How to become a Good Theoretical Physicist
staff.science.uu.nl
How to become a Good Theoretical Physicist
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Re: How to become a Good Theoretical Physicist
#2[deleted]
Re: How to become a Good Theoretical Physicist
#3This is a well deserved upgrade from the previous design!
Re: How to become a Good Theoretical Physicist
#4Seems like a great site. Is there anything similar out there for Mathematics?
Re: How to become a Good Theoretical Physicist
#5Thanks for this pointer!
Take a look at the awesome: http://theoreticalminimum.com/
Re: How to become a Good Theoretical Physicist
#6Seems like a great site. Is there anything similar out there for Mathematics?
The University of Chicago Undergraduate Mathematics Bibliography is useful:
https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~abhishek/chicmath.htm
The "Intermediate" section contains the canonical texts for undergraduate first and second courses in the "mainstream" mathematics subjects. The "advanced" section contains mostly intro and/or reference texts for research in each area (ie assume an undergraduate degree in Mathematics).
Some less main-stream areas (e.g. logic) aren't particularly well-represented.
Re: How to become a Good Theoretical Physicist
#7this site isn't exclusive to theoretical physics. most of the material is broad. It's not until the later topics that it becomes more theoretical: general relativity, super gravity, string theory...
physics may also interest those who don't want to be come any type of physicist, hence the popularity of television shows like Cosmos, etc. for those that want to dive into something a little more technical, but very approachable, there are the feynman lectures, which are freely available online here: http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/
Re: How to become a Good Theoretical Physicist
#8Seems like a great site. Is there anything similar out there for Mathematics?
There is the "How to Become a Pure Mathematician(or Statistician)" with a roadmap and free study materials: http://hbpms.blogspot.com.br/
Re: How to become a Good Theoretical Physicist
#9Spot check of his links yielded a quite disappointing 100% failure rate: the lecture notes he links to for "phenomenology" (which ordinary people would call high energy physics) are all bad.[1]
Also, I don't think you can discount the value of community when studying anything as fundamentally social as theoretical physics. Maybe a modern Gauss could make his way to the edge of human understanding, and beyond, on his own, but most of us need the insights and encouragement of our peers. I would say that a smart, intrepid physicist should audit classes. Impress the professor with your effort, earnestness, and ability, and there's no way you'd be kicked out of class no matter what the rules say.
[1] http://www.staff.science.uu.nl/~Gadda001/goodtheorist/pheno....
Re: How to become a Good Theoretical Physicist
#10Short answer: Don't go to Wallstreet.