These lecture notes are written in the style of the Feynman Lectures on Physics: conversational, building physical intuition before mathematics, with worked examples and historical context. They were written by Claude (Opus 4.5); my contribution was that of an editor.
All books are available as free PDFs below. If you’d like a physical copy, see the printing instructions at the bottom of this page.
An introduction to fracture mechanics: how cracks form, grow, and propagate through materials. Covers stress concentration, energy release rates, the Griffith criterion, and the transition from brittle to ductile fracture.
Windows to the Universe
How telescopes work, from Galileo’s refractor to modern adaptive optics. Covers geometric optics, diffraction limits, mirror and lens design, radio telescopes, and space-based observatories.
Gravity, Rotation, and Outflow
The physics of accretion disks and astrophysical jets. Covers angular momentum transport, the magnetorotational instability, jet collimation, and applications from protoplanetary disks to active galactic nuclei.
An introduction to quantum field theory focused on understanding renormalization. Covers Feynman diagrams, loop corrections, ultraviolet divergences, regularization, and the physical interpretation of running couplings.
The physics of electrically conducting fluids in magnetic fields. Covers the ideal MHD equations, Alfven waves, magnetic pressure and tension, flux freezing, and applications in astrophysics and plasma physics.
Lectures on Historical Method Through Antiquity
How we know what we know about the ancient world. Covers archaeological method, textual analysis, epigraphy, numismatics, and the synthesis of evidence from multiple sources to reconstruct the past.
How Biology Makes Us Feel What We Feel
The biological basis of subjective experience. Covers neurotransmitters, the HPA axis, circadian rhythms, interoception, and how the brain integrates signals from the body to generate emotions and mood.
From Maxwell’s Demon to Machine Learning
A unified treatment of information theory from its thermodynamic origins to modern applications. Covers entropy, channel capacity, data compression, the physics of computation, and connections to statistical inference.
Lectures on Making Real Choices
Decision-making when outcomes are uncertain and preferences are complex. Covers expected utility, prospect theory, Bayesian updating, strategic thinking, and practical heuristics for real-world decisions.
These books are designed for print-on-demand services. To print your own physical copy:
Interior: Use the PDF linked above. The interior is formatted for US Letter size (8.5" x 11") with standard margins.
Cover: Use the cover PDF linked for each book. These are full wrap-around covers including spine and back cover, designed for 60# paper stock.
Print Service: I use Lulu with:
Cover Dimensions: The cover PDFs include proper bleed (0.125") and are sized for the specific page count of each book. If you modify the interior, you’ll need to regenerate the cover with the correct spine width.
The cover spine width formula for Lulu’s 60# paper is: (pages / 444) + 0.06 inches