I want to learn Physics But I'm 13

[mathwonk]

when i was about your age i enjoyed lincoln barnett's book: the universe and dr einstein.

when my son was your age he enjoyed "thinking physics" i believe, by lewis carroll epstein.

 

[^_^physicist]

In 7th grade I was given both Beyond Einstein and Hyperspace. Both excellent books (it's written by a string theorist, so portions of it are psedoscience), and both give an excellent overview of the importance, development, and use of modern physics. Plus it is always nice to receive a small mind exercise in visualization.

After you have had your fill of pop-sci, I would suggest going to a local technical bookstore, or going to http://www.powells.com/subsection/PhysicsTextbooks.html and take a look around.

Also putting around amazon.com or your local college/university library (heck, even your standard public library-as many of them have introduction level texts) could also give you a hand.

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When you are comfortable with trig, solving equations for particular variables, and can deal with quadratics take the time to get a college level intro book and play around with the problems for a while.


If you want more problems to work with pick up a Physics GRE study book or Schaum's Outlines for physics.



Good luck

 

[ice109]

In 7th grade I was given both Beyond Einstein and Hyperspace. Both excellent books (it's written by a string theorist, so portions of it are psedoscience), and both give an excellent overview of the importance, development, and use of modern physics. Plus it is always nice to receive a small mind exercise in visualization.

After you have had your fill of pop-sci, I would suggest going to a local technical bookstore, or going to http://www.powells.com/subsection/PhysicsTextbooks.html and take a look around.

Also putting around amazon.com or your local college/university library (heck, even your standard public library-as many of them have introduction level texts) could also give you a hand.

--------

When you are comfortable with trig, solving equations for particular variables, and can deal with quadratics take the time to get a college level intro book and play around with the problems for a while.


If you want more problems to work with pick up a Physics GRE study book or Schaum's Outlines for physics.



Good luck

hyperspace is seriously incomprehensible. i must've read it in high school, and i don't remember anything from it. all pop sci books are very pretty and very tempting but they're really really bad for learning anything. it would be the same thing as flipping through a real physics textbook and reading the captions under the pictures that aren't diagrams.

 

[Daverz]

Prof. E. McSquared's Calculus Primer. It's a calculus primer in comicstrip format. Hope the OP won't find that condescending; I remember it as being a lot of fun.

Also, Gravity by George Gamow.

 

[SpitfireAce]

"They did spur my imagination and whet my appetite for physics"

that is the most important thing... he has to learn the beauty of physics in order to motivate himself to study "real" math and physics... or he'll just drop it and find another hobby, unless he's one those weirdos who like doing calculations for the hell of it

 

[genneth]

"They did spur my imagination and whet my appetite for physics"

that is the most important thing... he has to learn the beauty of physics in order to motivate himself to study "real" math and physics... or he'll just drop it and find another hobby, unless he's one those weirdos who like doing calculations for the hell of it

Heh! We're people too!

*Mutters about collapsing a wavefunction and seeing how you'd like it*