UPDATE: This list is newly updated. Please continue posting your own if you haven't seen any on this list and I've corrected some small errors in difficulty ratings, and I took off many of the ridiculously hard mathematical reads. I've also added more insight into the descriptions.
I have decided to make a long list of my favorite reading and learning materials that may be of some use to people. I really think this forum should provide a list by itself of resources. So i'll just give some materials and a quick review of each. I will also make sure to give the difficulty level of each. Feel free to recommend things.
General Physics
1. The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene
-Explained as precisely as possible for layman understanding. I've changed my opinion on this one as this is a far too optimistic treatment of string theory. Im sure most of you have read this one. I now only recommend this mostly because he gives an excellent layman description of quantum mechanics and general relativity.(Difficulty: 1/5; no mathematics at all except for some footnotes)
2. The Trouble With Physics by Lee Smolin
-A healthy reminder of the current empirical vagueness of string theory. Great read. (Difficulty: 2/5)
3. Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. 1-3 by Richard Feynman
Perfect. If you see something by Feynman, buy it immediately. (Difficulty: Varies, ranges from 1/5 in the beginning of the first volume but is 5/5 at the end of Volume III)
4. The Road to Reality by Roger Penrose
Most comprehensive assessment of all of physics, great read, but a bit vague at times (Difficulty: 5/5; incredibly difficult mathematics, you have to have several other textbooks to keep up adequately.)
5. Relativity by Albert Einstein
Great read, a little hard to understand, just read a little slowly. The reason it is hard to understand is because the vernacular awkwardly stems from early 20th century translated German.(Difficulty: 2/5 mostly but 3/5 in parts)
6. Gravitation by Charles Misner, Kip Thorne, John Wheeler
My friend recommends this, apparently he thinks its the best physics read ever, and hes pretty well read in physics. (Difficulty: 5/5)
8. On the Shoulders of Giants by Stephen Hawking
An interesting lookback on the physics that changed our world forever. (Difficulty: 5/5)
9. Quantum Reality by Nick Herbert
Great exploration of the ontologies of quantum mechanics. Extremely low on math though so not a precise formulation of quantum mechanics itself, only interpretations of it. (Difficulty: 3/5)
10. A Brief History of Time/ The Universe in a Nutshell, by Stephen Hawking
I cannot believe I forgot these book. Shame on me. Best layman explanation of physical concepts I have ever seen. (Difficulty: 1/5)
11 QED by Richard Feynman
Feynman at his best. A surprisingly thorough and accurate text on Quantum Electrodynamics in a thin little book. (Difficulty: 4/5 at times)
12. A Stubbornly Persistent Illusion: Hawking on Einstein
Basically the same thing as "On the Shoulders of Giants" except only on Einstein. Einstein is in the former volume at the very end but only a little bit. Very good read.
Pure Mathematics
1. Principia Mathematica
Absolutely beautiful piece of work. What a masterpiece. (Difficulty 5/5)
2. Visual Complex Analysis by Tristan Needham
Brilliant textbook. I said before that nearly the whole thing could be found on Google books but they have decided suddenly to omit a ton of pages and you can only get 10% of it now, but you can still buy it. (Difficulty: 4/5)
3. Advanced Calculus Demystified
I was surprised at how good this book was because the "Demystified" series usually isn't terribly great, but this is the best textbook I have ever read in any subject. I'm not joking. (Difficulty: 4/5)
4. Mathematical Methods for Physicists by Arfken and Weber
This book is essential for anybody wanting to be a physicist or engineer. MAKE SURE YOU GET THE SIXTH EDITION BECAUSE THE FIFTH IS PURE CRAP (Difficulty: 5/5)
Evolution/Biology
Anything by Richard Dawkins
He's written one philosophy book (The God Delusion), but hell, thats worth buying too. (Difficulty 2/5)
The Structure of Evolutionary Theory by Stephen Jay Gould
A masterpiece. Dissents on some of Dawkins' views concerning the locus of evolutionary selection and the rates of evolution. Fortunately, alot of their disagreements actually boil down to misunderstandings of what is meant to be an "individual". This is an advanced discussion of modern evolutionary topics. The only beef that I have with Gould is that a lot of people are taken in by his awesome prose and can't examine the issues he presents. (Difficulty: 4/5)
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin
Best scientific work in the 19th century. Darwin has set the standard for logical, emprical, and philosophical reasoning for all time after him. Of course he's wrong on some things, but he's wrong on surprisingly little. Plus, he's not an arrogant douchebag throughout his writings, so typical of 19th century scientists. (Difficulty 3/5)
Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne
Great piece of work. Shows the overwhelming evidence of evolution. (Difficulty 3/5)
The Greatest Show on Earth: the Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins
Lays out the evidence for evolution. (Difficulty: 2/5)
Philosophy
Anything by Nietzsche
Yup. Awesome material.
1984 by George Orwell
Not a philosophy book, but its the best fiction book ever and I didn't make a topic for fiction. Strong philosophical implications READ IT.
Greek Philosophers
Read some Aristotle/Plato/etc; Any Greek philosopher. Alot of them have wise things to say but I have to say that some of them are pretty fucking stupid.
Anything by Dan Dennet
Godel, Escher, Bach
Awesome Awesome Awesome. Tricky at parts to wrap your head around.
Things not to read:
-Anything by creationists is almost painful. Read for entertainment purposes but prepare to be angered by the deception if you actually check their facts and sources.
- Ayn Rand; now I am a hardcore individualist, but this lady is a dickweed who ripped of Nietzsche's philosophy and applied it to economics. She turns people into complete assholes after they read her stuff and only likes something if it helps a large industry rake in some cash. Sure, I thought she was just promoting the idea that you aren't obligated to sacrifice yourself just for society or religion but it becomes increasingly clear that she only likes things with economic value. There are better individualist philosophers than her.
I have decided to make a long list of my favorite reading and learning materials that may be of some use to people. I really think this forum should provide a list by itself of resources. So i'll just give some materials and a quick review of each. I will also make sure to give the difficulty level of each. Feel free to recommend things.
General Physics
1. The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene
-Explained as precisely as possible for layman understanding. I've changed my opinion on this one as this is a far too optimistic treatment of string theory. Im sure most of you have read this one. I now only recommend this mostly because he gives an excellent layman description of quantum mechanics and general relativity.(Difficulty: 1/5; no mathematics at all except for some footnotes)
2. The Trouble With Physics by Lee Smolin
-A healthy reminder of the current empirical vagueness of string theory. Great read. (Difficulty: 2/5)
3. Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. 1-3 by Richard Feynman
Perfect. If you see something by Feynman, buy it immediately. (Difficulty: Varies, ranges from 1/5 in the beginning of the first volume but is 5/5 at the end of Volume III)
4. The Road to Reality by Roger Penrose
Most comprehensive assessment of all of physics, great read, but a bit vague at times (Difficulty: 5/5; incredibly difficult mathematics, you have to have several other textbooks to keep up adequately.)
5. Relativity by Albert Einstein
Great read, a little hard to understand, just read a little slowly. The reason it is hard to understand is because the vernacular awkwardly stems from early 20th century translated German.(Difficulty: 2/5 mostly but 3/5 in parts)
6. Gravitation by Charles Misner, Kip Thorne, John Wheeler
My friend recommends this, apparently he thinks its the best physics read ever, and hes pretty well read in physics. (Difficulty: 5/5)
8. On the Shoulders of Giants by Stephen Hawking
An interesting lookback on the physics that changed our world forever. (Difficulty: 5/5)
9. Quantum Reality by Nick Herbert
Great exploration of the ontologies of quantum mechanics. Extremely low on math though so not a precise formulation of quantum mechanics itself, only interpretations of it. (Difficulty: 3/5)
10. A Brief History of Time/ The Universe in a Nutshell, by Stephen Hawking
I cannot believe I forgot these book. Shame on me. Best layman explanation of physical concepts I have ever seen. (Difficulty: 1/5)
11 QED by Richard Feynman
Feynman at his best. A surprisingly thorough and accurate text on Quantum Electrodynamics in a thin little book. (Difficulty: 4/5 at times)
12. A Stubbornly Persistent Illusion: Hawking on Einstein
Basically the same thing as "On the Shoulders of Giants" except only on Einstein. Einstein is in the former volume at the very end but only a little bit. Very good read.
Pure Mathematics
1. Principia Mathematica
Absolutely beautiful piece of work. What a masterpiece. (Difficulty 5/5)
2. Visual Complex Analysis by Tristan Needham
Brilliant textbook. I said before that nearly the whole thing could be found on Google books but they have decided suddenly to omit a ton of pages and you can only get 10% of it now, but you can still buy it. (Difficulty: 4/5)
3. Advanced Calculus Demystified
I was surprised at how good this book was because the "Demystified" series usually isn't terribly great, but this is the best textbook I have ever read in any subject. I'm not joking. (Difficulty: 4/5)
4. Mathematical Methods for Physicists by Arfken and Weber
This book is essential for anybody wanting to be a physicist or engineer. MAKE SURE YOU GET THE SIXTH EDITION BECAUSE THE FIFTH IS PURE CRAP (Difficulty: 5/5)
Evolution/Biology
Anything by Richard Dawkins
He's written one philosophy book (The God Delusion), but hell, thats worth buying too. (Difficulty 2/5)
The Structure of Evolutionary Theory by Stephen Jay Gould
A masterpiece. Dissents on some of Dawkins' views concerning the locus of evolutionary selection and the rates of evolution. Fortunately, alot of their disagreements actually boil down to misunderstandings of what is meant to be an "individual". This is an advanced discussion of modern evolutionary topics. The only beef that I have with Gould is that a lot of people are taken in by his awesome prose and can't examine the issues he presents. (Difficulty: 4/5)
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin
Best scientific work in the 19th century. Darwin has set the standard for logical, emprical, and philosophical reasoning for all time after him. Of course he's wrong on some things, but he's wrong on surprisingly little. Plus, he's not an arrogant douchebag throughout his writings, so typical of 19th century scientists. (Difficulty 3/5)
Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne
Great piece of work. Shows the overwhelming evidence of evolution. (Difficulty 3/5)
The Greatest Show on Earth: the Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins
Lays out the evidence for evolution. (Difficulty: 2/5)
Philosophy
Anything by Nietzsche
Yup. Awesome material.
1984 by George Orwell
Not a philosophy book, but its the best fiction book ever and I didn't make a topic for fiction. Strong philosophical implications READ IT.
Greek Philosophers
Read some Aristotle/Plato/etc; Any Greek philosopher. Alot of them have wise things to say but I have to say that some of them are pretty fucking stupid.
Anything by Dan Dennet
Godel, Escher, Bach
Awesome Awesome Awesome. Tricky at parts to wrap your head around.
Things not to read:
-Anything by creationists is almost painful. Read for entertainment purposes but prepare to be angered by the deception if you actually check their facts and sources.
- Ayn Rand; now I am a hardcore individualist, but this lady is a dickweed who ripped of Nietzsche's philosophy and applied it to economics. She turns people into complete assholes after they read her stuff and only likes something if it helps a large industry rake in some cash. Sure, I thought she was just promoting the idea that you aren't obligated to sacrifice yourself just for society or religion but it becomes increasingly clear that she only likes things with economic value. There are better individualist philosophers than her.