Books for a friend interested in mathematical physics but...?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers on recommending resources for a friend who aspires to become a mathematical physicist but faces challenges due to a lack of foundational knowledge in mathematics and physics. The scope includes suggestions for books and study approaches suitable for someone starting from a very basic level.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Homework-related
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes their friend's background in education and expresses a desire to help him become mathematically mature, emphasizing the need for resources that start from the very basics.
  • Another participant suggests beginning with basic high school math and recommends the Schaum's Outline series for its affordability and abundance of worked examples and exercises.
  • A different participant recommends the book "No Bullshit Guide to Math and Physics" by Ivan Savov, noting its effectiveness in teaching high school math, physics, and calculus.
  • It is mentioned that the recommended book includes practice questions with answers, which could aid in self-study.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the need for foundational resources but propose different specific books and approaches. There is no consensus on a single best method or resource.

Contextual Notes

Participants acknowledge the challenges of starting from scratch and the potential difficulty in finding suitable materials that align with the friend's current level of understanding.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be useful for individuals seeking to recommend educational resources for those starting from a basic level in mathematics and physics, particularly for aspiring mathematical physicists.

Tukhara
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Okay, I have a good friend and he is into the idea of becoming a Mathematical Physicist; however, there's several issues at hand. He's in his mid 20's and attends a really cheap community college. Apparently his high school was horrible at teaching students good material; in other words, he ended up falling behind on the pace he was at his studies and this was certainly not good for anyone but in particular for him, since he has a passion for learning mathematics and physics for becoming a mathematical physicist, not only was he behind on the basic math required for general purposes he also was massively held back on the track to going forth and becoming what he desires. I decided to help him out thereon.

I recommended for him to read books from here:

https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~abhishek/chicmath.htm

https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~abhishek/chicphys.htm

Of course starting from the very beginning but even the most basic books on this list were hard for him. He told me he wants a way to learn as if he never was taught mathematics in his life before; as if he were completely blank. I recommended for him to teach himself mathematics the proper way starting with set theory and logic but he found that difficult as well (Halmos book) also he was at a dangerously slow pace. So my question to you guys is, what would you recommend for him? I want him to become mathematically mature and also start being able to be quicker in understanding material. So what can we do? He wants to just be treated in his reading catalog as if he never took math in his entire life.
 
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Starting from scratch will be a long, hard effort, but it can be done. I would recommend starting at basic high school math and working up from there. The Schaum's Outline series has a wide variety of books that are relatively inexpensive and have many worked examples and exercises. He should look at precalculus book and see if that is the right level, too hard, or too easy, and proceed from there.
 
I would recommend the book No Bullshit Guide to Math and Physics by Ivan Savov. It's a great book, it teaches high school math, physics, and calculus very well
 
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It also has practice questions with the answers to the questions in the back of the book
 

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