The Road To Reality - Roger Penrose

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The discussion revolves around the suitability of a physics book for readers with minimal mathematical knowledge. The original poster expresses concern about the book's complexity, noting its length and presence of formulas, while the preface suggests it might be accessible. Participants suggest that the book "The Road to Reality" may be too advanced for someone who hasn't completed Pre-Calculus. They recommend considering the book "FLOP's" as a potentially better fit due to its simpler approach. There's a consensus that understanding calculus is essential for grasping physics concepts, and readers are encouraged to learn calculus before diving into advanced physics texts. Additionally, it is suggested that pairing the physics book with a calculus resource could enhance comprehension.
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I was wondering if anyone had read this book and if it was a good book to read if you are not familiar with physics. I looked at the book at a bookstore and it seemed lengthy and filled with formulae. However the preface painted a very different picture so I was just wondering what other thought of it, please keep in mind that my knowledge of physics is minimal.
Thanks
 
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Thanks a lot for that link, it helps a lot but now I'm left with somewhat of a dilemma. I think that probably the FLOP's would be better for me due to my lack of mathematical knowledge. Is that a good assumption? It seems maybe that The Road to Reality might be just too advanced for someone who hasn't even taken Pre-Calc yet...But I'm not even sure if I could understand the FLOP's very well (I'm not sure if there is a great deal of math involved in those or not), anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks
 
Well, from skimming through the book (I just got it in the mail yesterday :D), you could *POSSIBLY* handle it... but you would (ofcourse) not expect to be able to evaluate residues and complex integrals without some sort of help from an outside source... (The book does start with some geometry I'm sure you're familiar with, but it starts advancing pretty quickly from there)
So a possible way for you to look into this book is to get it along with a book on calculus or something... or to research calculus topics on the internet whenever needed/possible. (When this book isn't enough)
If you do end up buying the book, good luck. ;)
 
If you don't yet have Precalc, forget about buying this book. It'll be a waste of money. Calculus is the language of Physics, you must learn it thoroughly before you start poking around physics. Learn calculus as early as possible.
 
i am self learning physics. have you ever worked your way backwards again after finishing most undergrad courses? i have textbooks for junior/senior physics courses in classical mechanics, electrodynamics, thermal physics, quantum mechanics, and mathematical methods for self learning. i have the Halliday Resnick sophomore book. working backwards, i checked out Conceptual Physics 11th edition by Hewitt and found this book very helpful. What i liked most was how stimulating the pictures...

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