list of great books:

    http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/100-or-so-books-that-shaped-a-century-of-science

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    t
  10. Euclid's Elements by Bueller_007 · · Score: 3, Informative

    For the love of God, Euclid's Elements. Available for free here:
    http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/java/elements/elements.html

  11. Re:Future Classic by ChrisMaple · · Score: 3, Informative

    Due to your post, I went back and quickly reread about a third of the book, and I have to admit that I was wrong as far as I can tell. I can't find any bias, and the science was better than I remembered.

    I did find two errors. On page 157 and onward, Bryson claims that airborne lead is forever. Actually, airborne lead has fallen dramatically in recent decades, probably by more than 90% in cities. On page 217, he repeats the claim that glass flows at room temperature.

    My apologies to you and Mr. Bryson.

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