I second nearly all of the above listings (especially Penrose's "The Road to Reality" and the Feynman Lectures) but I'm surprised three particular jewels were left out:
"On the Shoulders of Giants" by Stephen Hawking 'illuminates the origins of modern physics and astrononmy' by including the breakthrough papers of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton and Einstein with brief introductions to each in a single volume. It's useful that you understand the historical context of what you're getting yourself into and it doesn't get much more convenient than this by requiring only a single [fat] textbook.
"Space-Time-Matter" by Hermann Weyl is his first big treatise on combining general relativity with electromagnetism. Check it out if you intend to get into some heavy stuff but beware the heavy reading!!
"The Physics and Chemistry of the Interstellar Medium" by A.G.G.M. Tielens is an amazingly comprehensive introduction to the crazy complex system we call outer space. I recently obtained it from Amazon and my nose has not been out of its pages much since. Perhaps it's a bit more chemistry than most appreciate (losers!) but you may find it to be one of the most valuable texts on the ISM and the author includes a 'Further Reading' section at the end of every chapter to review each of the chapter's references.
Also, you're going to find that thermodynamic process are the driving forces of space and it doesn't hurt to have a good background in physical chemistry. I recommend the Physical Chemistry texts of Levine or McQuarrie to serve you. I'm sure you, as a mathematician, will appreciate these much more than most chemists I know!
Good luck on your academic journey and I hope these references serve you well!
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I second nearly all of the above listings (especially Penrose's "The Road to Reality" and the Feynman Lectures) but I'm surprised three particular jewels were left out:
"On the Shoulders of Giants" by Stephen Hawking 'illuminates the origins of modern physics and astrononmy' by including the breakthrough papers of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton and Einstein with brief introductions to each in a single volume. It's useful that you understand the historical context of what you're getting yourself into and it doesn't get much more convenient than this by requiring only a single [fat] textbook.
"Space-Time-Matter" by Hermann Weyl is his first big treatise on combining general relativity with electromagnetism. Check it out if you intend to get into some heavy stuff but beware the heavy reading!!
"The Physics and Chemistry of the Interstellar Medium" by A.G.G.M. Tielens is an amazingly comprehensive introduction to the crazy complex system we call outer space. I recently obtained it from Amazon and my nose has not been out of its pages much since. Perhaps it's a bit more chemistry than most appreciate (losers!) but you may find it to be one of the most valuable texts on the ISM and the author includes a 'Further Reading' section at the end of every chapter to review each of the chapter's references.
Also, you're going to find that thermodynamic process are the driving forces of space and it doesn't hurt to have a good background in physical chemistry. I recommend the Physical Chemistry texts of Levine or McQuarrie to serve you. I'm sure you, as a mathematician, will appreciate these much more than most chemists I know!
Good luck on your academic journey and I hope these references serve you well!