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comment by Shubhang
Shubhang  ·  3161 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Dear Hubski, what do you want to learn?

I am a physics major and I think I can help you with your interest in physics! Do you want a deep complete understanding of physics through maths? Or do you want to skip the math and grasp at the crux of just the physical problems and core concepts?

For string theory, very early stages (just to give you a flavour) search- The Complete Idiot's Guide to String Theory by George Musser

(You don't need to buy it, there are pdf's available if you are OK with piracy hint hint)





CraigEllsworth  ·  3161 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Oh, I can handle the math if I learn it from the ground up, and I'd like to have a mathematical understanding of it. The problem I find is that physics teachings gets split into two kinds: mathless versions that try to explain by analogy and only give vague representations of what's really going on, and technical papers that assume you have a doctorate in physics or math and already know everything. I can never seem to find a middle ground which teaches you the math as it goes (or at least does so well), so ultimately for me to learn physics the way I want, I'd have to go back to school or deeply study it on my own.

tauta_krypta  ·  3161 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Have you read the Feynman Lectures on Physics? They roughly cover a three year university course, but are quite readable and are available for free online here. (I hear that the last one does quantum mechanics in a different way from how it's done now, so it might not be as good a bet as the first two.)

CraigEllsworth  ·  3161 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I shall have to give them a looksee. Thanks.

Shubhang  ·  3161 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Hmm, how good are you at math? (As in can you solve diff equations with not much difficulty?)

CraigEllsworth  ·  3161 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I was, but I'd need a refresher course in Calculus. Since I don't use it in everyday life, I forgot a lot of it.

aeromill  ·  3161 days ago  ·  link  ·  

If your algebra is sharp then you can start with basic Newtonian mechanics (what one would normally learn in high school). Check out Khan Academy's playlist.