Advice for Self-Studying Math and Science

[KYPOWERLIFTER]

Edit: Egad! I misspelled the title, fitting. . . uh, make that "Stream" of consciousness.

Not to be a bore. . .

I have, of late, become rather obsessed with the science(s). (I guess it depends on one's epistemic commitments as to it being physics or a subset, or individual hard sciences.) It is far too late to do anything with it as a career- I'm a month from 43- nevertheless the thirst is there.

I spent most of my adult life engaged in powerlifting, indeed obsessed with it.

I attended university and received my degree (summa) in philosophy; I had planned on law school but never made it. (A 300 pound philosophy student ) Even then, I became interested in physics but lacked a mathematics background; nevertheless, I took a couple of semesters of entry level physics courses and an astronomy course. I actually took a statistics & probability class, along with college algebra and trigonometry. . . but that was and is it.

So now, I endeavor to refresh the algebra and trig skills and then move forward with calculus. Thus allowing for improvements in general physics and chemistry or perhaps chemistry is included in the physics:rofl: That said, my main interests will be in electricity and inorganic chem.

My library was extensive but a separation from my wife has all but eliminated it. However, as with everyone, I have all I need in ebooks. I use a textbook or two that I have here and I have found a couple of websites that provide tutorials that I use daily, one on college algebra, the other on trig. I have been using the lectures at MIT, Dr. Ceyer and Dr. Lewin. At the learnerstv.com site I find lots of help, also.

Well, finally I have reached the question: Is there any specific resource(s) or site(s) that anyone would recommend, for learning the subjects outlined? Is there any specific study pattern or order of operation that you would advise?

Thanks in advance

 

[zoobyshoe]

A tad longwinded, but way too coherent to be accurately called a stream of consciousness.

 

[KYPOWERLIFTER]

A moribund tome?

Wish me luck!

 

[berkeman]

Do you have a university nearby? You could browse the books in their bookstore, and ask the helpful folks there for advice on a good basic math book. I like to go to the Stanford bookstore when I can. Well, except that I end up buying way too many books when I go, but whatever.

Definitely look through the books before picking what to buy. Especially if there are several different books available for a subject, there will generally be different teaching styles in each, and you may see that you prefer a particular style for your self-study. Definitely pick books that have the answers to half of the questions (often the odd ones) in the back of the book, so that you can check that you are doing the problems correctly.

Have fun!