- #1
desti
- 26
- 0
It's been a while since I studied physics. I did a few basic courses in physics as a freshman, but I never studied any physics since, but instead majored in math and ended up doing a math PhD. Nowadays, I work on self-driving cars at a large tech company, where my work is mostly in computer vision using camera and lidar data.
Recently the fact that I know next to nothing about physics has started bothering me, so I decided to brush up on it. I bought An Introduction to Mechanics by Kleppner and Kolenkow as well as Introduction to Electrodynamics by Griffiths and I've spent the last four months plowing through the books having almost finished them. My question is basically that most of these books with just the name "Physics" also contain chapters on elementary thermal physics and quantum mechanics. These topics are not covered by the two books above, so are there any books at a similar level that cover those topics? In other words, what junior/senior level books would be recommended for thermal physics and quantum mechanics?
As I have a math PhD, I'm not afraid of math, but would still require books that are self-contained. Since my background in mechanics currently doesn't cover Lagrangian or Hamiltonian mechanics, I realize that this might limit the options somewhat. However, if better coverage is available with those parts of mechanics under your belt, I might as well read some classical mechanics book before jumping into thermal physics and quantum mechanics. Does anyone have any recommendations on what path to take?
Recently the fact that I know next to nothing about physics has started bothering me, so I decided to brush up on it. I bought An Introduction to Mechanics by Kleppner and Kolenkow as well as Introduction to Electrodynamics by Griffiths and I've spent the last four months plowing through the books having almost finished them. My question is basically that most of these books with just the name "Physics" also contain chapters on elementary thermal physics and quantum mechanics. These topics are not covered by the two books above, so are there any books at a similar level that cover those topics? In other words, what junior/senior level books would be recommended for thermal physics and quantum mechanics?
As I have a math PhD, I'm not afraid of math, but would still require books that are self-contained. Since my background in mechanics currently doesn't cover Lagrangian or Hamiltonian mechanics, I realize that this might limit the options somewhat. However, if better coverage is available with those parts of mechanics under your belt, I might as well read some classical mechanics book before jumping into thermal physics and quantum mechanics. Does anyone have any recommendations on what path to take?