What chapters can I skip when self-studying Griffiths electrodynamics?

[Orodruin]

Have you tried leonard susskinds Quantum mechanics - the theoretical minimum?

For studying classical electrodynamics?

 

[malawi_glenn]

For studying electrodynamics?

I thought he was also using Griffiths for QM and wanted an alternative to the QM book?

His QM book is on the other hand REALLY BAD, but I find no alternative at my level so I'm kinda stuck with it.

 

[Orodruin]

I guess the title confused me …

 

[malawi_glenn]

I guess the title confused me …

It is often said that Griffiths QM book confuses students, perhaps it is related to that?

 

[Frabjous]

Junior level classical mechanics, quantum mechanics and e&m are the foundations of the physics degrees. Skipping things here is risky.

That being said, if you are getting relativity someone else …

You might try Zwiebach for quantum. It has the advantage of the MIT opencourseware lectures.
https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/mastering-quantum-mechanics

 

[martinbn]

You might try Zwiebach for quantum. It has the advantage of the MIT opencourseware lectures.
https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/mastering-quantum-mechanics

I think he wants to shorten the number of pages to read. Zwiebach seems to go the other way.

 

[jasonRF]

If you already covered all of the chapters in Purcell, then you will find a fair amount of overlap with Griffiths. If it were me and I wanted to skip a couple of chapters, I would skip the ones about fields in media since Purcell has reasonable coverage of those. On the other hand I would definitely not skip the chapters on waves, conservation theorems, radiation and special relativity. Purcell skips a lot of that material or treats it in a way I found more confusing.

And by “cover” i mean read the chapters and solved some number of problems in the book.

 

[vanhees71]

Concerning relativity Purcell confused me more than it helped. I think Griffiths is a much better book anyway.

 

[CrysPhys]

The question was just me making sure to be economical and not be spending time on things generally skipped in college, because I only have 2 years left. So do I have to read an entire book for each remaining subject?

<<Emphasis added.>> This thread has forked into different paths. But I believe this is your underlying question.

It's been many moons since I was in school. But as far as I can remember, the professor typically did not go over the textbook from cover to cover. This even applied to several courses in which the professor wrote or co-wrote the textbook.

Often a textbook includes more material than can be covered in a one-semester course, or even a two-semester sequence. Often a textbook includes material that is not relevant to a department's particular curriculum (which may change over time), or contains material that is covered in a different course using a different textbook (which may change over time). On the flip side, often the professor supplements the primary textbook with portions from other textbooks, or from his own notes.

So my advice to you is what I wrote previously: There are many university websites describing details of their courses. Check those out as guides for your self-study. They likely won't all agree in their entirety. But there will be topics with high overlap.

 

[malawi_glenn]

There are many university websites describing details of their courses. Check those out as guides for your self-study.

MIT Electromagnetism II, fall 2012 for instance:
https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/8-07-electromagnetism-ii-fall-2012/pages/calendar/

 

[CrysPhys]

MIT Electromagnetism II, fall 2012 for instance:
https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/8-07-electromagnetism-ii-fall-2012/pages/calendar/

I already referenced that above in my Reply #10. But I would encourage the OP to take a sampling of other universities. In the context of online resources, there are frequent references to MIT because of their extensive OpenCourseWare and because, well, it's MIT. But important caveat: Their course presentation in many instances is atypical, which isn't surprising since it's not a typical university.

 

[Orodruin]

But as far as I can remember, the professor typically did not go over the textbook from cover to cover. This even applied to several courses in which the professor wrote or co-wrote the textbook.

Example: I use different parts of my book as the main reference in three different courses.

 

[Harikesh_33]

I think Griffiths electrodynamics is fantastic and not all that sloppy. His QM book is on the other hand REALLY BAD, but I find no alternative at my level so I'm kinda stuck with it.

You can try Quantum Theory by David Bohm