How to become a quality physicist?

[quantumfireball]

How to become a quality physicist?

Hi I am a 21 year old male.
Im studying in final year of electronics engineering.
However my true love is theoretical physics.
I read a lot of graduate level physics textbooks however i can digest very little.
as a result of which i have become extremely inefficient.
could anyone give me some tips to learn physics very effieciently and at the same
time develope a very deep understanding of theoretical physics?

 

[trinitron]

Learn the math first, and use quality textbooks.

 

[kanzure]

Try Gerard ’t Hooft - how to become a theoretical physicist and my http://heybryan.org/bookmarks/Howto_physicist_July07.html with tons of links to resources on the internet for each of the topics.

- Bryan

 

[RonL]

Thanks Bryan, for two great looking links.
I have started a folder for things to study, and with help from this forum, hope to connect a lot of loose ends involving things i have learned from some study, and things i know from hands on use of all sorts of mechanical tools, and equipment, of which i have used, maintained, and repaired.
At age 65, it is never too late to learn how to get the answers to questions i have had for many years. Having obtained many college textbooks, and other references, the task seems overwhelming but with the internet and all the quick link transfer options, my sofa can now have room for someone to set on it.
Thanks again

Ron

 

[arunma]

This may sound weird, but I wouldn't be so quick to discount basic, freshman level calculus-based physics textbooks. Graduate level physics textbooks can be a bit challenging. I often don't fully understand them, and I'm a graduate student! But the introductory level calculus-based texts tend to do a much better job explaining the concepts, while still offering some level of mathematical treatment. They won't fully explain the theory to you, but they'll give you the tools you need to read the more advanced textbooks. In my senior year of college I often referred to my freshman text when studying for my optics final. And even as a graduate student, I often find myself referring to my students' introductory textbook to understand material that I haven't covered for years (then comes the task of pretending that I'm competent to teach it to them).

Ultimately, I think that reading a basic level text and understanding everything is far better than reading a graduate level text and being thoroughly confused. If you're like me, you end up wanting to punch the author in the face for all the grief he's put you through!