Textbook love
Reasons why I love Mary Boas's Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences:
1. As an insecure 18-year-old who had yet to actually talk to a real, live female physics professor, the name "Mary" on the book was infinitely heartening*.
2. Shiny blue lettering on the cover (at least on mine, which is the Second Edition).
3. It's good inside, too! All of the mathematical results are nicely encapsulated in shaded boxes. It has almost all the math an experimentalist needs.
4. It reminds me of the class I used it in, which is where Kate, Estelle, and I met.
Arguably I should know everything in this book off the top of my head, but sometimes I'm not sure I have something right. And I can't pass up an excuse to pull it off the shelf and open it up.
(*I looked up Mary Boas on google. She is retired from DePaul University and apparently still alive, as she made campaign contributions to some female candidates last year.)
1. As an insecure 18-year-old who had yet to actually talk to a real, live female physics professor, the name "Mary" on the book was infinitely heartening*.
2. Shiny blue lettering on the cover (at least on mine, which is the Second Edition).
3. It's good inside, too! All of the mathematical results are nicely encapsulated in shaded boxes. It has almost all the math an experimentalist needs.
4. It reminds me of the class I used it in, which is where Kate, Estelle, and I met.
Arguably I should know everything in this book off the top of my head, but sometimes I'm not sure I have something right. And I can't pass up an excuse to pull it off the shelf and open it up.
(*I looked up Mary Boas on google. She is retired from DePaul University and apparently still alive, as she made campaign contributions to some female candidates last year.)