Self-studying Definition and 67 Threads

I'm currently studying Griffiths electrodynamics on my own and I want to be done with it once and for all. I however don't know if all the chapters are important for the rest of physics and which ones can be skipped without loss of continuity. Can someone give me some insight?

Hi, everyone! I'm planning on teaching myself math all the way back from the basics, up to high school stuff. It has been a long time since I studied math. I've never been a great student back in school. I daydreamed most of the time, and when it came to math, I always rote learned and...

These are all the chapters for introductory mechanics in my textbook. What I have been doing is reading the chapter then following it up with watching a tonne of lectures and worked examples on that topic and attempting to do the problems. I’m on Applying Newton’s laws and I’ve been studying it...

Hi! Feel free to yell at me if this is the wrong forum; I'm a little new at this. I'm self-studying AP Physics 1 and 2 this year, and so far it's going quite well! My only fear is that, because I don't have a specific AP Physics teacher, there may be something really important about the...

How did you find PF?: The Internet search I tend to forget the proofs of theorems, the derivations of formulas and the content of equations in books. What should I do?

Summary:: I'm looking for some resources to study PDEs. Hello everyone, I'm a sophomore majoring in Physics and this semester I am taking a course on Mathematical Methods focusing on PDEs and I'm really struggling in the course. Can someone suggest some resources to self-study PDEs? The...

Does anyone have experience with using these books for learning mathematics? I'm particularly looking at the one on linear algebra. The fact that there are countless practice problems with solutions is a selling point. Also, this book in particular sells for like 1/4 of the price of a proper...

I have the ultimate goal of self-studying astrophysics and cosmology just for personal interest and fulfillment. I've taken introductory mechanics and electromagnetism with some modern physics in university, but at the time, I slacked off and didn't really learn the material well. I am...

Summary:: what are some good books they recommend on the topic? thanks in advance

So I am self-studying electrodynamics using Wangsness' Electromagnetic Fields textbook. Now, I have completed till chapter 21 (Maxwell's Equations). From the electrostatics part, out of the total end chapter problems for each chapter, I was able to solve all excluding 2 or 3. That is, if there...

Hey guys, I want to build a strong and straight plan for my next years of studying and once finish I am able to do something on my own and come up with crazy ideas and actually test them, build some awesome algorithms, all that cool stuff, but I'm kinda stumble so it would be nice if someone...

I am currently studying Mechanical Engineering. When I was 10 years old, I disassembled the computer by my self, I was fascinated by what I saw Inside (Motherboards, computer chips...). From that day I decided to study about computer chip; Mainly about how they were made, how do they works, and...

I have a B.S. in Mechanical Enginerring and I am almost done with a PhD in Nanotechnology. Through these years I realized I really like physics and I would like to learn mmore advanced physics than the one I know so far. I would like to know how to study physics. My plan is to follow the...

I have a Physics degree, 1970, Durham University, England. I am semi- retired and have been re-studying using a modern text: Sears and Zemansky's University Physics updated by Young & Freedman. This has been brilliant. Plenty examples, questions and answers , ideal for self-study. I want to move...

I'm talking about "Mathematical Tools for Physics by James Nearing". https://www.amazon.com/dp/048648212X/?tag=pfamazon01-20 it seems it cover lots of math... but it feels like it's just a reference book.. will it be enough? or should i get more specialized books to learn each subject thoroughly?

I have had around 2 year gap after finishing high school. The last 2 years of high school (11th and 12th grade where calculus, coordinate geometry, straight lines, circles, vectors, functions, quadratics, polynomials, probability, permutation etc. are taught here) , I barely studied and some how...

Hi, my name is "Bob" I have a particular question about a specific book. Preface... It has been a while since I formally studied Physics. The type of Physics book I remember using last was I believe, Algebra-based. This was in high school. Based on my degree, I studied Algebra and Trigonometry...

I'm about to transfer from a community college over to a university this semester for physics. I've completed all lower division physics and math courses and of course, I missed the deadline to apply for vast majority of physics related internships I could get. Add to that the fact that there...

Hello there, So I just finished a course on Qm with Griffiths but the teacher was not the best, to say the least. I disliked the book too and its kind of childish or funny way of presenting stuff. During the summer break I want to go over QM again but with a better book and by myself. I loved...

I looked around for where this question might already be answered (or at least addressed; I'm not sure there is any "one" answer), but, finding none, I decided to ask it myself. For someone self-studying physics, is it necessary to do all the problems in the textbook being used? (I'm using...

i started out learning physics for fun with maxwell's equations because partially i wanted to expand my understanding of electronics. i spiderwebbed around on the internet trying to learn the math to understand the equations. i learned some things but i still didn't have it all down before i...

I like to start a graduate program in scientific computing within the next 4-5 years, once my kids are a little older, my wife finishes her degree, and I have more money saved. In the meantime, I’m not going to waste time. Using the MIT challenge completed by Scott Young as inspiration, I’ve...

Hi, I'm currently in "gymnasiet" in Denmark, which I understand is similar to high school in the US. It's what gives you access to universities, so to speak. After "gymnasiet", which I'm done with summer 2019, I'm planning on going to university for a physics degree. I'm currently taking...

Hello. I'm studying quantum mechanics by my own. I'm targeting to be a condensed matter physicist. What is the best way to grasp the concepts as fast as possible,and what should I do to become a good physicist in the near future? Thanks. Note: I've got a bachelor degree in physics but I stopped...

Dear Physics Forum personnel, Is it possible to learn differential geometry simultaneously while learning the relativity and gravitation? I have been reading Weinberg's book (currently in Chapter 02), but I believe that modern research in relativity is heavily based on the differential...

micromass submitted a new PF Insights post Problems with Self-Studying Continue reading the Original PF Insights Post.

Hello, I want to learn biology from stratch for a hobby, I never studied it in school good enough so I want to do it now, should I go through entire Campbell Biology to grasp basic stuff? I want to note that I want to focus on bioinformatics as I progress One more thing to note is that I want...

Hello, So I'm in high school and I wanted to self-study programming. In summer I completed the course Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python on edX . I really liked it. I was wondering what I should do next and from where? Should I learn a different language (C , C++ and...

Whole my life I have been interested in Quantum Physics. I have a bachelor degree in IT. I did not finish my studies. I have always been quite sloppy in studying in school. As a result, my mathematics skills are terrible. I often get pointed out on this forum that I better start with the...

Hello fellow science enthusiasts! I will start by describing my problem. I am majoring in Computer Science. More importantly, I am taking a course in Single Variable Calculus I. We are using the textbook written by Stewart: Calculus Early Transcendentals. And as I continue read through it...

Which one do you think that is more efficient? I think that lecturers, from the fact of being humans, commit more mistakes than books when they give information because they can forget to transmit important details. Books are written carefully in order to be easy to understand, what's said was...

Dear Physics Forum personnel, I am a college sophomore in US with double majors in mathematics and microbiology. I apologize for this sudden interruption but I wrote this email to seek your advice regarding to utilizing multiple textbooks per mathematical field. I always thought that...

Dear Physics Forum personnel, I wrote this email because I am seeking a recommendation on selecting the pre-calculus textbooks. I have been studying the real analysis and number theory, and I felt that I need to brush up the algebra, functions, trigonometry, and geometry. So I decided to...

Dear Physics Forum friends, Why so many people recommend Spivak, Apostol, and Courant calculus textbooks, especially as a preparation toward the advanced courses like analysis and abstract algebra? Are they really necessary? I have been studying Apostol's Mathematical Analysis, Rudin's PMA...

Are you self-studying mathematics? Do you have any questions on how to handle it? Anything you want to share? Do so here!

Dear Physics Forum advisers, I am a sophomore in US with double majors in mathematics and microbiology; my current computational/mathematical biology research got my interested in the mathematics, particularly the Analysis and Algebra, and led me to start with calculus II (computational aspect)...

Hi everyone, I've been interested in self-studying physics for a while now but I really have no idea what's the best to tackle first in terms of subject matter (mechanics, e&m, etc.) or what textbooks are conducive to self study. I'm currently a grad student in a math program, and I've taken...

I am a mechanical engineering undergrad and i am currently trying to study fluid mechanics but the books i tried are not sufficient enough in my opinion. I read the first three chapters of Fluid Mechanics : Fundamentals and applications by Cengel and Cimbala, and Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics...

Hello PF, I hope that I'm not repeating an old thread; I've searched for this thread in here, and could not find any. So, on to my problem then: I've been self-studying from a few math textbooks for a while now. But, the problem is that I quickly get bored while working through the...

Hello, I've been studying physics in college for 1 year now and so far I haven't had much difficulties on math subjects (such as calculus and linear algebra). This semester I decided to study some of algebra and I've been having some difficulties reading the book and understanding all by my...

Hello,I just finished high-school (sixth form in the UK) and I will start studying Mathematics and Economics course at university soon. I enjoyed physics a lot in high school (almost chose to study it at uni) and therefore don't want to stop learning about it. How can I self study physics...

I'm currently finishing my grade 11 year of high school and I have hopes of attending one of the prestigious schools in the US such as MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, etc. I would love to be able to study physics in university and, since my school's physics courses are lacking any significant...

I'm a senior in high school and dislike the way physics is taught. I find the textbooks to be too watered down and lacking in mathematical rigor. My plan is to major in physics when I go to college, so I've decided to self study physics in my spare time. I've browsed around the forums here...

Hi, i am a thirteen year old boy who has a great interest in math and physics. I was just wondering how can i learn myself math (Trigonometry,pre-calc etc.) all the way to solving some physics problems at a certain level?

I'm currently a senior in high school and I've been interested in self studying physics. I've picked up self studying since last year and have been going through various undergraduate introductory textbooks such as Goldstein and Griffiths for mechanics and EM. What exactly is the best way to...

What are some good texts for self-studying probability & statistics?

Hello everybody. I am considering teaching myself physics in spare time, starting from college physics and multivariable calculus, to a level that I can understand most of the research papers on GR, QFT and cosmology. There are some obstacles that I can foresee: 1. I will certainly get...

Hi all, I am a Computer Science graduate [or will be in 2012] and am planning to do my post graduate studies in Computer Science itself, because programming has always been my passion. At the same time, I joined physics forums during my high school years where I participated in topics related...

I am currently self studying Calculus I and was curious if it was possible to just self study most or all mathematics on my own without going to college. I would like to learn the equivalent of a BS in pure mathematics, so topics such as topology and such. So is this possible? Practical? And if...

Hi, I will be dually enrolled at high school and a local state university next semester. I will be taking Calculus II, and have completed a basic algebra-based Physics course. Will I be capable of self-studying for the AP Physics C (both subjects) exam in May? Also, can you recommend any...