Literature for the first semester
In each course there are literature recommendations from the respective lecturers and as a student the question sometimes arises whether one should now buy the books, borrow them or ignore them altogether.
Of course, documents are also provided for each course. However, it can be helpful to look at additional literature in order to better understand a topic. Especially if the explanation in the lecture/exercise is not sufficient for you, additional literature is recommended.
But also not purely scientific sources such as YouTube videos can help, although here it is urgent to pay attention to the credibility/correctness of the source. Also, if literature in another language is needed, the instructors are usually happy to help.
It is never really necessary to buy the books. Most of them can be viewed either centrally in the [ULB]1 or in the Hans-Busch-Institut (KSC) as well as sometimes borrowed from the responsible institutes.
Via the homepage of the ULB you can also find the so-called database info system2 and a link to e-books3, where scientific publishers offer some of their publications for students to download free of charge.
In TUfind, the search portal of the ULB you can find information about all printed as well as digital books of the University and State Library.
In the first semesters, you can easily wait for the semester to begin and decide later which subjects need additional books. However, many students acquire a mathematics formula collection at the beginning of their studies. Most of them use the formulary “Formeln und Hilfen zur Höheren Mathematik” from Binomi-Verlag, but of course other formularies for higher mathematics can also be used.
For Electrical Engineering the book “Ingenieurwissen: Elektrotechnik” by H. Clausert and G. Wiesemann4 is recommended, which can be downloaded for free from the ULB site.
For the subject TM 1, “Technische Mechanik 1” by Dietmar Gross5 is a good choice, also downloadable for free on the ULB site.