Studying What textbooks should I consider for my upcoming birthday?

  • Thread starter Thread starter alexhenderson
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Textbook
AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers around a user, Alex, who has made significant progress in various physics and mathematics topics, including integration, differentiation, and Newtonian dynamics. Alex is working on a theoretical model to develop an orbit using real values for Earth's mass, the sun's mass, and the gravitational constant, focusing on updating position, velocity, and acceleration over time. With a birthday approaching, Alex seeks recommendations for new textbooks, expressing interest in differential equations (DE), linear algebra, and trigonometry. Suggestions include Boyce and DiPrima for DE, which is practical but not highly rigorous, and Vladimir Arnold's book for a more theoretical approach. For linear algebra, Axler's "Linear Algebra Done Right" and Hoffman and Kunze's text are recommended for their formal rigor.
alexhenderson
Messages
28
Reaction score
0
Hello Physicsforums,

Some of you may know me from my previous thread "how to thrive at an early age" and I have made much progress. Techniques of integration, differentiation, Newtonian dynamics, functions and limits, energy physics. I am also working on a system of trying to theoretically develop an orbit using the real values of the Earth's mass, sun's mass, and the gravitational constant. Updating acceleration, velocity, x and y positions, for each time delta of one day. And using vectors, force equations, and equations to update the x and y comps of : position, velocity, and acceleration. Thank you for the advice.

My birthday is coming up, and I am looking at getting some new textbooks. I have University Physics 13th Addition with Modern Physics, and Calculus 4th edition by Spivak. I was interested in getting a DE's textbook, linear algebra textbook, or maybe a trig textbook might be helpful. Suggestions are pleased.

Thanks,
Alex.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
hi there. for DE you might have heard of boyce and diprima. while it is not the most rigorous book, it does give you a pretty good grounding in the techniques for solving DEs. if you do want a treatment that focuses more on understanding then i suggest vladimir arnold's ordinary differential equations. although i have not read arnold's book, i heard it provides a great exposition on the theoretical aspects of DE. to fully understand it, you may need to be acquainted with some analysis and modern algebra.

for linear algebra, i have heard that axler's linear algebra done right is a good choice. hoffman and kunze is also a standard pick although it may be a bit dry. both are formal and rigorous in their presentation.
 
Hey, I am Andreas from Germany. I am currently 35 years old and I want to relearn math and physics. This is not one of these regular questions when it comes to this matter. So... I am very realistic about it. I know that there are severe contraints when it comes to selfstudy compared to a regular school and/or university (structure, peers, teachers, learning groups, tests, access to papers and so on) . I will never get a job in this field and I will never be taken serious by "real"...
Yesterday, 9/5/2025, when I was surfing, I found an article The Schwarzschild solution contains three problems, which can be easily solved - Journal of King Saud University - Science ABUNDANCE ESTIMATION IN AN ARID ENVIRONMENT https://jksus.org/the-schwarzschild-solution-contains-three-problems-which-can-be-easily-solved/ that has the derivation of a line element as a corrected version of the Schwarzschild solution to Einstein’s field equation. This article's date received is 2022-11-15...
Back
Top