Modern Physics
Modern Physics by Felder and Felderby Felder and Felder
Shares rank 9 of 13 physics textbooks by recommenders
People recommend it as a well-organized freshman-level modern physics textbook that covers what students need. The original US edition is noted as quite expensive.
People recommend it as a well-organized freshman-level modern physics textbook that covers what students need. The original US edition is noted as quite expensive.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not 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
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 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
Covers what freshmen need, well-organized
“the chapters have a good progression and are nicely setup”
Comment from 3 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: Expository/Succinct Books on Modern Physics” “Freshman university textbooks have what you need.”
Comment from 3 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: Expository/Succinct Books on Modern Physics” Pretty good, worth looking at
“Felder & Felder's Modern Physics is pretty good”
Comment from 3 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: Expository/Succinct Books on Modern Physics” “would be a good place to look”
Comment from 11 Feb 2026 in “The Feynman Lectures on Physics (online edition)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Original US edition is expensive
“Felder & Felder is the original US edition which is quite expensive.”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: Expository/Succinct Books on Modern Physics”
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 Nakanishi | 7 | 1 | 88% | 1 | — | — |
| General Relativityby Robert Wald | 6 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Modern Physicsby Felder and FelderThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
All 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“would be a good place to look”
“Felder & Felder is the original US edition which is quite expensive.”
“the chapters have a good progression and are nicely setup”
“Freshman university textbooks have what you need.”
“Felder & Felder's Modern Physics is pretty good”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.