Is a joint-honours (Mathematics and Physics) necessary?

[merlinisproof]

Hi,
I have begun looking at universities and possible courses ( i live in the uk if that is relevant), and i have always wanted to do physics at uni. The problem is I can't decide if I want to do Physics by itself or Physics and Maths as a degree.
I think the reason is that i am not sure how "mathematical" ordinary physics courses are, and I want to make sure I have a really solid understanding of Maths.
So is there any point in sacrificing much of the physics I could be learning in order to have a better knowledge of the mathematics? Or is the maths taught in Single physics enough to get me through most careers which rely heavily on physics? ( If I were able to I would love to go into research)

 

[dx]

Unless you want to go into theoretical physics, I don't think it's necessary.

 

[fasterthanjoao]

I'm also in the UK and coming to the end of my physics/astrophysics degree this year. Sometimes I wish I took more maths classes, but the realisation I came to was that there isn't any physics courses I'd have substituted. If I were you, I wouldn't worry about having good maths through a physics degree - you'll be taught all the maths you need to know along the way.

The one thing that I would recommend, however, is that you make sure to keep up on math work - you'll no doubt have 'math for physicists' type courses - make sure you know how to do everything covered in these inside out early on in the degree so that when you're faced with applications in physics classes you can spend the time comprehending the physics instead of wondering how to intergrate or use vector calculus.