What books should I get? Physics and Chem

[DasHimmel]

Hey I am 12 and my age limitations means nobody takes me seriously. So I am asking those who know what they are doing what books to get. I am teaching myself Physics and Chemistry, but at the current age I am at means the schools and programs do not teach me what is necessary to learn Physics and chemistry. So I am asking you, what books do I get to learn the skills I need and what would you recommend?

 

[Bystander]

That's a pretty broad question. What sort of books are there on the shelves in the library, and which are too deep or too trivial for you? You have to have looked at a few, and if you give us an idea, it will make it a bit easier to gauge what you can handle.

 

[Quantum Defect]

Hey I am 12 and my age limitations means nobody takes me seriously. So I am asking those who know what they are doing what books to get. I am teaching myself Physics and Chemistry, but at the current age I am at means the schools and programs do not teach me what is necessary to learn Physics and chemistry. So I am asking you, what books do I get to learn the skills I need and what would you recommend?

A good chemistry textbook is the classic high school textbook ("Chemistry an Experimental Science") created for the CHEMSTUDY project. It is kind of dated, but I think the pedagogy is very good. The Lawrence Hall of Science has the textbook, teacher's guide, laboratory manual, a lot of the films, etc. available on-line.

http://lhs01.lhs.berkeley.edu/a/CHEM_Study
https://archive.org/details/CHEMStudy

 

[DasHimmel]

That's a pretty broad question. What sort of books are there on the shelves in the library, and which are too deep or too trivial for you? You have to have looked at a few, and if you give us an idea, it will make it a bit easier to gauge what you can handle.

Well, I currently have the Princeton Review AP physics and chemistry 2015 and I will get more with recommendations from people and I need to learn Algebra and calculus from the start as our school systems in the US sort of suck. They don't teach the correct history or skills to learn. But I come from a strong heritage of all sciences such as the ********* *******, and my mothers side is chemistry and biology. I am only awaiting preferences from those who have knowledge in this

 

[Bystander]

Princeton Review AP physics and chemistry 2015

Good a place to start as any. Work your way into that, see what's missing, and fill in the gaps as they appear.

 

[DasHimmel]

Alright thanks any preferences for calculus and algebra? hopefully won't need trig until later

 

[Bystander]

Sequence there is algebra, trig., geometry, then calculus. Algebra books to start? Mom got any of her old textbooks?

 

[DasHimmel]

I can get any book just tell me where to start, and sadly no she doesnt

 

[Bystander]

What I would suggest for initial browsing, not commitment of money yet, is to hit the math and science section at whatever your favorite local bookstore happens to be, and look for Dover reprints of expired copyrights titled "Introductory/Elementary" algebra. The older the first publishing date, the better --- you don't strike me as being terribly impressed with public schools these days. If there's a used book store, you might find some textbooks dating from 50s or 60s, anything older is going to be on acid paper and falling apart. One title/author to look for, Klaf, written a number of "refreshers" that could almost stand alone as textbooks, at least for arithmetic, algebra, and trig..

 

[DasHimmel]

alright sounds good thanks for the help

 

[bolbteppa]

It'd be a good idea to watch these 52 episodes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mechanical_Universe
free online before you do anything else, they are free easy intro to calculus and physics from the ground up with awesome music and visuals, if you're still up for studying the subject properly after these post back here :)

 

[DasHimmel]

seems to be a problem actually getting the videos.. on youtube it's all spanish and on the websites its to pay for.

 

[Quantum Defect]

What I would suggest for initial browsing, not commitment of money yet, is to hit the math and science section at whatever your favorite local bookstore happens to be, and look for Dover reprints of expired copyrights titled "Introductory/Elementary" algebra. The older the first publishing date, the better --- you don't strike me as being terribly impressed with public schools these days. If there's a used book store, you might find some textbooks dating from 50s or 60s, anything older is going to be on acid paper and falling apart. One title/author to look for, Klaf, written a number of "refreshers" that could almost stand alone as textbooks, at least for arithmetic, algebra, and trig..

I second Dover for getting good, low-priced books with lapsed copyrights. In a similar vein is Googlebooks and Project Gutenberg, for older books with lapsed copyrights -- you can get the whole enchilada, instead of the few tantalizing peeks inside that Google allows for books still under copyright protection.

abebooks.com is an international network of used book sellers. You can usually find very good prices on lots of used science books.

 

[bolbteppa]

seems to be a problem actually getting the videos.. on youtube it's all spanish and on the websites its to pay for.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEQzYNbLE4MdEKYb5aYbxbA/videos

 

[DasHimmel]

ok thank you all sorry for the delay on my part

 

[CalcNerd]

You can also look at buying REA study guides in the subject you want. Bystander gave you the typical order of tackling math. REA study guides are very good at presenting the problems and then providing a step by step solution which is MOST important for the self taught individual who had little to no assistance from others. You state both parents are well educated so they can help you with the basics. You might also consider cheap used textbooks, one or two editions older than the current versions. These are often cheap too.