Teach Yourself Physics PDF
Preview Teach Yourself Physics
THE GOAL SHOULD BE, NOT TO IMPLANT IN THE STU- DENTS’ MIND EVERY FACT THAT THE TEACHER KNOWS NOW; BUT RATHER TO IMPLANT A WAY OF THINKING THAT ENABLES THE STUDENT, IN THE FUTURE, TO LEARN IN ONE YEAR WHAT THE TEACHER LEARNED IN TWO YEARS. ONLY IN THAT WAY CAN WE CONTINUE TO ADVANCE FROM ONE GENERATION TO THE NEXT. EDWIN JAYNES I AM, SOMEHOW, LESS INTERESTED IN THE WEIGHT AND CONVOLUTIONS OF EINSTEIN’S BRAIN THAN IN THE NEAR CERTAINTY THAT PEOPLE OF EQUAL TALENT HAVE LIVED AND DIED IN COTTON FIELDS AND SWEATSHOPS. STEPHEN JAY GOULD JA KO B S C H W I C H T E N B E R G T E A C H Y O U R S E L F P H Y S I C S NO-NONSENSE BOOKS Dedicated to my parents Preface Thisisneitheracareerguidenoranattempttoexplainev- erythingyouneedtoknowaboutphysicsinasinglebook. Therearemanyexcellentcareerguidesoutthereandifyour goalistoimproveyourchancesofsecuringapermanent 1 academicposition,youshouldpickoneofthose. More- 1Anexcellentcareer over,afterreadingthisbookyouwillstillhavetolearnmore guideis: aboutphysicsusingotherresourcesliketextbooksorlec- PeterFeibelman. A PhDisNotEnough!: tures. AGuideToSurvivalin Science. BasicBooks, Instead,thisbookisahandbookcontainingalltheadvice NewYork,2011. ISBN 9780465022229 andrecommendationsaboutlearningphysicsIwished someonehadtoldmewhenIwasyounger. Mygoalistoencouragemorepeopletothinkdeeplyabout naturebyusingtheappropriatetools. Ifalargernumber ofpeopleunderstandthefundamentalsofphysics,our chancesaremuchhigherthatsomeonecomesupwitha goodsolutiontoourpresentobstacles. AndI’mconvinced thatanyonecancontributesomethingmeaningfultothe worldofphysics. Ofcourse,it’sequallypossibletosimplyenjoylearning aboutphysicswithouttheexplicitgoaltocontributesome- 8 thingyourself. Itdoesn’tmatterwhetheryou’reafull-time studentofphysicsorsomeonewhowantstounderstand moreaboutnatureinyoursparetime. Understanding physicsisagoalwithineveryone’sreach. Thisbookistheresultofdiscoveringhowfewlongtime studentsofphysicshavedevelopedatrulydeepunder- standing. Duringthepastfewyears,I’vetalkedtohundreds ofstudentsfromallcornersoftheworld. WhatIlearned isthat,evenaftermanyyearsofstudying,manystudents weren’tmakingthekindofprogresstheyshouldhave. The sincerityoftheiraspirationsandtheamountoftimethey spentonlearningweredefinitelynottheproblem. Instead, whattheylackedwasaclearunderstandingofthemost basicobjects,ofhowphysicsreallyworks,whyitworks thewayitdoes,andhowthevariouspartsofphysicsare connected. Putanotherway,whattheyneededbutdidn’thavewasa clearmap. Thisbookismymodestattempttoimprovethesituation andIhopeitoffersaportalanyonecanusetogetaccess totheamazingworldthatwecallphysics. Thinkofthis bookasatraveler’sguide,providingyouwithmapsofthe territoryanddetaileddirectionsforgettingwhereyouwant togo. Byusingitasyourtravelcompanionyouwillalways knowwhereyou’reat,andwhereyouneedtoheadnext. I’mconvincedthatthiswillhelptomakeyourjourneymore enjoyable. Withthatsaid,IhavetoadmitthatIwasquitehesitantto writethisbookbecauseIfeltitwaspresumptuousofme totellotherswhatandhowtolearn. Icertainlydon’thave 2 2Mybackgroundwill alltheanswers. Butwhatfinallyconvincedmewasthe bediscussedinabit realizationthatnosuchtravelcompanioncurrentlyexists moredetailinthe followingchapter. 9 andIwouldhavelovedifabooklikethishadexistedwhen Istartedstudyingphysics. IalsorealizedthatIdon’tneed towritetheultimateauthoritativereferencetoprovide somethinguseful. Instead,Iwillsimplyshareeverything IwishedIhadknownearlierandeachreadercanmakeof thatwhateverheorshewants. Sowhilethisbookiscertainlynotperfect,atleastit’sa start. Infact,Ithinkitwouldbefantasticifsomeonereads thisbook,disagreeswithmostofmyrecommendationsand thenwritesamuchbettertravelcompanionforphysics. Furthermore,Ibelievethatthisbookisonlysuccessfulifit sparksnewideas. Sopleasedon’ttakeanythinginthisbook atfacevalueanddon’tblindlyfollowmyadvice. Question everythingandtrytofindbetteralternatives. Ifenough peopledothisandsharetheirthoughts,itwillbecome easierandeasierforeveryonetounderstandhownature works. Afterall,thegoalisnottospreadmyideasbutto makeiteasierforsubsequentgenerationstolearnphysics. I’mjusttryingtoprovideaninitialspark. Inanycase,I’mgladtohaveyouaboard,fellowvoyager! Hopefully,you’llenjoyreadingthisbookasmuchasIhave enjoyedwritingit. Karlsruhe,August2019 JakobSchwichtenberg PS:Ifyouhaveanykindoffeedback,pleasedonothesitatetocon- tactme. I’[email protected].
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