Research Guides: Physics: Library Resources

Library Databases

Academic Search Complete
Scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 8,500 full-text journals.
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Academic OneFile

Full-text, scholarly articles in physical sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, arts & humanities, and more. Includes full-text coverage of the New York Times, 1995-present.
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Academic Video Online

Academic Video Online (AVON) spans a wide range of subject areas. Includes content like documentaries, films, and demonstrations from publishers like the BBC, PBS, and Sony.
Today's Science

Explains important developments in biology, chemistry, the environment, space, physics, and technology. Students are provided with information in context, clearly explained and abundantly illustrated to see new advances from the scientific method that they are learning about in the classroom.
Career and Technical Education: Science & Technology
This database is the definitive source for vocational information focused on science and technology.
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Search for Physics-related eBooks

Ebook Central

SKYCTC's ebooks from ProQuest. Includes thousands of ebooks from leading publishers like Wiley, 130 university presses, and more. Collections cover subjects such as: biology, business management, computer science/IT, education, engineering & manufacturing, history, literature, nursing and other health-related fields, physical sciences, psychology, religious studies and sociology.
EBSCOhost eBook Collection

SKYCTC's electronic book collection, including fiction, nonfiction, and reference. Also searches our K-8 eBook collection. Academic titles are not discoverable in Library Search - doublecheck this database for eBooks on your topics.
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Tutorials in Library Databases

College Students
Resources to help college students strengthen their academic skills and prepare for placement tests.
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Find Background Information

Why is background information important?

Provides an overview of an unfamiliar topic.
Give you basic information about a topic like definitions & summaries.
Helps you broaden or narrow your search.

Reference materials, such as encyclopedias and dictionaries, are great sources of background information.

Britannica Academic
Combines Encyclopdia Britannica and Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus, plus magazines and periodicals, an atlas, biographies, e-books, and other tools.
Credo Reference

Credo Reference is an e-reference database with hundreds of encyclopedia, topical dictionary, and handbook titles. Use Credo to start your research by gathering background information, finding key terms and concepts, and then connecting to scholarly articles.
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eBooks from Master Academic eBook Collection (Infobase)
With more than 2,500 core reference works from the Facts On File, Ferguson’s, and Bloom’s imprints. Coverage includes a wide range of academic subject areas—from literature and language reference, to world history, religion, and philosophy. Also includes Literary Classics eBook collection and Sacred Text eBook collection.

Open Access Journals

arXiv.org
Open access to 1,640,461 e-prints in the fields of physics, mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology, quantitative finance, statistics, electrical engineering and systems science, and economics. arXiv is owned and operated by Cornell University, and is funded by Cornell University, the Simons Foundation and by the member institutions.
Directory of Open Access Journals
Provides access to quality controlled Open Access Journals.

Websites

Physics Tutorials from Khan Academy
Practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom.
The Physics Classroom
The Physics Classroom is an online, free to use physics website developed primarily for beginning physics students and their teachers. The website features a variety of sections intended to support both teachers and students in the tasks of learning and teaching physics.
PhET from the University of Colorado-Boulder
PhET provides fun, free, interactive, research-based science and mathematics simulations. Select "Simulations" and "Physics" to access Physics resources.
Crash Course: Physics
Short, engaging instructional videos about Physics
myPhysicsLab Simulations
Opensource list of customizable physics simulations to visualize abstract concepts.
The Feynman Lectures on Physics
From the California Institute of Technology's Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy and Feynman Lectures Website, current copy of Feynman's legendary lectures on Physics.
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
With a mission to advance, promote, and serve the physical sciences for the benefit of humanity, AIP formed in 1931 to unite professional organizations in the physical sciences. Students may keep up with physics news, the American Physical Society, American Astronomical Society, American Association of Physics Teachers, and student organizations such as the Society of Physics Students and Sigma Pi Sigma to learn about scholarship, career, and networking opportunities!

eBooks from the SKYCTC Learning Commons

The Penguin Dictionary of Physics, 4th ed. by Cullerne, John
ISBN: 9780141036830

Publication Date: 2009-09-22

Provides clear and concise definitions for every area of physics--from optics and acoustics to mechanics and electronics, via quantum theory and relativity.
Mathematical Physics by Derek Raine
ISBN: 9781683922056

Publication Date: 2018-08-15

Covers all of the mathematical concepts needed to study physics - Includes applications in every chapter.
Foundations of Physics by Steve Adams
ISBN: 9781683929703

Publication Date: 2023-04-14

This updated edition is designed as a self-teaching, calculus-based introduction to the concepts of physics. Numerous examples, applications, and figures provide readers with simple explanations. Standard topics include vectors, conservation of energy, Newton's Laws, momentum, motion, gravity, relativity, waves, fluid mechanics, circuits, nuclear physics, astrophysics, and more.
Absolutely Small by Michael D. Fayer
ISBN: 9780814414880

Publication Date: 2010-06-16

Physics is a complex, even daunting topic, but it is also deeply satisfying--even thrilling. And liberated from its mathematical underpinnings, physics suddenly becomes accessible to anyone with the curiosity and imagination to explore its beauty.
Einstein and Oppenheimer by Silvan S. Schweber
ISBN: 9780674034525

Publication Date: 2010-03-30

Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer, two iconic scientists of the twentieth century, belonged to different generations, with the boundary marked by the advent of quantum mechanics. By exploring how these men differed--in their worldview, in their work, and in their day--this book provides powerful insights into the lives of two critical figures and into the scientific culture of their times.
A Short History of Physics in the American Century by David C. Cassidy
ISBN: 9780674049369

Publication Date: 2011-10-24

Views physics through America's engagement with the political events of a tumultuous century.

Astronomy & Physics Encyclopedias from Master Academic eBook Collection (Infobase)
A collection of over 30 reference works designed to provide background information over Astronomy & Physics with high school and college students in mind.

Books in the Learning Commons (L 113)

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
Call Number: QB981 .H377 1998

ISBN: 9780553380163

Publication Date: 1998-09-01

Hawking's book explores such profound questions as: How did the universe begin--and what made its start possible? Does time always flow forward? Is the universe unending--or are there boundaries? Are there other dimensions in space? What will happen when it all ends?
The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene
Call Number: QC794.6.S85 G744 2024

ISBN: 9781324066231

Publication Date: 2024-08-20

One of the world's leading string theorists peels away layers of mystery to reveal a universe that consists of eleven dimensions, where the fabric of space tears and repairs itself, and all matter--from the smallest quarks to the most gargantuan supernovas--is generated by the vibrations of microscopically tiny loops of energy.
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli
Call Number: QC24.5 .R68313 2016

ISBN: 9780141981727

Publication Date: 2016-03-01

Renowned theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli introduces readers to modern physics through briskly explaining Einstein's general relativity, quantum mechanics, elementary participles, gravity, black holes, the complex architecture of the universe, and the role humans play in this weird and wonderful world.
The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene
Call Number: QB982 .G74 2004

ISBN: 9780375727207

Publication Date: 2005-02-08

Space and time form the very fabric of the cosmos. Yet they remain among the most mysterious of concepts. Is space an entity? Why does time have a direction? Could the universe exist without space and time? Can we travel to the past? Greene has set himself a daunting task: to explain non-intuitive, mathematical concepts like String Theory, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, and Inflationary Cosmology with analogies drawn from common experience.
The Character of Physical Law, with New Foreword by Richard Feynman; Frank Wilczek (Foreword by)
Call Number: QC28 .F4 2017

ISBN: 9780262533416

Publication Date: 2017-03-10

An introduction to modern physics and to Richard Feynman at his witty and enthusiastic best, discussing gravitation, irreversibility, symmetry, and the nature of scientific discovery.
The Road to Reality by Roger Penrose; Roger Penrose
Call Number: QC20 .P366 2007

ISBN: 9780679776314

Publication Date: 2007-01-09

The only comprehensive--and comprehensible--account of the physics of the universe. From the very first attempts by the Greeks to grapple with the complexities of our known world to the latest application of infinity in physics, this book carefully explores the movement of the smallest atomic particles and reaches into the vastness of intergalactic space.
Black Holes and Time Warps by Kip S. Thorne
Call Number: QC6 .T526 1994

ISBN: 9780393312768

Publication Date: 1995-01-17

What principles control our universe and why do physicists think they know the things they think they know? This slowly paced but mind-stretching experience will fascinate readers in the rich history of physics.
The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom by Graham Farmelo
Call Number: QC16.D57 F37 2011

ISBN: 9780465022106

Publication Date: 2011-06-28

Paul Dirac was among the greatest scientific geniuses of the modern age. One of Einstein's most admired colleagues, he helped discover quantum mechanics, and his prediction of antimatter was one of the greatest triumphs in the history of physics.
The Quantum Universe by Brian. Cox; Jeff. Forshaw
Call Number: QC174.12 .C689 2013

ISBN: 9780306821448

Publication Date: 2013-06-04

A fascinating, entertaining, and clear introduction to quantum mechanics making fundamental scientific principles accessible to everyone. The subatomic realm may be weird, but this book provides a concrete model of nature that is comparable in its essence to Newton’s laws of motion or Einstein’s theory of relativity.

Librarian / Associate Professor

Ryan Dowell

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Subjects: FYE, Library and Information Services