March 2013 Media Thread

ArisKatsaris

(I decided to temporarily usurp RobertLumley's place in posting this thread. I hope he doesn't mind)

This is the monthly thread for posting media of various types that you've found that you enjoy. Post what you're reading, listening to, watching, and your opinion of it. Post recommendations to blogs. Post whatever media you feel like discussing! To see previous recommendations, check out the older threads.

Rules:

Please avoid downvoting recommendations just because you don't personally like the recommended material; remember that liking is a two-place word. If you can point out a specific flaw in a person's recommendation, consider posting a comment to that effect.
If you want to post something that (you know) has been recommended before, but have another recommendation to add, please link to the original, so that the reader has both recommendations.
Please use the comment trees for genres. There is a meta thread for comments about future threads.
If you think there should be a thread for a particular genre of media, please post it to the Other Media thread for now, and add a poll to the Meta thread asking if it should be a thread every month.

(I decided to temporarily usurp RobertLumley's place in posting this thread. I hope he doesn't mind)

Rules:

Please avoid downvoting recommendations just because you don't personally like the recommended material; remember that liking is a two-place word. If you can point out a specific flaw in a person's recommendation, consider posting a comment to that effect.
If you want to post something that (you know) has been recommended before, but have another recommendation to add, please link to the original, so that the reader has both recommendations.
Please use the comment trees for genres. There is a meta thread for comments about future threads.
If you think there should be a thread for a particular genre of media, please post it to the Other Media thread for now, and add a poll to the Meta thread asking if it should be a thread every month.

Nonfiction Books Thread

With Charity for All. Excerpts below.

On the role of the charitable sector:

The charitable sector... includes areas as diverse as education, global health services, shelter for the homeless, ...arts and culture, and some of our most important scientific research. We support this broad array of services because absent a robust charitable economy, these functions would either cease or devolve to government — an unpalatable option in a time of rising public debt and dwindling faith in the efficacy of government. In effect, we have privatized these public func

... (read more)

0lukeprog13y

Changeology.

0tgb13y

'An Introduction to Elementary Particles' by David Griffiths is one of the most enjoyable text books I have ever read. It covers basic particle physics, Feynman diagrams and Feynman calculus, basic experimental setups in the realm of high-energy physics and more. The author is well regarded as one of the most readable undergraduate physics textbook writer (also known for his intro quantum mechanics book), but this topic is his specialty and he really shines in presenting it. Even for those without a background in physics, the first chapter has a great exposition of the historical developments of the mid 1900's that led to the modern standard model. After that he goes into Feynman diagrams which is also quite approachable and interesting without any significant background. The later chapters then actually go into Feynman calculus and would be less readable to those without at least one course in quantum mechanics.

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