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So you want to learn physics (second edition, 2021)

309 points by azhenley

by potbelly83

16 subcomments

I have no idea why these sorts of posts are popular. Past college you're not going to learn physics by trying to self-study an entire university course. The best way to learn is just to pick a small part of physics you'd like to learn (preferably related to your job), i.e. how GPS work or some fluid mechanics etc... Then learn the physics you need for that. Knowledge accumulation can't be organized in a straight line, it happens non-linearly and generally builds upon small wins that are useful for you.

by 7402

0 subcomment

The only bold-faced sentence in the post is this:
"Solving problems is the only way to understand physics."
This is key! If you have the discipline to follow through on this, then learning via self-study is possible.
If you don't have the time or determination to do that (which is hard, by the way), the other option is basically to pursue "Physics appreciation" via popular science books (some of which are mentioned in the post). You will not have achieved understanding of physics, but you will have an appreciation for it, which is not a bad thing either. (But do not confuse the two.)

by tzs

1 subcomments

I've found pacing to be the biggest problem with self-learning of academic subjects.
Suppose we are learning from a textbook. The things we learn in each chapter are built upon in the subsequent chapters. If we go forward before we have a good enough understanding it can make it very hard to learn that next chapter.
On the other hand if we wait to go forward until we feel we really have mastered the material up to this point it can take a long time to move forward, and that doesn't even really gain you anything.
The best way to master something is to practice it. The textbook author knows this. The author writes each chapter under the assumption that you are OK with the material from the previous chapters but have not yet mastered that material. You now need things to practice that material on, and using it while learning the material of this chapter is perfect for that.
That point where you have gotten good enough with the present material that you can handle the next chapter is almost certainly going to be a point where you do not think you are ready.

by atkrista

1 subcomments

Saving this until after I retire and decide to invent my own crackpot Theory of Everything

by gnabgib

1 subcomments

Popular in 2023 (528 points, 165 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37200615

by mastermage

1 subcomments

I personally recomend Halliday as an everything important in Undergrad thats not Theoretical Physics book. Use that in conjunction with your favorite Flavor of Math for Scientists and Engineers book. And you get a pretty wide understanding of Physics.

by Koshkin

0 subcomment

The Feynman Lectures and/or Berkeley Physics Course [1] would give one the basics one would ever need.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Physics_Course

by tdiff

0 subcomment

Just using an opportunityto promote guys making really great videos about basic physics, focusing on experiments:
https://youtu.be/kUkgKsEq330?is=uxc8zlUy0z1eng6M
Unfortunately, English version are somewhat reduced from Russian, but still.

by WillAdams

1 subcomments

Why this rather than Motion Mountain?
https://www.motionmountain.net/

by sesteel

0 subcomment

The person who wrote the guide is more unusually interesting than the guide itself. I knew something sounded familiar.

by rramadass

0 subcomment

Some classic soviet-era physics books which one can use as a good supplement to the listed textbooks.
1) Physics for Entertainment by Yakov Perelman (2 vols) - https://mirtitles.org/?s=physics+for+entertainment Great to motivate oneself and learn to think in physics terms.
2) Fundamentals of Physics by B.N.Ivanov - https://mirtitles.org/2018/04/21/fundamentals-of-physics-iva... Nice overview which approaches physics "from atoms to matter".
3) Physics for Everyone by Landau and Kitaigorodsky (4 vols) - https://mirtitles.org/?s=Physics+for+Everyone A nice overview of all the major domains in physics.
4) General Methods for Solving Physics Problems by B.S.Belikov - https://mirtitles.org/2015/12/07/general-methods-for-solving... This is a great book which teaches you by walking through the solutions of various physics problems using a general methodological framework.

by npalli

1 subcomments

How does one know whether they actually learnt physics this way. Seems a lot of reading and structure, that's great. Not convinced about whether there is a change in understanding. Typical university/college classes have assignments, quizzes, exams etc.. don't see the equivalent.

by xqb64

2 subcomments

Is there a math edition?

by Sharlin

2 subcomments

I wonder how much all the textbooks that the author recommends would cost in total...

by frobisher

0 subcomment

I'd recommend Shankar's books as a starting point.

by ck2

0 subcomment

if you really, really want to understand physics and are not afraid of hard math I highly recommend this youtube channel in particular
* https://www.youtube.com/@PhysicsExplainedVideos/videos
"Physics Explained"
But I am not kidding about hard math
He starts off slow and gentle but most of the videos 10 minutes in my brain is screaming and cannot keep up
Which is probably why textbooks are superior for some kinds of learning
But his videos are very well done

by NetMageSCW

0 subcomment

"It's a warm summer evening, circa 600 BC. You've finished your shopping at the local market or agora, and you look up at the night sky..."

by dmvvilela

0 subcomment

i learn with AI lol