- #1
harts
- 30
- 0
Hi Physics Forum!
I want you guys to help me out. I want to learn physics the hard way.
Let me explain. I'm currently finishing my sophomore year at Colorado School of Mines. I am majoring in Engineering Physics. I'm doing great in school. I've signed up for SPS and APS - Physics Today should be coming in the mail soon and I have access to the Physical Review (although I haven't got the smallest idea what any of the articles are saying). I have a flexible job that helps me pay for school. And I just got hired as an intern for a company that specializes in RF and microwave design. Practically speaking, I'm very happy with how things are going.
But I feel like I'm hitting a roadblock. The relevant material I encounter online while studying for my modern physics class is either oversimplified or way beyond what I currently understand - with the former being far more prevalent. I type in lorentz transformation and I get yet another 1-dimensional train analogy. As wonderful as that thought experiment is, I feel like I need a more thorough approach if I really want to get better at this subject.
You know what I mean? I don't want Einstein made easy or relativity made simple - rather, I want a resource that has no mercy with regard to math. I wouldn't have majored in physics if I didn't want to learn math. I want a book - preferably something online - that is very methodical, and has to be read extremely slowly. I feel like that's the only way to get truly good at physics.
I've done a decent amount of math. So far, I've done Single and Multi Variable Calc, Linear Algebra and Differential Equations. As far as I know, these are the building blocks for learning things like quantum mechanics (with linear algebra being most important for QM, but I could be wrong here). What's next? When I walk through the halls of the physics building, or poke around online, I see stuff that looks like complete gibberish to me, and I wonder how far I am from learning it.
So, PF, can you tell me? How can I learn physics the hard way?
Oh and feel free to link me to another similar thread.
I want you guys to help me out. I want to learn physics the hard way.
Let me explain. I'm currently finishing my sophomore year at Colorado School of Mines. I am majoring in Engineering Physics. I'm doing great in school. I've signed up for SPS and APS - Physics Today should be coming in the mail soon and I have access to the Physical Review (although I haven't got the smallest idea what any of the articles are saying). I have a flexible job that helps me pay for school. And I just got hired as an intern for a company that specializes in RF and microwave design. Practically speaking, I'm very happy with how things are going.
But I feel like I'm hitting a roadblock. The relevant material I encounter online while studying for my modern physics class is either oversimplified or way beyond what I currently understand - with the former being far more prevalent. I type in lorentz transformation and I get yet another 1-dimensional train analogy. As wonderful as that thought experiment is, I feel like I need a more thorough approach if I really want to get better at this subject.
You know what I mean? I don't want Einstein made easy or relativity made simple - rather, I want a resource that has no mercy with regard to math. I wouldn't have majored in physics if I didn't want to learn math. I want a book - preferably something online - that is very methodical, and has to be read extremely slowly. I feel like that's the only way to get truly good at physics.
I've done a decent amount of math. So far, I've done Single and Multi Variable Calc, Linear Algebra and Differential Equations. As far as I know, these are the building blocks for learning things like quantum mechanics (with linear algebra being most important for QM, but I could be wrong here). What's next? When I walk through the halls of the physics building, or poke around online, I see stuff that looks like complete gibberish to me, and I wonder how far I am from learning it.
So, PF, can you tell me? How can I learn physics the hard way?
Oh and feel free to link me to another similar thread.