Post: #1

Hey guys. So I've been thinking, what good books can one recommend for general knowledge? General knowledge in the context of science. For instance, I see movies where one character know a lot about science like Walter White from Breaking Bad. He knows how to manipulate electronics, chemicals etc.

I'm not talking about conventional academic books— they're more into theory. I'm talking about practical guides.

Any thoughts?

Post: #2

The best would be to learn from scratch. Awaken the child in you. A good book to start with is The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments

Post: #3

'Starting from scratch' is vague.

Post: #4

"The Amateur Radio Handbook" has a lot of really in depth information on electronics and radio.

I've also picked up an amazing variety of information from listening to "The Art of Manliness" podcast.

Post: #5

The generic answer would be an Encyclopedia

Post: #6

The Art of Electronics by Paul Horowitz is a classic which gives a common sense introduction into thinking about electronics.

Post: #7

Currently reading it.

Post: #8

(07-23-2018 07:47 AM)Stonk Wrote:  'Starting from scratch' is vague.

Start from basics is a better way of putting it. The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments can be downloaded for free and will take you from the where chemistry started with the alchemists.

Learn how to set up your own lab. Make some hydrogen. Move on to carbon dioxide. NH3. Chlorine. Explore the periodic table. Walter would have gone through the same prosess.

End of the day, enjoy the 'learning' in order to learn and remember.

Start by downloading the book and page through it. You'll be surprise at the simplicity of it.

"the Radioactive Boy Scout"  found his inspiration in it.

Post: #9

EDIT: Since you're looking for practical advice, I recommend the mods move this thread to the Life forum.

How much of a scientific foundation do you already have? How much math do you know? If your goal is to learn practical electronics or chemistry, you'll have to make sure to start with the fundamentals.

Assuming you're starting from nothing, here are the topics to learn in order:
- basic mechanics: mass, motion, acceleration, energy, work, Newton's laws
- basic electrodynamics: charge, current, voltage, resistance, capacitance, electromagnetic energy
- basic chemistry: electrons, protons, neutrons, photons, orbitals, interactions between atoms, molecules

You don't need to get very deep into the theory or do a lot of math. This is just the basic stuff that helps you understand the underpinnings of both chemistry and electronics. Make sure you have all these basics down before you get your hands dirty, lest you do something stupid like burn out a LED because you forgot to add a resistor to limit the current.

Search around on the internet, YouTube, Wikipedia, etc. You'll find plenty of resources to learn the basics.

Post: #10

Bill Bryson: A Short History of Nearly Everything

You're Welcome.

https://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Nea...076790818X

Check out the reviews. It's tailor-made for your requirements. I've read it twice on Kindle and bought a hard copy for my son who has gained a major head-start at school from reading it. Very readable, very funny, and contains some serious science. Covers everything ('nearly' everything!).

Post: #11

Even though you want practical science and maybe not theory, I recommend studying Calculus at least in maths because it changes the way you think and improves your logical thinking.
It's like gym workout for your brain.

Post: #12

The theoretical minimum by Leonard Susskind for learning basic physics. He has three books, though I'm only on the first.