Computational Physics (2nd Edition)
Computational Physics (2nd Edition) by Giordano and Nakanishiby Giordano and Nakanishi
Ranked 3 of 13 physics textbooks by recommenders
Recommended as a solid introductory computational physics text with well-structured content and gorgeous LaTeX work. Its matplotlib chapter is considered barebones.
Recommended as a solid introductory computational physics text with well-structured content and gorgeous LaTeX work. Its matplotlib chapter is considered barebones.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 88%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Good introductory level coverage
“it's a good introduction to implementing functions and equations”
Comment from 5 Apr 2026 in “Computational Physics (2nd Edition)” “it's rather good at an introductory level to the subject”
Comment from 5 Apr 2026 in “Computational Physics (2nd Edition)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Matplotlib chapter seems barebones
“The matplotlib chapter seems fairly barebones but I remain in awe at this gorgeous latex work”
Comment from 5 Apr 2026 in “Computational Physics (2nd Edition)”
Other physics textbooks people recommend
The four most recommended other physics textbooks, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Feynman Lectures on Physicsby Feynman, Leighton and Sands | 34 | 3 | 92% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Course of Theoretical Physicsby Landau and Lifshitz | 8 | 1 | 89% | 6 | — | — |
| Computational Physics (2nd Edition)by Giordano and NakanishiThis page | 7 | 1 | 88% | 1 | — | — |
| General Relativityby Robert Wald | 6 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Engineering Thermodynamics | 6 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
7 of the 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Should be modernized to Python or similar.”
“a much better selection of content if you want to actually do computational physics”
“a course structured like this is hard to beat”
“it's rather good at an introductory level to the subject”
“The matplotlib chapter seems fairly barebones but I remain in awe at this gorgeous latex work”
“I am sure this book is also great.”
“it's a good introduction to implementing functions and equations”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.