Teach Yourself Physics


Book Description

This is a handbook containing all the advice and recommendations about learning physics I wished someone had told me when I was younger. It is neither a career guide nor a comprehensive textbook. What’s inside? - Understand why self-learning is an effective strategy. Learn why most university students never develop a deep understanding and what alternatives are possible. - Grasp the internal structure of physics. Learn how the fundamental theories of physics are connected and why physics works at all. - Develop an understanding of the landscape. Read bird's eye overviews that give a first taste of what the various theories of physics are all about. - Everything you need to get started. Read detailed reading and learning recommendations that allow you to carve out a personal learning path.




Basic Physics


Book Description

This reissued version of the classic text Basic Physics will help teachers at both the high-school and college levels gain new insights into, and deeper understanding of, many topics in both classical and modern physics that are commonly taught in introductory physics courses. All of the original book is included with new content added. Short sections of the previous book (174 in number) are labeled 'Features.' These Features are highlighted in the book, set forth in a separate Table of Contents, and separately indexed.Many teachers will value this book as a personal reference during a teaching year as various topics are addressed. Ford's discussions of the history and meaning of topics from Newton's mechanics to Feynman's diagrams, although written first in 1968, have beautifully withstood the test of time and are fully relevant to 21st-century physics teaching.




The Theoretical Minimum


Book Description

A master teacher presents the ultimate introduction to classical mechanics for people who are serious about learning physics "Beautifully clear explanations of famously 'difficult' things," -- Wall Street Journal If you ever regretted not taking physics in college -- or simply want to know how to think like a physicist -- this is the book for you. In this bestselling introduction to classical mechanics, physicist Leonard Susskind and hacker-scientist George Hrabovsky offer a first course in physics and associated math for the ardent amateur. Challenging, lucid, and concise, The Theoretical Minimum provides a tool kit for amateur scientists to learn physics at their own pace.




Quantum


Book Description

'This is about gob-smacking science at the far end of reason ... Take it nice and easy and savour the experience of your mind being blown without recourse to hallucinogens' Nicholas Lezard, Guardian For most people, quantum theory is a byword for mysterious, impenetrable science. And yet for many years it was equally baffling for scientists themselves. In this magisterial book, Manjit Kumar gives a dramatic and superbly-written history of this fundamental scientific revolution, and the divisive debate at its core. Quantum theory looks at the very building blocks of our world, the particles and processes without which it could not exist. Yet for 60 years most physicists believed that quantum theory denied the very existence of reality itself. In this tour de force of science history, Manjit Kumar shows how the golden age of physics ignited the greatest intellectual debate of the twentieth century. Quantum theory is weird. In 1905, Albert Einstein suggested that light was a particle, not a wave, defying a century of experiments. Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and Erwin Schrodinger's famous dead-and-alive cat are similarly strange. As Niels Bohr said, if you weren't shocked by quantum theory, you didn't really understand it. While "Quantum" sets the science in the context of the great upheavals of the modern age, Kumar's centrepiece is the conflict between Einstein and Bohr over the nature of reality and the soul of science. 'Bohr brainwashed a whole generation of physicists into believing that the problem had been solved', lamented the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Murray Gell-Mann. But in "Quantum", Kumar brings Einstein back to the centre of the quantum debate. "Quantum" is the essential read for anyone fascinated by this complex and thrilling story and by the band of brilliant men at its heart.




A PhD Is Not Enough!


Book Description

Everything you ever need to know about making it as a scientist. Despite your graduate education, brainpower, and technical prowess, your career in scientific research is far from assured. Permanent positions are scarce, science survival is rarely part of formal graduate training, and a good mentor is hard to find. In A Ph.D. Is Not Enough!, physicist Peter J. Feibelman lays out a rational path to a fulfilling long-term research career. He offers sound advice on selecting a thesis or postdoctoral adviser; choosing among research jobs in academia, government laboratories, and industry; preparing for an employment interview; and defining a research program. The guidance offered in A Ph.D. Is Not Enough! will help you make your oral presentations more effective, your journal articles more compelling, and your grant proposals more successful. A classic guide for recent and soon-to-be graduates, A Ph.D. Is Not Enough! remains required reading for anyone on the threshold of a career in science. This new edition includes two new chapters and is revised and updated throughout to reflect how the revolution in electronic communication has transformed the field.




Fundamentals of Physics


Book Description

This book arms engineers with the tools to apply key physics concepts in the field. A number of the key figures in the new edition are revised to provide a more inviting and informative treatment. The figures are broken into component parts with supporting commentary so that they can more readily see the key ideas. Material from The Flying Circus is incorporated into the chapter opener puzzlers, sample problems, examples and end-of-chapter problems to make the subject more engaging. Checkpoints enable them to check their understanding of a question with some reasoning based on the narrative or sample problem they just read. Sample Problems also demonstrate how engineers can solve problems with reasoned solutions. INCLUDES PARTS 1-4 PART 5 IN FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICS, EXTENDED




Physics: A complete Introduction


Book Description

Physics does not have to be daunting. This book, complete with practice questions and answers, forms a course which will take you from beginner or intermediate level to having a confident grasp of physics. The book includes: simple step-by-step explanations, to help you grasp new topics or those that have previously confused you; practice questions throughout, to help you embed your learning and improve your confidence; and end of chapter summaries to help you remember the key points you've learnt - all in one great-value book, so you don't need any separate workbooks or course books. Chapters include: Starting physics, motion, forces in action, thermal physics, engines and thermodynamics, electricity, the nature of light, materials and molecules, quantum theory and relativity, the structure of matter, nuclear energy, space and the universe, and the frontiers of physics. The Complete Introduction series from Teach Yourself is the ultimate one-stop guide for anyone wanting a comprehensive and accessible entry point into subjects as diverse as philosophy, mathematics, psychology, economics and practical electronics. Loved by students and perfect for general readers who simply want to learn more about the world around them, these books are your first choice for discovering something new.




An Introduction to Mechanics


Book Description

A classic textbook on the principles of Newtonian mechanics for undergraduate students, accompanied by numerous worked examples and problems.




Science Of Learning Physics, The: Cognitive Strategies For Improving Instruction


Book Description

This book on the teaching and learning of physics is intended for college-level instructors, but high school instructors might also find it very useful.Some ideas found in this book might be a small 'tweak' to existing practices whereas others require more substantial revisions to instruction. The discussions of student learning herein are based on research evidence accumulated over decades from various fields, including cognitive psychology, educational psychology, the learning sciences, and discipline-based education research including physics education research. Likewise, the teaching suggestions are also based on research findings. As for any other scientific endeavor, physics education research is an empirical field where experiments are performed, data are analyzed and conclusions drawn. Evidence from such research is then used to inform physics teaching and learning.While the focus here is on introductory physics taken by most students when they are enrolled, however, the ideas can also be used to improve teaching and learning in both upper-division undergraduate physics courses, as well as graduate-level courses. Whether you are new to teaching physics or a seasoned veteran, various ideas and strategies presented in the book will be suitable for active consideration.




No-Nonsense Classical Mechanics


Book Description

Learning classical mechanics doesn’t have to be hard What if there was a way to learn classical mechanics without all the usual fluff? What if there were a book that allowed you to see the whole picture and not just tiny parts of it? Thoughts like this are the reason that No-Nonsense Classical Mechanics now exists. What will you learn from this book? Get to know all fundamental mechanics concepts — Grasp why we can describe classical mechanics using the Lagrangian formalism, the Newtonian formalism, or the Hamiltonian formalism and how these frameworks are connected.Learn to describe classical mechanics mathematically — Understand the meaning and origin of the most important equations: Newton's second law, the Euler-Lagrange equation and Hamilton's equations.Master the most important classical mechanics systems — Read fully annotated, step-by-step calculations and understand the general algorithm we use to describe them.Get an understanding you can be proud of — Learn about beautiful and deep insights like Noether's theorem or Liouville's theorem and how classical mechanics emerges in a proper limit of special relativity, quantum mechanics and general relativity. No-Nonsense Classical Mechanics is the most student-friendly book on classical nechanics ever written. Here’s why. First of all, it's is nothing like a formal university lecture. Instead, it’s like a casual conservation with a more experienced student. This also means that nothing is assumed to be “obvious” or “easy to see”.Each chapter, each section, and each page focuses solely on the goal to help you understand. Nothing is introduced without a thorough motivation and it is always clear where each equation comes from.The book contains no fluff since unnecessary content quickly leads to confusion. Instead, it ruthlessly focuses on the fundamentals and makes sure you’ll understand them in detail. The primary focus on the readers’ needs is also visible in dozens of small features that you won’t find in any other textbook In total, the book contains more than 100 illustrations that help you understand the most important concepts visually. In each chapter, you’ll find fully annotated equations and calculations are done carefully step-by-step. This makes it much easier to understand what’s going on in.Whenever a concept is used that was already introduced previously there is a short sidenote that reminds you where it was first introduced and often recites the main points. In addition, there are summaries at the beginning of each chapter that make sure you won’t get lost.