No one textbook seems to cover all aspects of this course. You're not required to purchase anything, but please feel free to take a look at the resources collected on this page. Please see me if you have any difficulty in obtaining copies of any relevant books or files.
Online Textbooks (Listed in the Syllabus)
- OpenStax publishes open-source college textbooks that are available online with a range of other study aids. Their University Physics (volume 2 and volume 3) and Calculus (volume 3) textbooks cover a lot of the material of this course.
- Principles of Astrophysics, by Charles Keeton (Springer, 2014) introduces most of the astrophysical and planetary applications that we will cover. Available here as a free PDF download when you are connected via a colorado.edu domain.
- Modern Physics for Scientists and Engineers, by John C. Morrison (Elsevier, 2015) covers the quantum mechanics, atomic and nuclear physics, and relativity topics that we will study. Available here as free PDF chapters when on colorado.edu.
Other Resources
- Doron Zeilberger ("Dr. Z") is the unique math professor who taught me Calculus I and II in 1985, and I was gratified to learn that he's still teaching, and hosting insightful lecture notes on his website on Multivariable Calculus (i.e., Calculus III) and Differential Equations.
- Yale University offers an upper-level undergraduate class titled Physical Processes in Astronomy that has a similar distribution of topics as our class. On the linked page, Prof. Frank van den Bosch provides a 210-page PDF set of lecture notes, and problem sets with solutions.
- After he retired, Dr. J. B. Tatum posted online many of his well-honed lecture notes on light, classical mechanics, electricity and magnetism, thermodynamics, and other topics relevant to this course.
- Michael Fowler (University of Virginia) has lots of Modern Physics course material online, including relativity, quantum mechanics, light, atoms, and nuclear physics.
- Paul Dawkins (Lamar University) has posted useful material from his Calculus III classes.
- David Tong (Cambridge, UK) posted some very insightful (but somewhat advanced) lecture notes on