Calculus Feynman's High School Calculus Book

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The discussion highlights an appreciation for handwritten notebooks and the textbooks used by notable figures in STEM, specifically referencing Richard Feynman's learning experience with "Calculus for the Practical Man" by Thompson. Participants express curiosity about how modern students will navigate the vast array of STEM resources available today and whether this abundance will inspire or overwhelm them. There's a consensus on the importance of pursuing personal interests in STEM fields rather than focusing solely on lucrative options, emphasizing that genuine passion leads to better understanding and success. Additionally, the conversation touches on the enduring relevance of specific physics areas, such as nuclear reactors, indicating that applied physics remains a vital and engaging field. Links to further resources, including Feynman interviews, are also shared for deeper exploration.
Aufbauwerk 2045
Hi everybody. I enjoy looking at other people's handwritten notebooks, as well as what textbooks they learned math and physics from. This evening I came across this article about how Feynman learned calculus in high school by studying Calculus for the Practical Man by Thompson. He kept very detailed notes. I discovered Thompson's books on math some time ago and I thought they were all interesting, in particular the one on calculus. Enjoy the article.

http://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.5.9099/full/
 
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Thanks for sharing. It’s a nice article on Feynman. One wonders with the access students have today to all things STEM of how they will be inspired or will the sheer volume of resources simply overwhelm them. Where is the next Feynman?
 
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Likes Aufbauwerk 2045
jedishrfu said:
Thanks for sharing. It’s a nice article on Feynman. One wonders with the access students have today to all things STEM of how they will be inspired or will the sheer volume of resources simply overwhelm them. Where is the next Feynman?

Indeed, sometimes we may have so many choices that we don't know what to do. I finally realized that as long as I'm in STEM, the main thing for me is to forget about what field is most lucrative and just focus on what I like the most. In any case, I can't do very well in a subject if my heart is not in it.

I also highly recommend following the links provided to the Feynman interviews which may be found at

https://www.aip.org/history-program...077.487000824.1511233896-165223326.1511233896
 
P.S. I'm not concerned about the "is physics dead" question because my favorite area, which is nuclear reactors, is not going anywhere! Perhaps some would say that's "only" applied physics but that doesn't worry me. :)
 
The book is fascinating. If your education includes a typical math degree curriculum, with Lebesgue integration, functional analysis, etc, it teaches QFT with only a passing acquaintance of ordinary QM you would get at HS. However, I would read Lenny Susskind's book on QM first. Purchased a copy straight away, but it will not arrive until the end of December; however, Scribd has a PDF I am now studying. The first part introduces distribution theory (and other related concepts), which...
I've gone through the Standard turbulence textbooks such as Pope's Turbulent Flows and Wilcox' Turbulent modelling for CFD which mostly Covers RANS and the closure models. I want to jump more into DNS but most of the work i've been able to come across is too "practical" and not much explanation of the theory behind it. I wonder if there is a book that takes a theoretical approach to Turbulence starting from the full Navier Stokes Equations and developing from there, instead of jumping from...

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