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I have learned a lot from reading Sadri Hassani's book "Mathematical Physics", and have also had many frustrations with it. On the one hand, it covers both the classical and the modern methods of mathematical physics, a huge amount of material and at a good level. On the other, it sometimes lacks examples and discussion that would put major results in context; moreover, it periodically says things that are misleading or even false. So if one wants to be able to use Hassani's book as a learning resource and reference, what is the best way to proceed?
An approach that I have found useful is to treat Hassani's book as a workbook that one converts into a reference. The book has huge margins, and many blank pages. So I read from many sources about whatever topic interests me and, as homework, go through the relevant chapter in Hassani, correcting mistakes, adding contextual discussions, and extending the textbook results with my own. This way, each chapter becomes useful as a review and reference after I've "filled it in".
I thought that perhaps other people might find it interesting or useful to hear about this way of reading Hassani's (or any other) book; hence this post. Any comments?
An approach that I have found useful is to treat Hassani's book as a workbook that one converts into a reference. The book has huge margins, and many blank pages. So I read from many sources about whatever topic interests me and, as homework, go through the relevant chapter in Hassani, correcting mistakes, adding contextual discussions, and extending the textbook results with my own. This way, each chapter becomes useful as a review and reference after I've "filled it in".
I thought that perhaps other people might find it interesting or useful to hear about this way of reading Hassani's (or any other) book; hence this post. Any comments?