[HN Gopher] Computational Physics (2nd Edition)
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       Computational Physics (2nd Edition)
        
       Author : teleforce
       Score  : 84 points
       Date   : 2026-04-05 15:38 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (websites.umich.edu)
 (TXT) w3m dump (websites.umich.edu)
        
       | vectorcrumb wrote:
       | Could somebody provide some opinion on the book and/or
       | accompanying course?
        
         | braedonwatkins wrote:
         | I read most of the 1st edition (busy), I'm sure it hasn't
         | changed much to the 2nd. I would say it's rather good at an
         | introductory level to the subject!
         | 
         | It definitely targets physics undergrads who have never
         | programmed so if that's not you then you may feel friction
         | during some chapters. If, like me, you are much more developed
         | in programming than physics you might just want to do the
         | exercises in the first few chapters to check your knowledge and
         | move on to the good bits.
         | 
         | If you're looking for something more rigorous I would bet
         | [Numerical Recipes](https://numerical.recipes/) is better (I
         | haven't read it but I want to; see "busy").
        
       | HexDecOctBin wrote:
       | What physics do I need to know to follow this book?
        
         | mapt wrote:
         | > Exercises by chapter
         | 
         | Click on a chapter to download:
         | 
         | Chapter 2: Python programming for physicists
         | 
         | Chapter 3: Graphics and visualization
         | 
         | Chapter 4: Accuracy and speed
         | 
         | Chapter 5: Integrals and derivatives
         | 
         | Chapter 6: Solution of linear and nonlinear equations
         | 
         | Chapter 7: Fourier transforms
         | 
         | Chapter 8: Ordinary differential equations
         | 
         | Chapter 9: Partial differential equations
         | 
         | Chapter 10: Random processes and Monte Carlo methods
         | 
         | Chapter 11: Data science
        
         | griffzhowl wrote:
         | Looks like not much. The book is about using Python to
         | implement numerical methods, mainly about teaching the Python
         | part, and that's all explained. You might be missing motivation
         | if you don't know any physics, but even so, basic mechanics
         | using differential equations seems to be enough to give
         | context, at least for the earlier parts
        
         | kordlessagain wrote:
         | Weber's Electrodynamics.
        
       | ktallett wrote:
       | I did a few courses across academic years that were based around
       | this book and it's very handy skills to learn. Whilst perhaps not
       | in the moment, it's a good introduction to implementing functions
       | and equations, before you lead on to the next steps of specific
       | functions and methods of analysis alongside hpc with
       | parallelization.
        
       | ninjahawk1 wrote:
       | good book
        
       | friendlyasparag wrote:
       | I took Mark Newman's course some years ago. It was fantastic!
       | Geared at sophomore/ junior year physics major -- someone who had
       | completed the basic intro sequence. I am sure this book is also
       | great.
        
       | lkm0 wrote:
       | The matplotlib chapter seems fairly barebones but I remain in awe
       | at this gorgeous latex work
        
         | emil-lp wrote:
         | Isn't it a pretty standard book/memoir template?
         | 
         | He could have invested in a Python syntax highlighter. I use
         | _minted_ , myself, but I'm sure there are many alternatives.
        
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