[HN Gopher] How to Learn Physics/Math?
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How to Learn Physics/Math?
What are the best methods you have found to learn physics and math?
Author : ecodogmoo
Score : 11 points
Date : 2022-02-25 20:22 UTC (2 hours ago)
| alsaaro wrote:
| You should learn physics and math by solving problems in text
| books.
|
| Don't expect to read the text and learn, as if you were digesting
| a short story or a news article, you have to learn by doing.
|
| There are physics books that a famous because they teach you how
| to think in physics or in mathematics, but have abridged or non-
| existent problem sections, I would defocus these books from your
| curriculum.
|
| In fact, you probably shouldn't even read the books or even watch
| any youtube lectures, just try and solve problems and if you
| don't understand the material only then consult the text/youtube.
| adamnemecek wrote:
| Any particular area you are interested in?
| vlmutolo wrote:
| Start with the basics and spend a ton of time with them. Try not
| to move on until you're very solid on the fundamentals of a
| particular topic. Moving on too early is by far the most common
| root cause of the problems math and physics students have
| learning.
|
| Do as many problems as you can. Assume you don't understand
| something until you've done lots and lots of practice problems.
| "Math is not a spectator sport." I think that's from "How to
| Solve It". It holds true for physics.
|
| If there's a specific level or topic in math/physics you're
| looking to learn, post it and people will probably be able to
| give you a good recommendation for a book.
|
| Also, if you're not extraordinarily comfortable with algebra
| (manipulating equations, basic trig identities, log and exponent
| identities), go back and start there. Everything is so much
| easier with that skill under your belt.
| colbyhub wrote:
| For what it's worth, I've heard people have good success with:
| https://brilliant.org/ (not affiliated)
|
| It's highly interactive and engaging, which helps it feel less
| dry!
| regularperson25 wrote:
| I think key to be good at math/physics is good memory, try
| improving that the best you can. And then a lot of practice, also
| you need to base that with fundamental logical thinking.
| philosophy is good for that
| [deleted]
| he11ow wrote:
| There aren't really shortcuts, the long way is the short way.
|
| Consider signing up at a local academic institution, many will
| accept payment by modules rather than for an entire degree.
| Jtsummers wrote:
| If it's a big enough school, you can probably sit in on the
| year 1 or year 2 lectures without anyone asking for an ID, too.
| If you aren't interested in credentials, this would get you up
| to "novice" level in math and physics without much trouble.
| Year 3 and 4 lectures would be too small for you to reliably go
| unnoticed. Smaller institutions will also catch you earlier.
|
| Of course, you won't get feedback with this approach. At least
| not easily, as you won't have an assigned TA and they'll notice
| if you start showing up to office hours.
| Koshkin wrote:
| You'd think that the best method has changed because of internet.
| Despite many excellent videos, say, on Youtube, the best method,
| by far, I think is still books. (Of course, if you want to become
| a professional, then you have to go to school.)
| Jtsummers wrote:
| The _best_ method is to find a teacher or teachers who can
| provide you guidance and feedback. Short that, engage with
| experts (directly, or indirectly by finding their writings and
| talks) to find out what they think is an appropriate way to learn
| their areas of expertise (that doesn 't involve them directly
| teaching you) and the background areas.
|
| For instance, John Baez has this:
| https://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/books.html
|
| I wouldn't just take his word for the recommended background
| reading, but take that set of resources and see what others have
| to say about them. Maybe they have alternative suggestions ("X is
| a good book, but has a poor set of exercises. Consider Y as an
| alternative or supplement. Z is a poorly written book because...
| consider ..."). Find multiple sources like this and build out a
| study list.
|
| Go to things like MIT's OpenCourseWare which offer a more
| complete set of information on the college course curricula
| (versus the relatively incomplete set of information on most
| actual university course websites). Work through the courses in,
| generally, the same order the students would be expected to (as
| most later courses are founded on the earlier ones, jumping ahead
| isn't terribly easy).
|
| Khan Academy (http://khanacademy.org) is commonly recommended
| here, I've never gone through it though so can't comment beyond
| that. They started off with just math material but have branched
| out since then. Mostly at the K-12 level and pushing into
| undergraduate level material.
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