How Can I Achieve Mastery in Physics?

[ajay.05]

Hello everyone, and first of all I would like to clarify that I don't think I'm asking a regular "how do people do physics" out of frustration.
I am really interested in physics and I've joined a university for my Under Grad Physics course, and I want to go beyond what my course teaches. Is there any way by which I can learn a lot(I know I have to put a lot of work, of course, but i feel that I have no one to guide me, at least at this point of my life), I mean what books do I have to study and how do I study them to get a great knowledge of Physics.
Can someone guide me through my productive years of my life?
Thanks in advance.

P.S.:I dream of becoming a theoretical physicist or maybe an astrophysicist.

 

[jedishrfu]

There is a series of articles on this site by Zapperz about studying to become a physicist that would be worth your while to read:

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/so-you-want-to-be-a-physicist-22-part-guide.240792/

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

You master something by studying and practicing. Just that simple :)

It was a common thought that to become a master you needed 10k hours of practice. That is now debatable.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...dwell-expertise-practice-debate-intelligence/

 

[Hiero]

There are many great books and resources you will find if you search (almost overwhelming in fact) but all this depends on particular topics/ideas/etc.

As a general tip though, I would say, find (or create) a source of problems which challenge (and presumably interest) you. There are many problems which you cannot yet understand. There many problems which are trivial to you. The goal is to find the sweet spot between - the problems which you can't immediately solve, but almost can - and think about those.

 

[ajay.05]

There is a series of articles on this site by Zapperz about studying to become a physicist that would be worth your while to read:

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/so-you-want-to-be-a-physicist-22-part-guide.240792/

Great link, Thank you

 

[ajay.05]

You master something by studying and practicing. Just that simple :)

It was a common thought that to become a master you needed 10k hours of practice. That is now debatable.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...dwell-expertise-practice-debate-intelligence/

Greg, I'm ready to work and practice a lot, as I have said in my question. But the problem is, I don't know how do I go about this. I don't want to put my work blindly everywhere. I just wanted some path where can I go, so that I get a good deal of knowledge about this subject. I thought that it would be better if I get some guidance from someone who has already gone through all these things.

 

[ajay.05]

There are many great books and resources you will find if you search (almost overwhelming in fact) but all this depends on particular topics/ideas/etc.

As a general tip though, I would say, find (or create) a source of problems which challenge (and presumably interest) you. There are many problems which you cannot yet understand. There many problems which are trivial to you. The goal is to find the sweet spot between - the problems which you can't immediately solve, but almost can - and think about those.

Wow, Thank you Hiero
But, can you suggest me any good source? I mean is the source a book or do I have to create the source myself?

 

[Hiero]

But, can you suggest me any good source? I mean is the source a book or do I have to create the source myself?

Yes books are the main source of ideas and problems. By "create a source of problems" what I meant is that in addition to doing book-problems, it is also good to think of your own problems. (It may be difficult to do this early in your education, but as you learn more, it should happen naturally.)

Specific sources depend on what subject you want to learn (and to what depth / with what prerequisite knowledge).

I just wanted to emphasize that physicists are problem solvers. If you read a physics book but cannot solve most of the problems in that book, then you've probably wasted your time reading that book.

 

[russ_watters]

I am really interested in physics and I've joined a university for my Under Grad Physics course, and I want to go beyond what my course teaches. Is there any way by which I can learn a lot(I know I have to put a lot of work, of course, but i feel that I have no one to guide me, at least at this point of my life), I mean what books do I have to study and how do I study them to get a great knowledge of Physics.

I don't understand: you are already enrolled in a physics curriculum in college, but you want to do additional studying on your own? Why? You have the resources available to you, so why would you not just use more of them? E.g., if your courses are too easy and you find you have too much free time, just take more of them until all of your time is filled!